IRRATIONALITY OF SHOPPING
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James Joyner | Friday, November 7, 2003 |
Ananova has this:
German scientists say a woman’s rational thought disappears when she goes shopping.Researchers at the University of Munster in Germany said female shoppers simply lose the ability to think straight.
They measured the electrical activity in the part of the brain which deals with common sense and rational thought in female shoppers.
They discovered the part of the brain governing the emotions and pleasant feelings was in overdrive, says the Daily Record.
The scientists also found men experience a similar loss of control when offered the chance to buy electrical gadgets, fast cars and computer games.
Dr Michael Deppe said it might help to explain why women shoppers were often at a loss to explain how they found themselves window shopping and the next minute spending.
He said: “The more expensive the product, the crazier the shoppers get. And when buying really expensive products, the part of the brain dealing with rational thought has reduced its activity to almost zero.”
“Bargain hunters are driven by emotional thought, not by common sense. The stimulation of the emotional centres shows that shopping is a stress relief. People do not have to think, and the brain rewards them with pleasurable feelings. By shopping, they are bypassing stress and just going with the pleasurable flow,” he added.
Indeed. I know that, every time I see a car I’d like to have, I just find myself buying it. Oh, wait. No, I don’t.
(Hat tip: BusinessPundit Rob)
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Good to know that a country who tried to exterminate an entire race now funds stupid research programs that attempt to prove that stereotypes are true.
This is hilarious!!!!
Hmmmmmm. Did this study use only German women, or did they have a representative sampling of women from all nations?
I dunno 'bout that study. My eyes glaze over at the thought of looking at shoes for hours, but I will lose all track of time in a bookstore (but not all track of money, fortunately).
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