JULY: Is shopping really a stress reliever?

As you can see shopping isn’t always a stress reliever. However, clothes and shoes do give pleasure, and so does shopping. It would be wrong to think that people go shopping just because they need clothes. On the contrary, the fun and satisfaction of going to the city, visiting stores and buying clothes is hugely important too.

Shopping is a sign of emotional stress, and it can work as a stress reliever. People also use shopping as a tangible way of converting their daily work into a reward for themselves. They can use it to show that they are caring for themselves and for those dear to them such as children or a partner. Analyzing shopping processes from the consumer's perspective requires an understanding of 'double satisfaction'.

The first type of satisfaction comes from the process of shopping, and the second comes from the products or brands themselves. Some service-type products can benefit from communication about not only buying but using the product. Gift cards, for example, easily offer the first type of satisfaction, but the product itself may fail to deliver. A gift card lying forgotten in a drawer can even reflect badly on the brand.