Shopping Makes You Happy, Study Finds
Photo: Getty Images
According to a recent study, shopping can lift your spirits. (To the mall, Jeeves!)
Feeling blue? Head to Jimmy Choo.
Proving that "retail therapy" isn't just a catchy phrase, a new study has found that shopping triggers feelings of happiness, the Daily Mail reports.
The study, called "Retail Therapy: A Strategic Effort to Improve Mood," discovered that a trip to the shops can have a "lasting positive impact on mood" and "few if any negative emotional side-effects" (apparently that negative bank account balance doesn't count).
Researchers asked shoppers to keep diaries monitoring their buying habits and moods, with 62 percent of respondents saying they had bought something to cheer themselves up. While those who were in a bad mood were more likely to make an impulsive purchase, 28 percent of those surveyed said they were shopping as a form of celebration.
"Retail therapy purchases were overwhelmingly beneficial, leading to mood boosts and no regrets or guilt," study authors Selin Atalay and Margaret Meloy told the newspaper.
"It is not suggested here that every retailer suddenly make a small treat item available at checkout to tempt consumers, or that mall planners strategically locate candy stores near every mall exit. What is suggested is that perhaps practitioners have it 'right' when they appeal to consumers with slogans that encourage them to buy themselves splurges.
"There seem to be positive consequences to buying oneself a small treat: one does feel better."
Um, duh?
In related news, a recent survey found that Christian Louboutin shoes top women's lottery wish lists.
