Stores preparing for holidays earlier may help shoppers spread out purchases, but the holiday marketing cycle can be stressful for consumers.
Retail marketers can “build a false sense of urgency” around holiday shopping, said Kristina Durante, a psychologist and marketing professor at Rutgers Business School.
Feeling an urgency to buy something as soon as possible can encourage shoppers to spend more money.
“There’s a lot to capitalize on there. It’s that sense of urgency and scarcity with resources,” Durante said. “We don’t know when they’re going to be depleted because we don’t have control over what other consumers do. I think we want to have a good Christmas and we want to have a good Halloween and we want to be prepared for back to school. We have high expectations for these things, so we’re more motivated to buy.”
Nostalgia can also add to stress around holidays, creating pressure to shop.
On average, many people have happy memories from their childhood centered on holidays, Durante said, “and then we try to re-create that for ourselves and for our kids.”
Shopping is often tied to a stress response, Durante said.
“It’s stress,” Durante said. “One of the things we know is that what underlies almost everything we buy is a desire to have control over our lives. In today’s world, everything is so uncertain, and we want to have some sense of control of things.”
Tips for managing holiday and retail stress
The feeling of control consumers experience when making purchases is fleeting, Durante said.
When it comes to mental health, “if we can’t control our stress, then we’re emotionally dysregulated,” she said. “We try to regulate and gain control. One way we can do that is going out and buying things. It feels like this might solve problems, but it doesn’t really.”
There are steps consumers can take to feel less stressed by the holiday marketing cycle − and perhaps better stick to budgets.
When people stop to think about what they can control, “they spend less money,” Durante said.
Consumers can take a moment to write down a few things that are good with their life, she said. Physical movement also helps.
“Go for a walk. Take some deep breaths,” Durante said. “Even just getting your body moving a little bit will help complete the stress cycle so you calm down a little bit more.”
