Shopping has also become a common leisure activity, and the more time is spent in shops, the more impulse purchases are eventually made. Timperi feels that fast impulse buying has been contributed to by the fact that today s working life values fast decision making and the ability to make quick moves. Timperi asks and adds, Modern consumption is now deemed a good thing and an acceptable part of life. A nice vase is a cheap antidepressant Shopping has gradually become widely used as an antidepressant, although there are also those who only ever go shopping when in high spirits. Young people in particular tend to go shopping to fight the blues.
Happy people do, in the end, shop more than unhappy people.
That is when you get the most out of it, Timperi says and continues, Few of us really, truly need the goods we buy on impulse, rather we buy them to give us pleasure and to please our aesthetic eye. Contrary to the expectations, the oldest age bracket, the over 65s, were less likely to regret having spent money on something extra, although they were the ones presumed to be careful about every penny. They would simply say that they had had great fun, so it was worth it. Middle-aged women, however, easily feel a pang of guilt if they buy things for themselves, but not if they spend their money on a gift for a friend or children. Buying on the Internet has increased but women are not easily lured by a PC instead of a shopping mall.