(Radio Iowa) – Black Friday is four weeks from today, launching another holiday shopping season, but a University of Iowa study finds people who are lonely may find themselves unable to resist the impulse to buy.
Marketing Professor Alice Wang, in the U-I’s Tippie College of Business, says loneliness is different for everyone, but if someone perceives themselves as having a relationship deficit, they may be more susceptible to compulsive shopping.
In the U-I study, Wang says they asked people to think about their existing relationships, and to elaborate on them in writing, perhaps how your current friends helped you through a tough time. Such an exercise can help to change perspectives, she says, and change habits.
