Why women stop thinking when they go shopping

IOL ^ | November 07 2003

[nickcarraway]

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, according to reports in the Daily Record.

'Bargain hunters are driven by emotional thought, not by common sense'

Dr Michael Deppe said this may 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.

The scientists also found men experience a similar loss of control when offered the chance to buy electrical gadgets, fast cars and computer games.

[goldstategop]

There's no difference between the sexes when comes to producing warm & fuzzy feelings!

[Guillermo]

How convenient.

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

I will be interested in similar research done on 38 year old male factory workers with a pocket full of $1 bills in a topless bar.

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

(I should add that at least a woman brings home tangible goods from the shopping trip. What does our 38 year old bring home?)

[goldstategop]

Beer and if he's careful he'd better not bring a babe home on his arm! LOL

[Pharmboy]

Science once again confirms the obvious...great post! LOL!

[JZoback]

That now explains how I went to go a pair of shoes and my wife walks out with shoes, a hand bag and remarks that we need to stop at Penny's to buy a matching outfit

My $50 shoes cost me $200

I remember now why I stopped going to the mall

[paulklenk]

The next thing they ought to study is:

How is it that some women are not susceptible to this phenomenon? What makes them different from other women, and what, if anything, can a compulsive shopper do to overcome this behavior?

[ShadowDancer]

What does our 38 year old bring home?

STD's?

[KC Burke]

I think I remember some of my own behavior at a recent Craftsman tool sale that has me a little embarrassed.

I'm just glad my SUV was empty or I would have had to push those two shopping carts home the seven miles.

[DugwayDuke]

"My $50 shoes cost me $200"

You're lucky. I went to the Honda motorcycle place to buy a oil filter. Cost me $5600. My wife saw an ATV she wanted.

[Bon mots]

I hate shopping. But when I (male) went to buy a cheap little MP3 player to listen to in the gym, I went to circuit city. They had the one I wanted and it was only $79.99, so I figured what the heck... then the salesboy showed me a better model that was smaller and also had a built-in AM FM radio.... cool, so I was all set to now spend $129.00... but then...

...his friend showed up with an i-Pod by Apple and showed it to me... then, well, I just had to have that, but it was now $300.00

But I just had to have it.
But...
They were all out of the little 10GB iPod for $300, all they might have had was the 15GB i-Pod for $400, so I struggled with dumping so much money, but what the heck... I don't buy too many gadgets... and it was darn cool...but

They were completely out of stock... but the obnoxious Apple dealer up the street might have one... and lo and behold he had the 30GB model for $500....

[paulklenk]

I hate shopping. But when I (male) went to buy a cheap little MP3 player to listen to in the gym, I went to circuit city. They had the one I wanted and it was only $79.99, so I figured what the heck... then the salesboy showed me a better model that was smaller and also had a built-in AM FM radio.... cool, so I was all set to now spend $129.00... but then...

...his friend showed up with an i-Pod by Apple and showed it to me... then, well, I just had to have that, but it was now $300.00

But I just had to have it. But... They were all out of the little 10GB iPod for $300, all they might have had was the 15GB i-Pod for $400, so I struggled with dumping so much money, but what the heck... I don't buy too many gadgets... and it was darn cool...but

They were completely out of stock... but the obnoxious Apple dealer up the street might have one... and lo and behold he had the 30GB model for $500....

Repeat until spanked...

[Bon mots]

Repeat until spanked...

Well, I LOVE the i-Pod... but my wife would have liked to spank me for coming home with such an expensive gadget...

But I also rationalized it by thinking of it as a learning tool... I take the subway to work each day and then trolleys, so I listen to educational stuff and foreign language music to keep up my skills...

So you see, I NEED an i-Pod...

In all honesty, I use it every single day.
But now there's the issue of the electronic gear up in the attic...

I hate shopping.

[M Kehoe]

Maybe this article explains why women make right hand turns from the far left hand lane.

Incoming!

5.56mm

[TexasBarak]

I think I remember some of my own behavior at a recent Craftsman tool sale that has me a little embarrassed.

If you are buying Craftsman (crapsman) tools, you were obviously not thinking rationally. I have a Craftsman circular saw that is 35 or 40 years old, and of extremely high quality. Sad to say, those days are far, far in the past.

[mdmathis6]

You mean like perufume, hats and party dress worn only once....or hair cuts that are instantly regretted...you mean those tangible objects???

[boris]

"That now explains how I went to go a pair of shoes and my wife walks out with shoes, a hand bag and remarks that we need to stop at Penny's to buy a matching outfit"

Well, I go into Staples to buy some paperclips and come out with $100 worth of office supplies...

Go into Fry's to buy a cable and drop $200 on DVD media, printer ink, etc.

Oh yeah, and keep me outa Costco...

--Boris