--- title: Does Retail Therapy Actually Work? description: Does retail therapy work? Research says choosing can ease sadness, but only for some feelings. 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You Need a Better Relationship With Time. - Learn more](https://www.optyoumize.com/time-rhythm-rest) [![icon-pillarpage2](https://www.optyoumize.com/hubfs/icon-pillarpage2.png)](https://www.optyoumize.com/growth-self-becoming) #### [Growth & Self-Becoming - Becoming More Fully Yourself: A Guide to Growth That Is Honest, Patient, and Actually Yours - Learn more](https://www.optyoumize.com/growth-self-becoming) [Subscribe](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/optyoumize/id1566481729) [Review](https://ratethispodcast.com/optyoumize?utm_source=Button%20Embed) [blog](https://www.optyoumize.com/blog/tag/blog) # Does Retail Therapy Actually Work? Does retail therapy work? Research says choosing can ease sadness, but only for some feelings. Here's when it helps and a smarter way to use it. ![does retail therapy work](https://www.optyoumize.com/hubfs/Does%20Retail%20Therapy%20Actually%20Work_.jpg) # Does Retail Therapy Actually Work? By **[Brett Ingram](https://www.optyoumize.com/about)** | Last updated October 10, 2026 | 6 minute read For some feelings and for a short while, yes. In a set of experiments, people who made shopping choices, even imaginary ones, reported less lingering sadness than people who did not. A separate study found that small, mood-driven treats were usually described as helpful, not regretted. But the research is mostly short-term, low-stakes and based on students, so it doesn't tell us that spending is a good way to handle a hard year. It tells us something more useful: the part that helps may be the choosing, not the buying. ## The Simple Answer Retail therapy can give a real, brief lift to sadness, mostly because making a choice restores a sense of control. It does not seem to help with anger, and nobody has shown it fixes chronic stress or low mood. Used on purpose and kept small, it is a fine tool. Used as your only tool, it gets expensive. ## What Does the Research Say About Shopping and Mood? Let's start with the study that did the most to take retail therapy seriously. Researchers Scott Rick, Beatriz Pereira and Katherine Burson ran **[three experiments on shopping and sadness](https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/items/775474d5-1f82-4c71-88eb-46cba662f93b)**, published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology in 2014. They found that making shopping choices reduced lingering sadness, whether the choices were hypothetical or real. Their explanation: choosing restores a sense of personal control over your surroundings, and sadness tends to come with feeling like things are out of your hands. The University of Michigan's **[write-up of the research](https://news.umich.edu/feeling-down-retail-therapy-helps-beat-the-blues)** gives a better feel for the design. In one experiment, 100 adults watched a sad movie clip. Half imagined spending $100 by picking four of twelve $25 items for a cart. The other half picked the four most useful travel items from the same twelve. The shoppers ended up less sad. Nobody paid a cent. That is the surprising part. The lead researcher said that actively choosing between products is essential, even if those choices are hypothetical. Which means the cart you fill and never check out may be doing more work than the package that shows up on Thursday. A second line of research points the same direction. Selin Atalay and Margaret Meloy's **[2011 study in Psychology & Marketing](https://pure.psu.edu/en/publications/retail-therapy-a-strategic-effort-to-improve-mood/)** found that people in a bad mood tend to buy and consume more unplanned treats, that this can be a deliberate strategy rather than pure impulse, and that the mood benefits lasted. Unplanned purchases made to lift a bad mood weren't linked to regret or guilt in their data. | What the studies suggest | What they do not show | | --- | --- | | Making product choices eased lingering sadness in the lab | That it helps with anger, or with long-running low mood | | Hypothetical choices helped, so the choosing may matter more than owning | That buying beats other ways of restoring a sense of control | | Small mood-driven treats were generally reported as helpful, not regretted | What happens with large purchases, debt or repeated spending over months | ## Why Would Choosing Make You Feel Better? Think about what a bad day usually is. A boss changed the plan. A friend cancelled. The news was news. Whatever the details, you didn't get a vote. Then you open a browser tab and suddenly you get to pick the blue one or the green one. Tiny, yes, but it is a decision that is entirely yours. That tracks with the researchers' control explanation. It also tells you something about *Fight Club*, which famously warned about people buying things to fill a hole. The film has a point about stuff. But the research suggests the hole being patched is often a feeling of powerlessness, and a $25 candle is a surprisingly efficient, if temporary, patch. If you want more on why so many small decisions wear you out in the first place, our post on **[decision fatigue](https://www.optyoumize.com/blog/what-is-decision-fatigue-and-how-to-fix-it)** is a good companion piece. ## When Does Retail Therapy Stop Working? A few honest limits, drawn from the studies' own scope. **It didn't help with anger.