‘Tis the season for your holiday shopping pleasures. It is that time of the year when your favorite brands and businesses gear up for the shopping frenzy that is the holiday season. From advent calendars to holiday gift sets to wrapping paper galore there is so much to uncover behind our minds when we buy gifts for loved ones. So let us unwrap the mysteries behind what fuels the psyche during all the craziness that is holiday shopping.
One thing that plays a crucial role when shopping for the holidays is emotions. I am sure you can recall the moments when you are browsing in a store that is decked out for the holidays when something catches your eye and more often than not you feel an urge to buy it for yourself or someone else. According to the Medium, “When it comes to holiday shopping, emotions play a significant role in shaping consumer behavior. The season evokes feelings of happiness, nostalgia, and the desire to spread joy.” It is no surprise that this is something that brands and businesses try to capitalize on for profit. The Medium states, “Retailers capitalize on these emotions by creating warm, inviting shopping environments with festive decorations, cheerful music, and pleasant scents. These sensory cues stimulate positive emotions, leading shoppers to associate these feelings with the products or brands they encounter.” Believe it or not, these types of tactics can easily convince our psyches to buy certain products. So make sure to ask yourself if it is something that you truly want before swiping your credit card.
Humans are inherently social creatures and with that comes the effects of influence on an individual’s psyche. This is no different when it comes to indulging in holiday shopping; in fact, it can become even more prominent. When considering the digital age that we live in, social media apps in particular become a primary factor in influencing someone into buying something especially during the holidays. Additionally, the recent shift from in-store shopping to online also plays a role in gift-giving. Senior Reider Geraci says, “I would say our current generation including myself shop more online but sometimes there are better deals to just go in store. But I think generally older people like to go in-store compared to the newer generation.” This is similar to what many people agree on with Porch Group Media, who state that, “56% of people use social media to research products or services during the holidays.” This also ties back into how brands use social media and this idea of influence for their own benefit using limited time offers, and rapid sales to draw in a wider audience of customers.
Along with the rise of social media is the rise of trends. Every year the holidays become the perfect excuse to buy some of the most trendiest items on the market. According to Cosmopolitan, “If there is one thing that TikTok influencers, high schoolers, and Cosmo editors can all collectively agree on, it is that the Stanley Tumbler is the trendiest, coolest, most ~hydrating~ water bottle of the year.” Freshman Juliet Friedl says, “Some gifts I am hoping to receive for the holidays are clothes.” There is such a variety of trendy items this year, and perhaps this holiday season is your time to buy those items. However, sometimes with concepts like trends and advertising this can lead to the idea of pressure to occur in the psyche. The Medium states, “Iconic holiday campaigns, memorable jingles, and heartwarming storytelling all build brand loyalty and influence purchase decisions.” Although this is not the case for everyone, Sophomore Emma Lin says, “ Honestly I do not feel that pressure to buy trendy items because for me the holidays are a time where I feel I can get anything I want regardless of trends.”
Functionality versus emotional impact is an important factor to consider when holiday shopping. Junior Stanley Chen says, “I try to think of items they like or what goes with their personality. I also consider if the gift is something they would use often.” This is also something that brands and businesses take into account. The Medium states, “Online retailers leverage personalization techniques, such as tailored recommendations and personalized discounts, to enhance the shopping experience and increase conversion rates.” This plays a big psychological role in our minds as it can often convince the brain to yield to ads and marketing.
Sometimes the hardest decision for our psyches can be deciding on what to buy for loved ones. Indecisiveness can be hard to deal with when considering the large variety of gifts and holiday galore, but sometimes the best gift is one of simplicity. Newsweek states, “Shoppers unsure about what to give are choosing flexible gift cards. The NRF expects total gift card spending to exceed $29 billion this year. The most popular gift card categories are: Restaurants, banks, department stores, and coffee shops.” It can be easy to overthink about what to get, but oftentimes great gifts do not need to be one of extravagance, just one that comes from the heart. Personally, I found that candles or even a box of chocolates make great gifts for the holidays or even DIY projects like ornaments and ceramics.
The holiday shopping season can always be overwhelming, and for the most part a stressful time of the year. There is always so much to consider and so little time. One way to keep the psyche calm from pressure and over-scrutinizing is to start working on your holiday shopping list in advance. This can help to relieve some of that stress as well as give you a general idea of what to get. The most important thing at the end of the day is that you get to show your loved ones how much you appreciate them. So have no fear and sleigh away on your holiday shopping.
