Will Retail Therapy as a Form of Self-Care Become Even More Popular in the Future?

It's a tale that's been told for generations: If you're feeling a touch of the blues, perhaps opening your wallet to go on a shopping spree could turn things around.

That seems to the mantra for many contemporary Americans as well, according to LendingTree survey data, with a few surprising twists on the pre-existing take.

The most striking pair of results: Nearly half (47%) of U.S. consumers polled indicated they take part in retail therapy to improve upon their mood, and an even greater cohort (54%) indicated a belief that doing so was a form of self-care.

“That doesn’t mean it’s something that should be encouraged, but it’s something that most of us have done at one point or another,” said Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst for LendingTree.

“It can even be OK in moderation. However, when it happens too often to too large of a degree, it can be a real problem in a hurry," he added.

Retail Therapy, Emotional Shopping May Not Be Entirely Without Risk

Schulz's words lead to a deeper dive into the stats, including the following findings:

• Nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents said that emotional shopping had led to them overspending.
• And 44% said that retail therapy in the form of emotional shopping had negatively impacted their financial health. This figure trends upward among those with kids younger than 18 (52%), Gen Zers (49%), and millennials aged 29 to 44 (50%).
• When asked what purchases were made during bouts of retail therapy, the most common categories pointed toward included food (63%), clothing and accessories (54%), personal care and beauty products (42%), entertainment (36%), crafts or hobby products (29%), home-related goods (28%), alcohol (28%), electronics (27%), and vacations (22%).

Perhaps surprisingly, when it comes to the following moods which spurred consumers to engage in retail therapy, happiness topped the list (46%), followed by excitement (45%). Stress wasn't too far behind, however, coming in at 42%, while boredom tagged along at 41%. Anxiousness (27%), sadness (also 27%), loneliness (24%), and romantic (22%) emotions followed.

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Could Potentially Drive Even Greater Emotional Spend

While retail therapy may have been a bit more difficult before the proliferation of credit cards, the introduction of buy now, pay later (BNPL) services into the mix has seemingly added fuel to the fire, whether one views the current picture positively or negatively.

LendingTree survey data highlighted that over half (52%) of emotional spenders said that BNPL loans had increased the likelihood of them engaging in retail therapy.

Breaking down the numbers, zoomers (62%) and millennials (55%) were most likely to state that BNPL loans increased the likelihood of emotional spending for them, and those parents of children younger than 18 (60%) were the most likely demographic of all to be spurred into retail therapy by BNPL availability.

“BNPL is definitely something that emotional spenders can get themselves in trouble with because these loans are so easy to get,” Schulz said.

“They’re far more accessible than even store credit cards, so the possibility of overspending is very real," he added.