1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,000
Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.

2
00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:09,840
Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to stop? Mom? Never told

3
00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:17,680
Speaker 1: you from housetop works dot com. Hey thereon, Welcome to

4
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,640
Speaker 1: the podcast. This is Kristen, This is Molly. Molly, as promised,

5
00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,880
Speaker 1: UM and I honored this podcast. I'm going to tell

6
00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:31,320
Speaker 1: you a nickname of mine, given to me by by

7
00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,880
Speaker 1: a boyfriend that you probably have never never heard. No,

8
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,400
Speaker 1: I've been promised this anecdote for today. It's not too revolutionary,

9
00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:42,440
Speaker 1: but Molly, Um, I am in some circles known as

10
00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,520
Speaker 1: the thrifty nickel. Oh, it's so adorable. Yeah, it's kind

11
00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,120
Speaker 1: of adorable. But also, um, it's sort of an insult

12
00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:54,520
Speaker 1: because I really don't like spending money. I'm you could

13
00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,360
Speaker 1: say I'm a little bit of a tight watz apply. Yeah.

14
00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,160
Speaker 1: I like to shop, but I shop alone. I go

15
00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,160
Speaker 1: for things. I'm kind of like, you know, like a hunter.

16
00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,280
Speaker 1: I can see it, get it, leave. I'm not a

17
00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,920
Speaker 1: person to go try on fifty dresses and see which

18
00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:11,360
Speaker 1: one I like. If I don't like it on the rack,

19
00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,000
Speaker 1: I'm leaving. Any better be coming with me? Do you

20
00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:17,920
Speaker 1: um have guilt when you shop. Is that what kind

21
00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,960
Speaker 1: of makes you a Thrifty Nickel buyer's remorse, Yes, it's

22
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,040
Speaker 1: it's a big problem. Um, if I don't, if I

23
00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,240
Speaker 1: don't feel like I'm getting a good bargain on something,

24
00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:27,679
Speaker 1: I will probably be back in that store returning the

25
00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,920
Speaker 1: item in the following week. So you do buy the item.

26
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,560
Speaker 1: Sometimes it depends. Uh, it more depends on my mood.

27
00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,520
Speaker 1: But a lot of times I'll just avoid shopping all together.

28
00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:40,360
Speaker 1: And unless I know that there's some kind of big

29
00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,640
Speaker 1: sale going on. Well, this all leads us into the

30
00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,560
Speaker 1: idea of I'm sure Kristen is not the only Thrifty

31
00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,480
Speaker 1: Nickel listening today. Um. And but on the other hand,

32
00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,560
Speaker 1: you know, we talk about female issues on this podcast,

33
00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,360
Speaker 1: and one of the big female stereotypes is that girls

34
00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,360
Speaker 1: love to shop. Um, you know, and maybe you really

35
00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,120
Speaker 1: actually kind Do you love to shop and you like

36
00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,720
Speaker 1: the reward of getting a big deal? Oh? Absolutely, I

37
00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,920
Speaker 1: mean there's nothing like finding a fair boots that are

38
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,160
Speaker 1: fifty percent off. I mean I love it. I feel

39
00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,840
Speaker 1: like I want a marathon or something. Right, And so,

40
00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:14,799
Speaker 1: you know, we're just bombarded with these images and movies

41
00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,359
Speaker 1: and TV of like the girls loaded down with bags.

42
00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,280
Speaker 1: And what's kind of interesting is that the reason I

43
00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,960
Speaker 1: was asking Christen about guilt is that scientists have hooked

44
00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,240
Speaker 1: our brains up to machines and tried to figure out

45
00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,920
Speaker 1: why we buy what we buy and how that makes

46
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,480
Speaker 1: us feel. And what we're gonna get into later is

47
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,280
Speaker 1: that this totally affects the way that people market goods

48
00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,480
Speaker 1: and services to women. And I like talking about that

49
00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,320
Speaker 1: stereotype about women shopping. I think that women and men

50
00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,160
Speaker 1: certainly shop in a different way, and we shop four

51
00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:45,960
Speaker 1: different things. I think I saw in the Wall Street

52
00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,480
Speaker 1: Journal yesterday that in terms of retail items, women's shop

53
00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:51,560
Speaker 1: on a one to three year cycle, or as men

54
00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:53,800
Speaker 1: wal shop on a ten year cycle. So they buy

55
00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:56,280
Speaker 1: We buy clothes for a season. Men buy clothes for

56
00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,800
Speaker 1: years to come. But as a matter of fact, according

