Eight reasons why you're only 0.0004% in control of your Christmas shopping
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Version 0 of 1. Most of us will already have spent some time this month stuffing our trolleys with sprouts that no one will eat and socks no one will wear. There is perhaps no greater riposte to the idea of rationality than Christmas-buying customs. Yet it's all just harmless fun, isn't it? What's the problem in buying a potato-powered clock for your brother, or a Simpsons tie for Dad? Well, every Christmas, Britons waste about £2bn on unwanted gifts. Things go from kooky to concerning – especially for families with squeezed wallets – when so much money is thrown away. So who's in charge here – us or our brains? The best guess is that, of all the information we process, about 0.0004% is done consciously. Without the ability (or desire) to think every decision through carefully, much of our behaviour is guided from the subconscious with some very simple principles at work. Below are eight such processes through which our brain tricks us into splashing our cash at Christmas. 1. Suggestion<br /> A study in a US pet store found it could triple its sales of an accessory just by asking customers if they'd like to buy it. So why do we buy at Christmas? Because we're asked to! 2. Reciprocity Have you ever wondered why we send Christmas cards, gifts or even the dreaded round robin to people we haven't spoken to in years? Because they send stuff to us. Researchers in the US sent Christmas cards to strangers picked at random – and 80% of them responded. We are innately hardwired to reciprocate: scientists found that reciprocity explains 20% of why monkeys groom, while relatedness only explains 3%. In other words, "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" is more important than being a monkey's uncle. 3. Social proof Another reason we buy at Christmas is because everyone else does. The power of the five-star movie and the Amazon review is multiplied by millions when most of the western world is seen to be buying turkeys and tacky gifts. 4. Mood<br /> Christmas shopping is the ultimate in "retail-tainment". There are Santa's grottos, fun fairy lights and jaunty jingles. It is very literally festive, and we spend more when we're in a good mood. One study even linked mood on Twitter with the health of the stock market. 5. Priming<br /> Festive cues act as reminders to buy. Studies show that seeing money makes us more individualistic, thinking about old people makes us walk slower and wearing a lab coat makes us smarter. So, when stores put their decorations up in October, they are nudging us to purchase. 6. A time for consumption<br /> The truth is that many of the festivities we enjoy today predate Christ. We eat and drink more when it's cold and dark, probably because our ancestors needed every calorie to survive. There is an innate drive to consume during short, dark days; and the winter solstice is the shortest and darkest day of all. 7. Scarcity Scarce things are more valuable: supermarkets can even increase sales by using a "limited time only" sign. When there are only so many Furbies available before the 25th, we feel an extremely powerful urge to go out and buy one. 8. Emotion<br /> Since we can't consciously process everything, the brain's amygdala acts as a doorman and decides what can and can't "come in". Emotional stuff gets VIP treatment. So Christmas advertising such as the John Lewis TV ad go straight to the "heart" of the brain. So, have a good Christmas and enjoy your festive shopping, but remember: your mind could be playing tricks on you. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |