… at least while we’re shopping.

In the study, published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, researchers from the University of Michigan carried out three experiments to investigate whether shopping restored a sense of control in people to counter feelings of sadness. Shopping was up to 40 times more effective at giving people a sense of control, and they were three times less sad compared to those who only browsed.

The study was carried out at the same university that issues the monthly Consumer Sentiment Index 🙂

For years we’ve been fed the “shopping is an addiction” line. What a change of errr… sentiment.

Source: Say buy buy to the blues: Picking goods and paying for them really does banish sadness, says a study into retail therapy