Could Retail Therapy Increase Happiness?

Chances are, if you're feeling depressed, a new outfit might make your feel better. (And no, we're not quoting a line from "Clueless.")

According to researchers from the University of Michigan, they found that retail therapy is an "effective way to minimize sadness."

For the study, researchers discovered that buying something was up to 40 times more effective than window-shoping when it came to giving people a sense of happiness and control. Participants were also three times happier than those who window-shopped alone.

Their research involved three different experiments that looked at whether shopping helps boost a sense of control and happiness. As past research suggests that shoppers feel positive emotions when thinking about their most recent purchases, they hoped to determine how depressed shoppers might feel after going on a shopping spree.

However, further research is needed in order to determine if shopping goes beyond more than simply distracting depressed individuals.

"Retail therapy - shopping that is motivated by distress - is often said to be ineffective, wasteful and a dark side of consumer behavior, but we propose that retail therapy has been viewed too negatively, and that shopping may be an effective way to minimize sadness," the researchers noted, via a press release. 

What do you think?

More information regarding the study can be found via the Journal of Consumer Psychology.