We have a friend who could not resist buying bigger sizes clothes for her children during the seasonal sales though it will take 2-3 years for them to catch up. The prices and deals are too irresistible for her.
Impulsive buyers do not limit themselves to the cash at hand but can access future income to spend today. Unfortunately most of it is spent buying stuff that were neither planned nor necessary. While some people love to brag about their ability to clinch a deal that no one could, other love to peel off the price tags to reveal the original price to make them feel good.
This picture was taken at
home.
Deep inside, we are impulsive buyers like the child who
cries for a toy in the display window. But is impulsive buying a problem?
The answer is yes even if one has infinite budget or
unlimited space. This disrupts the budget and leave us with little money along
with stuff that we never needed. This prevents the creation of good and lasting
financial habits that would allow to save up for larger planned purchases. If
not controlled this to could lead to a much more serious condition known as compulsive
buying disorder (CBD), or oniomania.
According to Wikipedia this is characterized by an obsession
with shopping and buying behavior that causes adverse consequences. This "is
experienced as an irresistible–uncontrollable urge, resulting in excessive,
expensive and time-consuming retail activity [that is] typically prompted by
negative affectivity".
Impulse buyers are not likely to consider the possible
consequences of their spending. Some of the reasons are:
- Extreme urge to possess an object as the person In China who traded his kidney for an IPhone.
- The love of buying new things because of a temporary high we experience upon buying a new item.
- Fear of missing out (FOMO) and being left without something that friends already have.
- Because of Brand affinity and a discount sale appears irresistible.
- Want to save money and believe the more we buy the more you save.
- Have a notion that buying a particular item will make them happy and improve their mood.
It becomes difficult to resist a situation once we see
something in a store that is a great deal, but the reality is that it will
probably just sit around your house and gather dust.