57
00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,480
Speaker 1: to the American Journal of Psychiatry, men are just as

58
00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,799
Speaker 1: likely to shop compulsively as we are. They just might

59
00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,280
Speaker 1: be more reluctant to to let anyone know about that

60
00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,080
Speaker 1: their secret, their secret. Shame. Yeah, So I think that

61
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,600
Speaker 1: we should talk about how just a brain, male, female, whatever,

62
00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,919
Speaker 1: how our brain processes shopping, right, because if you learn

63
00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,880
Speaker 1: from this podcast that you can blame all your shopoholic

64
00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,200
Speaker 1: nature's or your thirty nickel natures on your brain. You know,

65
00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,079
Speaker 1: that might make it easier easier stomach. Okay, so let's

66
00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,960
Speaker 1: start off. We've got an article called is my brain

67
00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,360
Speaker 1: making me buy things I don't need? And it revolves

68
00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,360
Speaker 1: around the study. Research was published in January two thousand

69
00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,960
Speaker 1: seven UH and the journal Neuron that UH shows that

70
00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,600
Speaker 1: when we spend, it's because things are going on in

71
00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,960
Speaker 1: our brain that we have no control over whatsoever. Right,

72
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:57,160
Speaker 1: there are all these cognitive functions that are going on,

73
00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:03,240
Speaker 1: but they're also emotional issue us attached to shopping and

74
00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:10,160
Speaker 1: actually purchasing something. And when the researchers hooked participants up

75
00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,000
Speaker 1: to an f M R I machine, they found that

76
00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,320
Speaker 1: an area of the brain called the nucleus incumbents lights

77
00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,479
Speaker 1: up when we see something that we like and want

78
00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,400
Speaker 1: to buy. Now, this section near the middle of the

79
00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:29,400
Speaker 1: brain is associated with our rewards center. If we see

80
00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:31,680
Speaker 1: something that we like and then we we have it,

81
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,560
Speaker 1: will feel a sense of reward like I do when

82
00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,920
Speaker 1: I buy bargain sweaters or whatever it might be. UM

83
00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:43,720
Speaker 1: and then once once we see the price, are an

84
00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,200
Speaker 1: area in our brain called the mesiol prefrontal cortex lights

85
00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,120
Speaker 1: up in this region the brain is known for higher

86
00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:54,560
Speaker 1: executive functions, and it seems like the when when this

87
00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:56,680
Speaker 1: part of the brain lights up, it's like we're trying

88
00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,360
Speaker 1: to decide whether or not what we're looking at is

89
00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:04,200
Speaker 1: worth the actual cost of it, and then the actual

90
00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,400
Speaker 1: decision of whether or not we're going to purchase that

91
00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,919
Speaker 1: handbag or pair of boots or whatever happens in the

92
00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:17,160
Speaker 1: insula and depending on whether or not we buy it,

93
00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:19,880
Speaker 1: it will it will light up. Right. So, how this

94
00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,640
Speaker 1: all worked in practice was when the people went into

95
00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,160
Speaker 1: the MRI machine, they were handed forty dollars in cash.

96
00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,160
Speaker 1: They've guide in their hand, it's there is to spend,

97
00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,720
Speaker 1: and then they're shown images of these things that you know,

98
00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:33,159
Speaker 1: they can decide to buy or not. They can push

99
00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:35,159
Speaker 1: a yes no button and say yeah, I want that,

100
00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,440
Speaker 1: and then at the end of the experiment, the prices

101
00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,000
Speaker 1: were subtracted from their forty dollars and the change was theirs.

102
00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,240
Speaker 1: So before people even push the yes no button, scientists

103
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,479
Speaker 1: could tell what they were going to pick based on

104
00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,359
Speaker 1: whether that part that Christmas talking about the insula lit up. Um.

105
00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,400
Speaker 1: The insula is just sort of be no, you're it's

106
00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,239
Speaker 1: kind of like your no button. Basically, if you're insula

107
00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,600
Speaker 1: lit up, then you decide not to buy the product

108
00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:03,599
Speaker 1: because as the ends didn't justify the means, um, but

109
00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:05,880
Speaker 1: if it didn't light up, then you were like bye

110
00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,640
Speaker 1: bye bye. And it's interesting because the insula is sort

111
00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,480
Speaker 1: of the opposite of the brain's pleasure center. It's more

112
00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,360
Speaker 1: associated with with pain and regret. So if the insula

113
00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:19,680
Speaker 1: is lighting up and you go ahead and buy it anyway,

114
00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,400
Speaker 1: you know, you might feel horribly guilty about it, but

115
00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,080
Speaker 1: it's very unconscious. You definitely haven't felt the pain yet.

