Advertisements promise incredible discounts. Black Friday is launched, with its XXL promotions, advertising spots and ads by email, SMS and mailboxes. "The brands want to give the idea that we buy more than an object, that we offer new possibilities," explains at the microphone of Europe 1 Professor Joyeux, the department of psychiatry and addiction of the hospital Bichat, in Paris. But no need for promotions to explain the unwanted desire to buy, quite the opposite. "Impulsives can not resist, it's like other kinds of addictions: it's like having a drink without being able to stop yourself from finishing the bottle," he says. According to him, the discounts of Black Friday do not correspond to the "symptoms" of an addiction to the purchase. "People who are losing control do not buy on sale, they like to spend."
Advertising and fear of regret
In the case of an addiction, the sensitivity to advertising also makes a lot. "We think that with a new object we will be different, that his life will change ... We do not buy an object but a kind of wild psychotherapy ..." Another encouragement to buy, the fear of regret. "We fear the lack, the marks suggest that you will miss it, you will regret it." Buying online is particularly conducive. "The more the purchase is materialized, the better it is evaluated and the better it resists," says Professor Joyeux.
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So do not panic, buying a lot does not want you to be addicted. "As long as it's nice, you can pay, nothing serious," he says. "Compulsive purchases are by definition purchases that are not fun, useless and above financial possibilities."