What is emotional spending?
Neuroscientists believe that emotions play a central role in our decision-making.
Our emotional buying decisions can be influenced by many factors, including love, passion, envy, pride and entertainment. This will be discussed more later.
The real need may not be present in an emotional purchase. External sources like influencers can trigger emotions that cause the desire to purchase.
You’ll soon see that these decisions are influenced by impulses and unrequested recommendations. There may not be a long-term or urgent need that calls for purchasing a product. Buyers don’t look for information before purchasing and ignore the evaluation of other options. The buyer’s decision to buy relies solely on their emotions.
People buy products based on their emotional triggers. This includes products we don’t need, but that seem to be necessary.
Emotional Purchases Triggers
Many times, emotions are what drive consumers to choose certain products. This is when the consumer puts aside logic and practicality in order to make a purchase decision. She is influenced by the emotional high she experiences. The buyer feels an emotional attachment to the product, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to make it hers. Here are some examples.
Every decision we make involves emotions, even if we don’t recognize them.
Understanding what triggers these emotions will help you create compelling marketing materials that appeal to them. All of us have basic mental triggers that drive us to do certain things.
Marketing professionals know it is crucial to understand the triggers and position them in order to elicit the desired response. We will be discussing the most common emotional triggers that can be used in conjunction with marketing activities.
1. Fear
People buy products out of fear, many of which are imaginary. This is why there are so many marketing messages that use fear to get people to buy. This is illustrated by advertising products for vitamins, supplements and other health & wellness products.
2. Jealousy
A strong feeling of envy or jealousy is when you feel fearful or resentful towards others because they are perceived to be better in a particular field. A consumer may believe that someone else is smarter, wealthier, more attractive, healthier, or better than them. The consumer may feel superior to another person and buy things in order to do better.
3. Guilt
Guilt can be a feeling that a person feels when he breaks his internal standards.
A dad might say he values his family, but cannot help but work too hard. This could make him feel guilty about valuing work more than family. He may try to compensate for his offense by giving them expensive gifts, taking them out to dinner or on short, luxury vacations.
Sometimes, people who feel guilty can turn to altruism. This altruistic tendencies can lead them to give away their wealth through charity. The bottom end, where someone may neglect his own needs and spend all of their wealth on others, is considered unhealthy.
4. Validation
People who are need-validation shoppers are people who are looking to validate their decisions and choices.
They often feel unsure and lack self-confidence, making it difficult for them to make decisions.
These shoppers will listen to the opinions of others and follow the advice of so-called experts when making purchases.
5. Trust
Marketing today is all about trust. Every company seems to want to include the trust angle into their marketing messages.
Trust is a key factor in consumers buying new products. It took American consumers some time to get to know Korean and Japanese car brands, but they eventually returned to American brands.
6. Belonging
People don’t want to feel alone or left behind. People are naturally drawn to feeling part of a group. Consumers will often buy products that make them feel like they belong to that group. This desire to belong is often exploited by many companies who include it in their marketing messages such as “We’re your family”, or “You’re part of this family”, among others.
There are Ways to Control Emotional Spending
It’s okay to buy things. If you have the funds, it’s fine to occasionally buy nice things.
Stop using your money for unnecessary things and spending more than you can afford so that you have credit card debts in serious amounts. Perhaps you should learn to recognize your emotional spending and stop it.
Although it may seem impossible to avoid emotional spending right away, there are steps you can take that will help to reduce the damage to your bank account.
How do you explain?
Once you have confronted your feelings about spending, it is time to identify external influences that make you pull out your wallet whenever you hear a sales pitch. Perhaps the pull to purchase is strong enough that you feel compelled to shop online or in the malls. It’s time to evaluate your triggers and find ways to reduce your exposure.
- Budget
If your budget is strictly adhered to, you will have no reason to spend money you don’t need. If it’s not in your budget, that doesn’t mean you can’t purchase it.
Use your calendar to plan out special occasions for which you may need some extra money.
You can still enjoy your birthday without worrying about your shirt. You can celebrate your love of celebrations and have the money to make sure you are ready for any ‘this-calls’ moments. You’ll always have money available for celebrations if you ever need it.
There are many blogs that will help you save money and manage your budget, even when it comes to your children.
- Opt out of Advertisements
Limit your exposure to advertisements with care
You will feel less “need” to purchase the item if you don’t know as much.
You can unsubscribe from the mailing lists of promotional companies and your favorite store to stop receiving their product catalogues. Download a program to block and stop advertisements from appearing on your computer while you browse the internet.
- Be aware of your habits
Recognizing the emotions that drive you to spend is a huge step. U
Understanding why you feel the need for purchase while feeling a particular emotion will help you pinpoint the root cause.
You can hopefully identify the root cause of the problem and address it to stop it from becoming a bad habit.
- Do not save your credit card information on websites
Online shopping is convenient, quick and easy. This makes it even easier for repeat customers. If you had to take out your card every time you wanted to purchase something and then type the details on the computer before clicking “buy”, it would be difficult.
Sometimes the extra 5 minutes it takes to enter your name, address and contact details can be enough to decide if you should purchase.
- Breathe
Take a moment to relax and enjoy the moment. Take a moment to breathe. You can get past the initial urge and the temptation won’t be so overwhelming. To determine if you truly need the item, set a time limit (either a week or a monthly). Save money first if you feel that you still desire it. Don’t spend a lot just to get it.
- Limit your temptation
First, you need to reduce your vulnerability to the temptation of spending. You can visit Waterloo’s mall once or twice per year or go online. Find a replacement for online shopping, such as a new hobby to fill your time, such as learning how to play the guitar.
Bottom line
You might be suffering from stress at work, in a bad relationship with your spouse, or debt problems. Experts agree that retail therapy can improve your mood and reduce anxiety.
But, shopping trips triggered by emotions can quickly become a problem.
You may be creating a shopping addiction by spending more than you can afford and buying unnecessary things.
These are the warning signs that you should be aware of a possible emotional spending spree.
Shopping can be dangerous if you spend too much. Shopping addiction can be defined as excessive spending and buying unnecessary items.