116
00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,760
Speaker 1: You can just sort of, you know, party brains anticipating

117
00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,680
Speaker 1: that there will be pain because this is happening so fast.

118
00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,600
Speaker 1: I mean when they were flashing these images on the

119
00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:35,760
Speaker 1: screen and then the price that was happening all within

120
00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,800
Speaker 1: maybe ten seconds. Oh, I would bet less, but I

121
00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,520
Speaker 1: mean I have no time on the matter. But anyway,

122
00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,280
Speaker 1: it is happening very fast, which is why, um, you

123
00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,240
Speaker 1: don't want to be making quick spur of the moment purchases.

124
00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:50,960
Speaker 1: That's how you get of you know, you don't give

125
00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,720
Speaker 1: your brain time to do all it's deliberating and this

126
00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,120
Speaker 1: action that happens in the brain is something that behavioral

127
00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:03,080
Speaker 1: economists called trans action utility. Yes, and that's the measure

128
00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,279
Speaker 1: of whether or not what we are getting is going

129
00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,920
Speaker 1: to be a good deal and therefore pleasurable, or if

130
00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:13,480
Speaker 1: we're going to um be spending too much than we

131
00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:18,120
Speaker 1: should and we'll be experiencing pain from it. Now, so experimently,

132
00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,720
Speaker 1: just described works for males or females. Everyone has this

133
00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:24,360
Speaker 1: going on in their brain when they go shopping. But

134
00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,080
Speaker 1: the reason it really relates to females in particular is

135
00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:29,360
Speaker 1: that women buy more. You know, we are in charge

136
00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,240
Speaker 1: of a lot more household purchases. Um, we have the

137
00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,560
Speaker 1: stereotype that we'd like to go buy clothes and you know,

138
00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,360
Speaker 1: you know, throw off an afternoon that way. So, knowing

139
00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:44,240
Speaker 1: this about everyone's brains, there's a field called neuroeconomics that

140
00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,560
Speaker 1: goes even deeper into a female brain to say, what

141
00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:50,680
Speaker 1: else can we learn about a female's brain that will

142
00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,080
Speaker 1: influence how she buys things? Right? And there was an

143
00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,320
Speaker 1: article in The New York Times um talking about how

144
00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:02,920
Speaker 1: snorro economics applied to you a new advertising campaign by

145
00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:07,559
Speaker 1: Freedo Lay Company. They know that women snack more often

146
00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,640
Speaker 1: than men, but for some reason, women were not going

147
00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,960
Speaker 1: for Lay's products. They were eating other things. And they

148
00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,680
Speaker 1: also knew, as we were talking before that that women

149
00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:19,880
Speaker 1: were experiencing all of this guilt associated with snacking, so

150
00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:26,200
Speaker 1: they wanted to develop these Uh so they wanted to

151
00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,280
Speaker 1: develop an ad campaign specifically targeting women to get them

152
00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,440
Speaker 1: to acknowledge the guilt, but go ahead and buy some

153
00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,760
Speaker 1: freed A Lay products anyway. Right. They knew that based

154
00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,840
Speaker 1: on MRI scans, that women were relied more on the

155
00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,960
Speaker 1: emotional side of their brain when making choices. So they're like, Okay,

156
00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,320
Speaker 1: women have all this guilt when they eat snacks. Um.

157
00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:49,440
Speaker 1: They don't want to say just guilt free, because you

158
00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,040
Speaker 1: know that still implies that guilt could be had. But

159
00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,559
Speaker 1: the new packaging talks about how it's just so good

160
00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:59,400
Speaker 1: for you. Yeah, and and the commercials are very like, hey, gals,

161
00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,560
Speaker 1: we know what it's like. You're at the gym and

162
00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,080
Speaker 1: you're hungry and you're all sweaty. Why don't you just

163
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,680
Speaker 1: open up a bag of sonships because you're acknowledging that

164
00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:09,680
Speaker 1: you're doing something good for you. Like, you're gonna start

165
00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,439
Speaker 1: seeing lots of packaging. Um that emphasizes the healthy ingredients,

166
00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,520
Speaker 1: puts that on the forefront as opposed to zero calories,

167
00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:19,840
Speaker 1: which reminds you about calories altogether. They're going to bypass

