Last update: October 19, 2017
Shopping has now become a source of entertainment or almost a hobby for many people. This has not always been the case, however. In the past, people bought for the sole purpose of sustenance, stocked up with what was needed. Nowadays, however, going to the shops is more of a way to relax and distract yourself, and can even be considered restorative or part of a "therapy".
Such a reality can only see light from the point of view of a consumerist society. It was not people's tastes or preferences that gave rise to the pleasure of shopping - indeed, the exact opposite has happened: the new nascent models of the economy and the market have created new tastes and preferences on how to spend free time . In this regard, of course, advertising has always played a fundamental role, capable of making the accessory a necessity.
"Whoever buys what is superfluous will soon have to sell what is necessary"
-Benjamin Franklin-
Once upon a time, supermarkets were organized so that customers could find what they were looking for quickly and easily. Now the shopping centers have turned into architectural museums, into places full of comfort and proposals for recreation. They function more or less like entertainment centers and have become social reference points.
Shopping: good or bad?
We live in a consumerist society, it is evident, and in our small way we all contribute to maintaining this dynamic. It is also a fact that, however intransigent one may be, going shopping gives us a certain satisfaction. In addition to the need we satisfy when we buy an item, buying also brings us a feeling of power and abundance hardly possible with other activities.
Studies have shown that the brain benefits when you go shopping. The phenomenon was studied at the Brunel University in London. Seeing something we like, wanting to buy it and buying it activates certain areas of the brain that release dopamine. Our mood, therefore, improves and we feel happier.
On the other hand, the brain also reacts in the same way to other types of stimuli: the mood improves by playing sports or by doing a rewarding activity such as dancing or knitting. The same happens when you receive a compliment that is considered sincere or when you dive deep into a reading. However, the market has managed to stereotype the concept of satisfaction by directing it towards shopping centers (what interests the market).
Going shopping is not wrong and, indeed, it can be positive if done in a conscious and responsible way. Difficulties arise when the continuous visit to shopping centers turns into an escape from a feeling of malaise that one is unable to manage in other ways. In these cases, shopping does not help to improve the mood, but will only hide the problem or even create another one.
Perhaps you think that the discomfort will disappear when you look at a shop window or when you enter and leave a dressing room, or think about the moment in which you will wear the new garment. Yet how do you feel once those brief moments of arousal are over, better or worse than before?
Go shopping to manage your malaise
It is now common to hear people say that they go shopping because they are depressed and want to cheer themselves up or even that going to the shops acts as a "therapy" to forget the problems. Shopping malls have turned into places of transition for pain and relaxation for oppressed hearts. Buying products helps us forget that we are limited, finite and problematic.
In these circumstances, it is not unusual for someone to fill their diary with shopping. It is also not strange that he feels deep frustration when he fails to do this or that he works in order to have enough liquidity to maintain a high standard of living.
The last perfect element in this scheme are credit cards. Until a few decades ago, they were an asset limited to businessmen or with very high income. Obtaining one is now very easy and very few do not have it. The credit card eliminates all barriers when it comes to buying, as it does not allow us to see how much we are spending. We leave the shops in debt, but happy.
Without realizing it, life is becoming impoverished in many ways. Much of our income is drained for the payment of acquired credits. Furthermore, the world begins to take on a one-dimensional aspect.
We stop feeling satisfied with free activities that don't involve a transition. Without knowing how, we are handing control into the hands of marketers. In the end, however, we are the ones who pay: what we buy, the aspects of our life that we have put aside, the consequences of the conflict that has remained unresolved and that we have tried to hide under the carpet by dint of spending money and resources on articles of we don't need.
