Passion Purchases

Sony Chen

Do you regret unplanned spending?  

Shopping nowadays is often perceived as a process of purchasing happiness. People are frequently overestimating the happiness to be gained from “retail therapy”. Factors that enable the impulse to shop include the carefully curated atmosphere of malls, as well as the increase in both dopamine and adrenaline levels within the body that occurs after a purchase. Furthermore, credit cards allow us to delay payments surrounding debt; allowing us to splurge on items without affecting our current life at all.

This project examines how we can use cognitive conditioning or psychological sensations as triggers to prevent impulsive shopping. This would encourage individuals to make more considered purchases, thereby reducing over-consumption.

Photography: Nicole Torres