168
00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,880
Speaker 1: that and go straight to like, oh don't you love

169
00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,960
Speaker 1: all natural products? And and these little animated female characters

170
00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,480
Speaker 1: that they're using are meant to, like, you know, really

171
00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,760
Speaker 1: commiserate with with the women and the fake women in

172
00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:38,920
Speaker 1: in the ads. You got there, I've been there. I'm

173
00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,199
Speaker 1: just hungry. I just want to snack. And don't they

174
00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,280
Speaker 1: talk about I didn't realize they had accents in the commercial, Christen,

175
00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,719
Speaker 1: but don't they all my mind? Don't they also talk

176
00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:51,280
Speaker 1: about stuff, um like bras and shopping and all these

177
00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,880
Speaker 1: things that women supposedly love and want camaraderie with. Yeah,

178
00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,000
Speaker 1: it's kind of sex in the city on steroids in

179
00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,840
Speaker 1: a horrible way to make your b to make you

180
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,280
Speaker 1: buy potato chips. Um. So that's just one very small

181
00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:08,640
Speaker 1: example of how they're using your brain to get to you. Um.

182
00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:10,480
Speaker 1: But Chris, and I know you brought some information in

183
00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,280
Speaker 1: about how they arrange grocery stores just to get you. Oh. Absolutely,

184
00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:19,520
Speaker 1: walk into any grocery store and you've got uh neuroeconomics

185
00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:32,440
Speaker 1: in its finest form. You know, uh, sorry, okay, what's uh? So,

186
00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,840
Speaker 1: the area immediately inside a supermarket where they usually place

187
00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,920
Speaker 1: a lot of displays and promotional items is called the

188
00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,880
Speaker 1: decompression zone, and this is really where, uh they want

189
00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:46,400
Speaker 1: you to just you know, take take in the store,

190
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,880
Speaker 1: you know, start seeing things that you want to buy,

191
00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,160
Speaker 1: and then you move into fresh fruits and vegetables. And

192
00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:54,120
Speaker 1: this always bugs me, and I think it bugs a

193
00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,520
Speaker 1: lot of other people because if you buy your bananas

194
00:10:57,559 --> 00:10:59,560
Speaker 1: first and then you go buy you know, your can

195
00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,439
Speaker 1: be or whatever it is, your bananas are going to

196
00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:06,559
Speaker 1: get squashed. But the thinking behind this is that selecting

197
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,040
Speaker 1: your good, wholesome fresh food is a good way to

198
00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,520
Speaker 1: start shopping. You're doing something good for yourself, so that

199
00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:13,960
Speaker 1: by the time you make your way to the middle

200
00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,320
Speaker 1: of the store and start running into oh, I don't know,

201
00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:19,800
Speaker 1: freedom a product or something like that, uh, you'll be

202
00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,040
Speaker 1: more willing to indulge a little bit. Yeah, you know,

203
00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:24,960
Speaker 1: you start off good, then you're like, oh, well, I

204
00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,079
Speaker 1: have fruit, I can have cookies too. And they put

205
00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,280
Speaker 1: the common items like milk and cheese and eggs and

206
00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,360
Speaker 1: things that most people just need to run in and

207
00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,719
Speaker 1: buy in the back of the store, so that you

208
00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:38,960
Speaker 1: have to walk through other aisles of food that you

209
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,640
Speaker 1: that you wouldn't normally walk through. And this is all

210
00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,480
Speaker 1: to boost your dwell time or your time and your

211
00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,560
Speaker 1: store because the thinking goes that the longer you spend

212
00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:51,200
Speaker 1: at a store, the more likely you are to buy more.

213
00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,760
Speaker 1: And so you're and plus I would bet I mean,

214
00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:56,760
Speaker 1: there's no research on this, but I bet your brain

215
00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,319
Speaker 1: gets tired. We were talking earlier about you know, these

216
00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,040
Speaker 1: trains actions that are happening in our brain between pain

217
00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:03,960
Speaker 1: and pleasure. By the time you get to the cookie,

218
00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,120
Speaker 1: I'll I don't know if your brain could still handle that.

219
00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,080
Speaker 1: Mine can't mind gets overloaded at the grocery store as

220
00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,680
Speaker 1: the cookies. But Thrifty Nickel, I just have to consider

221
00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,880
Speaker 1: our grocery stores by laying out their stores this way

222
00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:20,120
Speaker 1: of doing us a favor. Um, I need a little

223
00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:22,800
Speaker 1: more information and I can't make a judgment call them

224
00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,640
Speaker 1: that yet. So I was looking at this Women's health article.

