Is Impulse Buying a Survival Instinct?購物沖動原是生存本能？

by Bryan Borzykowski

喬皙 譯

Is Impulse Buying a Survival Instinct?購物沖動原是生存本能？

by Bryan Borzykowski

喬皙 譯

買買買……

在這個經(jīng)濟快速發(fā)展的社會中，人們的消費欲望不斷膨脹，相信大家對去年 “雙11購物狂歡節(jié)”的瘋狂勁兒還記憶猶新！原本以為遇上打折促銷是撿了大便宜，不買就虧了，但我們都輸給了精明的商家，買了很多東西卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己根本用不著。那么，有什么辦法讓自己把錢花在真正有用的東西上？剁手族必看。

B efore the 26-year-old Indianapolis-based communications professional buys anything she asks herself a series of questions, such as, “do I need the item?” and “will it be useful in the long run?”

Once quite the1)spendthrift, Kumok blew through her budget, buying items on sale that she didn’t need and spending too much money dining out.While she didn’t max out credit cards or bury herself in debt, Kumok was spending above her means.

She now has a list of products that she absolutely will not buy, including books, notebooks and office supplies—three things she doesn’t need, but used to love to spend money on, to the2)detrimentof her bank account.

A big part of the problem: impulsivity.When Kumok moved to London for a year, for instance, she bought every guidebook she could find, including specialised titles likeA Book Lover’s Guide to Londonand obscure guides to specifc areas of the city.She couldn’t help herself.

Kumok didn’t read a single one of the guidebooks and had to pay $150 in extra baggage fees to bring them home.

Impulse spending is a big problem for many people.A 2012 Bank of Montreal survey, for instance, found that Canadians spend, on average, CAD $3,720 ($2,987) each year on impulse buys.A 2014 Creditcard.com survey found that 75% of Americans had made an impulse buy, with 10% of people spending more than $1,000 on a single item.A Nielsen study, conducted last year, found that impulsivity led 52% of people in Thailand, 48% of people in India and 44% of people in China to buy something they didn’t need.

Why are people so3)proneto making4)split-secondmoney decisions, many of which are detrimental to their bank accounts? And how can you resist the urge?

1 ) spendthrift ['spendθr?ft] n.浪費金錢的人，揮金如土的人

2 ) detriment ['detr?m?nt] n.損害，傷害

3 ) prone [pr??n] adj.易于……的，傾向于……的

4 ) split-second 瞬間發(fā)生的，霎那間發(fā)生的

這位26歲的印第安納波利斯傳播專家買任何東西前都會自問一連串問題，如“我需要這件商品嗎？”還有“是否可以用很長時間？”

庫莫克曾經(jīng)是個揮霍無度的人，常常超出預算，買她不需要的打折商品，在外出就餐方面花費太多。雖然沒有刷爆信用卡，不至于負債累累，但庫莫克花錢比賺錢快。

現(xiàn)在她有一張清單，上面記錄著她絕對不會買的東西，包括書、筆記本、辦公用品——這三種東西是她不需要而又曾很喜歡花錢買、有損銀行賬戶的。

其中一大問題是：沖動。庫莫克就是一個例子，她曾到倫敦生活一年，一到那里她就買了所有她能找到的旅游指南，其中有針對性明確的，如《書蟲倫敦指南》，也有對倫敦某個地方作粗略介紹的。她控制不了自己。

那些指南庫莫克一本都沒看過，但卻要另外花150美元的行李費把它們帶回家。

沖動消費是很多人的一大問題。例如， 2012年蒙特利爾銀行的一項調查發(fā)現(xiàn)，加拿大人每年平均花3,720加元（2,987美元）在沖動購物上。