Sad people spend more money. Must be why so many commercials seem designed to induce feelings of anxiety and insecurity, even if they’re delivered within a “humorous” context. [CNN]
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I was really annoyed by the jewelry store ad I saw this morning…Zales? It was a bunch of men who pull out the generic looking heart pendant necklace every store brings out for Valentine’s Day, and the men are swaying it back and forth like a pendulum, “hypnotizing” women to believe their man is perfect and fantastic for buying them a tacky piece of jewelry. It was annoying because the tone of it was, “you won’t love me unless I buy you this necklace” which I can believe causes anxiety in some people.
Perhaps we should discuss how many special ‘days’ have been invented by Hallmark et al to prop up the card and gift business when there are no real holidays…
Wouldn’t that begin with ‘sweetest’ day, then onto secretaries day, bosses day, mail carriers day, etc. etc.
The same thing cane be said with eating. It’s how we’re brought up. When we’re kids, we get rewarded usually either by food (i.e. McDonalds) or by gifts (toys, etc) and it has become inherent in our psyche that food and gifts are rewards and something that’ll relieve depression and sadness. Therefore, shopping for oneself when one is sad/depressed sounds quite reasonable.
So, if recent reports show that “consumer confidence” and spending is down, does that mean that we are becoming a happier people?
@moppet: Ironic, aint it?
@krunk4ever: I don’t know about shopping, but with food, it’s more than just a trained response. Food is linked to appetite, which is linked to serotonin, which also has heavy ties to depression — it’s one of the neurotransmitters heavily targeted by anti-depressants.
This is one I definitely knew already, especially since I’m broke.
@BayStateDarren: Perpetually.
@krunk4ever: This would explain why I shop for food when I’m depressed. My pantry could feed an army battalion for a month.
Funny, I don’t eat food at nearly the same rate that I buy it — I guess there’s a feeling of security in having a ton of non-perishable goods around.
Was this posted on a Friday evening so that only the people it applies to would be sitting around feeding the thread?
Thats why corporate America wants us all obese, depressed and divorced – makes for the best consumers.
You can say all you want about anti-depressants, but Freud gets the last laugh on this one. If they really worked, then America would be happier (since most americans are on them) – and with our suicide, obesity, divorce and debt rates being the highest in the world, anti-depressants clearly haven’t made much of a dent.
Divorce breeds contempt and unhappy children who look to products to satisfy what a cohesive parental unit is clearly too incompetent to provide. Narcissism breeds individualism which breeds consumptionism which breeds divorce (most divorces are over money issues) which breeds unhappy children who don’t feel loved so they buy or eat and the cycle happens all over again.
America: it was such a good idea.
@reykjavik: Antidepressants don’t work if you’re just depressed because your life sucks. I think those people outnumber the ones with biological depression.