225
00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,200
Speaker 1: It's called how Manolo's Can Save Your Life. And you

226
00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,840
Speaker 1: may not like this, Thrifty Nickel, but the article says yes.

227
00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:36,400
Speaker 1: The article talks about how great shopping makes you feel.

228
00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:39,360
Speaker 1: It only talks about that pain, that pleasure center while

229
00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:42,680
Speaker 1: ignoring the role of the insula. And it basically says

230
00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,480
Speaker 1: that by activating that pleasure center so much, you're just

231
00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,400
Speaker 1: releasing endorphins all throughout your body. You're gonna be in

232
00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:50,559
Speaker 1: great shape because of it. You're gonna be happier because

233
00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,000
Speaker 1: of it. Essentially, you're making the world a better place

234
00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,600
Speaker 1: because not only are you buying something nice for yourself,

235
00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,240
Speaker 1: you're helping out that lady in the shop. You know,

236
00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,000
Speaker 1: You're it's gonna be great. You're gonna stay active, You're

237
00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:04,719
Speaker 1: gonna stay shopping. Yea consumerism alright, Molly, I mean I

238
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:09,000
Speaker 1: I I buy that there is an innate connection between

239
00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:14,240
Speaker 1: pleasurable shopping and uh, you know, emotions and all the

240
00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:18,480
Speaker 1: positive effects of that and and that's fantastic. But Molly,

241
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:23,240
Speaker 1: how how pleasurable and how how good for your brain

242
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:25,880
Speaker 1: is it going to be? When you get your credit

243
00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,760
Speaker 1: card bill in the mail six weeks later and our

244
00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,160
Speaker 1: two thousand dollars in debt? That's true, You're gonna have

245
00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:34,559
Speaker 1: to cancel your subscription to Women's Health magazine, which is

246
00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,200
Speaker 1: who told you to do that? In the first, lay, Um,

247
00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,679
Speaker 1: so let's go to a more reasonable source. I suppose

248
00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,480
Speaker 1: we'll go to the Boston Globe, which was also talking

249
00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:45,920
Speaker 1: about the experiment that we talked about at the beginning

250
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:49,240
Speaker 1: of the podcast with the with the two parts of

251
00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:52,719
Speaker 1: the brain that are in conflict whenever it was the

252
00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,880
Speaker 1: cumbents and the insula. Nice, so whenever you are deciding something,

253
00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,440
Speaker 1: that's the deliberation that's going on in there. And they

254
00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,360
Speaker 1: give us some hips on how to overcome the battle

255
00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,800
Speaker 1: to win our battle against our credit card debt. Okay,

256
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:11,080
Speaker 1: cognition over emotion, yes, um, to say nothing of the hormones.

257
00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,920
Speaker 1: But first and foremost researchers say, you've got to stop

258
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,920
Speaker 1: using your credit card. It's too um, it's too easy

259
00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,040
Speaker 1: to do. You don't have that sense of guilt when

260
00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:23,200
Speaker 1: you have to like just swipe something that you will

261
00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,400
Speaker 1: if you're counting out your cold heart cash, right, there's uh,

262
00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,200
Speaker 1: there's actual pain kind of associated with just seeing the

263
00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:35,160
Speaker 1: cash leaving your hands or your nickels or your nickels. Um,

264
00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,320
Speaker 1: I should probably stop mentioning that as much as I am,

265
00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,480
Speaker 1: or you won't tell me any more deep dark secret um,

266
00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:43,400
Speaker 1: but yeah, you have to And internet that's why internet

267
00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:45,240
Speaker 1: shopping is the worst. This is what I do and

268
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,720
Speaker 1: I feel bad. I just go online, go to Amazon,

269
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,360
Speaker 1: one click away, one click away, and you're done. So

270
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,040
Speaker 1: don't shop online. Actually go to the god of store.

271
00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:55,800
Speaker 1: And you do need to know your feelings. Do you

272
00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:59,800
Speaker 1: shop more when you're sad? Um? Even men tend to,

273
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,440
Speaker 1: you know, shop when they're sad. Yeah. I only shop

274
00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,200
Speaker 1: if I'm in a shopping mood, and a lot of

275
00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:08,560
Speaker 1: times I think it probably is more correlated if I'm

276
00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,760
Speaker 1: feeling kind of down, I need a new shirt or

277
00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,480
Speaker 1: something to douce my my steam a little bit. Yeah,

278
00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,880
Speaker 1: you're trying to activate that pleasure center and if you're

279
00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,200
Speaker 1: but if you can't, just be happy and go shopping.

