Stress required shopping – Kommersant FM

Every fifth Russian makes spontaneous purchases. And a quarter do it intentionally. This became an anti-stress against the backdrop of “external shocks,” according to a study by the Higher School of Economics (HSE). Analysts conducted a survey among consumers. Business is well acquainted with this model and not only adapts to it, but also fuels the excitement. How do Russians deal with stress in stores? And how do the latter make money from this? With details – Ivan Koryakin.

External shocks cause stress, depression and frustration, and this all leads to emotional consumption. And with external shocks, “thank God, everything is fine here,” the authors of the study from the Higher School of Economics sneer. They call those purchases that are not only rational in nature as emotionally charged. And there are nuances here. Analysts distinguish three types of such consumption: impulsive – these are spontaneous purchases, compulsive – the “chronic form” of the first – that is, shopaholism, and panic – emptying shelves with toilet paper and buckwheat.

Russians are well aware of the latter: they stock up during any crisis. The government’s promises to prevent deficits only increase panic, because Russians do not trust the authorities, the study says. Sellers only fuel the rush demand, says Dmitry Senderov, head of the Strong advertising agency:

“Hurry up to buy, it won’t be cheaper, there’s only one month left before prices rise – in conditions of certain instability, people try to invest money in something that, from their point of view, will bring them a certain peace of mind and stability. But life shows that most of these purchases do not bring either economic benefit or peace of mind to their owners.”

Under the influence of panic, you can buy up not only buckwheat, but also all household appliances for years to come, even if you then have to sell them at a loss. Although in 2022 this strategy has borne fruit, judging by the prices of goods from the departed IKEA on ad sites.

But much more dangers await Russians offline – in the same shopping centers on the way to supermarkets, marketers set their traps, says co-founder of Vinci Agency Maria Lapuk:

“Now there is a whole phenomenon – these are stores that are located in walk-through areas. If you have ever been, for example, to Afimall, this is Vsegazin and other similar networks. They built their entire business model on impulse purchases – these are cheap and not the most necessary things. You can go there and grab cool candles, some toys, flowers and everything else.”

Of course, the audience of such stores is much wider: if a Russian purposefully goes for sugar, perhaps scented candles will not bother him, but those prone to impulsive purchases – and this is every fifth – will be attracted to them.

Spontaneous spending of money helps to cope with depressive moods – it is a kind of consumer therapy. Especially if you spend money on restaurants, this is pure physiology: people eat stress. Marina Malakhatko, head of the retail department of Core.XP, speaks about this:

“As a rule, people are spontaneously ready to have a snack in the parking lot, so food trucks with various fast food offers are often placed there. Those who prefer thrifty consumption save on food. By the way, sometimes we save a lot, and then suddenly they can spontaneously go to a restaurant and leave half their salary there, for example.”

It’s different for professional shopaholics – they don’t deceive themselves: they buy things not for the sake of possession, but for the sake of satisfaction. 25% of Russians made such compulsive purchases – and this is an amazing result compared to the average of ten in other countries. Perhaps there is less stress and panic there for some reason.

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Ivan Khorushevsky