HONG KONG, Dec 2 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE ) — Whenever we’re feeling down, many of us like to indulge in a little retail therapy. With the way this year has been going, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some impulsive spending as shopping holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday loom – it simply feels good to treat yourself.
While it’s easy to understand how feeling down can inspire us to open our wallets, a new study co-authored by Dr. Rocky Chen from Hong Kong Baptist University School of Business shows that how we process emotions like sadness – specifically the act of thinking of it like a person (anthropomorphizing), much in the same way that Disney vividly personifies Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust in the blockbuster Inside Out– affects us as consumers.