How to Stop Impulse Shopping
What’s Wrong With Impulse Shopping?
We understand that one of the most alluring aspects of fast fashion is that it allows us to constantly change up our look. It’s easily accessible, and brands push out new trends every couple of weeks.
This problem is exacerbated by the constant media coverage of celebrities and supermodels sporting new trends, while their adoring fans are all too eager to jump on the cheap dupes that brands are able to replicate and push out at an alarmingly fast rate.
If you’ve been following along with our blog for a while now, you’re probably aware that fast fashion is bad. Not just a little bad like spilled coffee on your white blouse at the beginning of the day bad. This is like, the downfall of our planet bad.
In case you aren’t caught up on how fast fashion is so harmful, here’s a quick refresher as to why.
- The rate of production cannot be sustained
- It uses non-renewable resources at breakneck speed
- The materials often end up in landfills due to our throwaway culture
- Many materials are created using harmful chemicals and do not decompose
- Fair labor is difficult to enforce when mass production is taking place overseas, leading to sweatshops, inhumane work conditions, and mistreatment of the people who are making cheap clothes
Okay, got it.
So Why Do We Feel Compelled To Buy It?
There are a few factors that cause us to cave to those ridiculously cheap and totally trendy fall booties that everyone one is wearing right now.
When shown an object that we like, it fires signals to our nucleus ambens, the brains’ pleasure center. When the item we like is also a discounted or available at a cheap price, this sends additional signals to our brains’ pleasure center. The pleasure of acquisition then outweighs the pain of paying to acquire the object.
According to April Lane Benson, a psychologist and the author of To Buy or Not To Buy: Why We Overshop and How To Stop, “shopping is a way that we search for our selves and our place in the world. A lot of people conflate the search for self with the search for stuff.”
In other words, trends allow us to “fit in.” We are compelled to keep up with the constant changing trends in order to fit into a societal norm. Example; that Vera Bradley tote bag I HAD to have in high school. All the cool girls carried around these vibrantly colored, paisley patterned totes. As much as I hated paisley, I was convinced I needed one of these bags to fit in. For over a year, I proudly toted around an oversized green and turquoise bag that looked like a mermaid had vomited on it, just to feel like I was part of the in-crowd.
As to why fast fashion is so appealing, the psychology is similar to the high we feel when we change our hair color or change up the hairstyle. We perceive change as an opportunity to start fresh, or change our persona, or shed some past version of ourselves. Oftentimes we are compelled to change our look on the outside to feel better on the inside.
How Can We Put An End To Impulsive Buying?
We have a few ideas:
- Avoid unnecessary trips to stores and malls, especially fast fashion chains like Forever 21, H&M and Zara
- Don’t shop when you’re emotional as this triggers us to splurge on things we don’t need
- Don’t shop with your impulse-happy friend
- Have a pre-determined budget and pay in cash
- Keep a list of items you NEED and stick to it
- Does it pass the time challenge? If you put an item in your online shopping cart, do you still feel compelled to purchase it two weeks later?
- Opt for quality over quantity purchases
- Shop second-hand
- Get informed on the negative effects of fast-fashion on workers and the environment
- Build an ethical wardrobe (start here!)
Now it’s your turn to share with us! How do you avoid impulse buys? Share in the comments section below!
Resources:
http://www.wisebread.com/9-simple-ways-to-stop-impulse-buying
http://www.glossy.co/sincerity-sustainability/the-case-against-fast-fashion