** The Michigan researchers noted that anger is tied to blaming other people for a bad outcome, so choosing a sweater does not touch the source. If you are furious at your landlord, a new pair of shoes will not sort that out. **The effects were measured briefly.** The Michigan study itself acknowledges that the emotions were mild and the purchases small. Nothing here tells us what happens when it becomes your main way to cope, or when the purchases are large. **The samples were narrow.** Much of this work used university students and self-reports. That's useful, but it isn't the same as a 45-year-old with a mortgage and a stressful quarter. **Money still has a ceiling.** A treat that costs more than you can comfortably spend creates a new stressor to replace the old one. If spending to feel better is leaving you anxious about the balance, that's worth taking seriously, and talking with a financial counselor or licensed mental health professional can help. ## How Do You Use Retail Therapy Without the Regret? This is my own practical approach, not a research protocol. If choosing is the active ingredient, you can get most of the benefit cheaply. 1. **Name the feeling first.** Sad, bored, overwhelmed or angry? If it's anger, shopping probably isn't the tool. 2. **Fill the cart, then wait.** Browse and choose, but don't pay for 24 hours. Many items won't survive the night, and you still got the lift from deciding. 3. **Set a treat budget in advance.** A small, pre-decided number (say, the price of a good coffee and a paperback) makes it a plan, not a leak. 4. **Prefer things that give you more control.** A planner, a tool you'll use, a groceries splurge. Choices that make tomorrow easier tend to outlast the mood. 5. **Try a non-shopping choice too.** Rearrange a shelf. Pick the route for a walk. Plan Saturday. Any decision that is wholly yours can scratch the same itch. | The feeling | A small, deliberate choice | Rough cost | | --- | --- | --- | | Sad, drained | Fill a cart, wait a day, buy one thing | Your pre-set treat budget | | Overwhelmed, out of control | Decide tomorrow's first hour, in writing | Free | | Angry at a person or situation | Name what you want to say or change. Then act on that | Free, possibly uncomfortable | | Bored, restless | Pick a new place to walk or a new recipe | Free to low | If you tend to feel guilty after any spending on yourself, that's usually less about the purchase and more about the story attached to it. We dig into that in **[why you feel guilty spending money on yourself](https://www.optyoumize.com/blog/why-do-i-feel-guilty-spending-money-on-myself)**, and into where those stories come from in **[what a money script is](https://www.optyoumize.com/blog/what-is-a-money-script-and-how-to-change-it)**. ## Is It Better to Spend on Experiences? Often, but that's a different question. Retail therapy is about relief in the moment. If you're thinking about longer-lasting satisfaction, take a look at **[whether experiences make you happier than things](https://www.optyoumize.com/blog/do-experiences-make-you-happier-than-things)**. The two ideas fit together: a small treat to get through Tuesday, a bigger plan to look forward to in spring. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Does retail therapy actually improve your mood? In lab studies, making shopping choices reduced lingering sadness, and in a separate study small mood-driven treats were generally reported as helpful. The evidence is short-term and mostly from students, so it supports a brief lift, not a cure. ### Why do I shop when I'm sad or stressed? Research suggests sadness is tied to feeling a loss of control, and choosing between products can restore some of that control. Plenty of people also use small treats deliberately as a way to feel better. ### Is retail therapy a bad habit? Not by default. A small, planned treat is different from spending that strains your budget or becomes your only way to cope. If shopping is causing debt, secrecy or distress, consider talking with a financial counselor or licensed mental health professional. ### Can browsing without buying work? It may. In one experiment, people who only imagined spending $100 still reported less sadness afterward than a comparison group, which suggests the act of choosing matters. This was a single lab study, so treat it as a promising trick, not a guarantee. ## Where This Leaves You You don't have to feel guilty about wanting a small lift on a rough day. You also don't have to hand your mood over to a checkout page. Know what you're really after (usually a little control), spend deliberately, and keep the stakes small. That's the spirit of our **[Money & Financial Wellbeing](https://www.optyoumize.com/money-financial-wellbeing)** pillar: a relationship with money that supports your life instead of quietly steering it. ### Share on your favorite platform...   [![Brett Ingram](https://www.optyoumize.com/hubfs/brett-ingram-head.png)](https://www.optyoumize.com/blog/author/brett-ingram) ### [Brett Ingram](https://www.optyoumize.com/blog/author/brett-ingram) My name is Brett Ingram — coach, speaker, podcast host, and award-winning entrepreneur. After 20 years building businesses I came to believe the most important self-improvement question isn't "how do I do more?" but rather "what does a genuinely good life actually look like for me?" We'll explore that question across the seven pillars of a well-lived life: mind, body, purpose, relationships, money, time, and growth. 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