Buy now, regret later: rationalising the irrational for shopaholics

Why do we buy things that we don't need? One explanation is that it nourishes our consumerist cravings; that inexplicable sense of satisfaction that comes with the ownership of familiar items, but in a different colour, design, brand, smell, taste – things we tell ourselves to celebrate each eu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Knowledge@SMU
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2009
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/ksmu/296
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1295&context=ksmu
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Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
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Summary:Why do we buy things that we don't need? One explanation is that it nourishes our consumerist cravings; that inexplicable sense of satisfaction that comes with the ownership of familiar items, but in a different colour, design, brand, smell, taste – things we tell ourselves to celebrate each euphoric ring on the cash register. What follows, however, are questions of doubt that plague even the most seasoned of shopaholics: Can I afford this? Can I really find good uses for this? Can this new car really fix my hair loss? According to a new study by SMU marketing professor Jane Wang, such feelings of post-purchase regret and guilt could be due to a failure to envision our future interactions with the product-in-question.