280
00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,280
Speaker 1: Because I was reading that if your pleasure centers are activated,

281
00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,040
Speaker 1: you're like on a roll. For example, the Boston Globe

282
00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,920
Speaker 1: talks about how men who had just looked at erotic

283
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,680
Speaker 1: pictures were more likely to shop for more because they

284
00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:35,400
Speaker 1: are I had the pleasure center turned on and they

285
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,160
Speaker 1: didn't want to turn it off. Well, so don't look

286
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,720
Speaker 1: at erotic pictures. So before you go shopping lesson number

287
00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:45,720
Speaker 1: two important tip of the day. Well, Molly one one

288
00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:47,560
Speaker 1: thing that you also have to avoid. If we're talking

289
00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:52,720
Speaker 1: about tips for overcoming this this instinct a shop is

290
00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:58,080
Speaker 1: avoiding the dressing room. Really, yes, An article in The

291
00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:04,080
Speaker 1: Economist magazine reported that if customers try something on, they

292
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:08,720
Speaker 1: are they have a chance of actually buying it, as

293
00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,440
Speaker 1: opposed to a fifty eight percent chance of seeing if

294
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,160
Speaker 1: they just like it on the rack. If you take

295
00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:15,280
Speaker 1: it in there, I mean, it's a commitment you have.

296
00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,720
Speaker 1: You've taken the time put it on, You've seen what

297
00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,520
Speaker 1: it's like, you're imagining the shoes that will go with

298
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,120
Speaker 1: it as good as yours. Wow. All right, Well, one

299
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,200
Speaker 1: more tip for you, don't buy so much in one store.

300
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,320
Speaker 1: Don't go into that dressing room with twenty things to

301
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:31,560
Speaker 1: try on, because then, like Kristen said, you're probably gonna

302
00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,960
Speaker 1: walk out with ten and it's not gonna be such

303
00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,600
Speaker 1: a big deal that you're buying so much anymore. Whereas

304
00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:38,760
Speaker 1: if you buy, you know, ten dollar thing there and

305
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,840
Speaker 1: a ten dollar thing there, you notice more that you

306
00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:43,600
Speaker 1: keep pulling out the credit card. Right, Just from experience,

307
00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,880
Speaker 1: I think there's definitely a sort of a threshold of shopping.

308
00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:50,480
Speaker 1: For instance, I went shopping for makeup last weekend, and

309
00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:52,640
Speaker 1: makeup is really easy for me to buy because it's

310
00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,600
Speaker 1: very small. A lot of times it will cost less

311
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,160
Speaker 1: than thirty dollars. So I went in, you know, I

312
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,080
Speaker 1: was looking for some the mess gara and I was like,

313
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:05,160
Speaker 1: all right, I got this. Then I saw an eyeliner pencil. Okay,

314
00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,080
Speaker 1: all these things I can hold in my hand. By

315
00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:09,520
Speaker 1: the time I left, I had like five things. Yeah,

316
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,000
Speaker 1: you've gotta keep moving. But don't I look facuse Yes,

317
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,600
Speaker 1: I do. Wish you could see Kristin. But Kristen, this

318
00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,520
Speaker 1: is a specific tip for you. It's give me our

319
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,320
Speaker 1: last one. And it's specifically for those of us who

320
00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:23,480
Speaker 1: do try to be thrifting nickels every now and then.

321
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:25,840
Speaker 1: And that is you have to be aware of bargains

322
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,800
Speaker 1: sometimes because the lower price makes you think that you

323
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,320
Speaker 1: can't do anything wrong. It makes you think you can't

324
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,280
Speaker 1: go wrong. You've got to buy it's a bargain. I

325
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,159
Speaker 1: have made many many erroneous thrift store purchases. Yes, So

326
00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,879
Speaker 1: you've got to not let your insula. You know, we

327
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:42,879
Speaker 1: talked a lot about combining that pleasure center. But you

328
00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,240
Speaker 1: also can't let your insula just guilt you into buying

329
00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:47,639
Speaker 1: things because they're good deals. If you don't need it,

330
00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,000
Speaker 1: you don't need it, but you know what you do need.

331
00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:55,520
Speaker 1: Molly what more information about the brain and shopping. So

332
00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:57,600
Speaker 1: if you would like to learn more about all of

333
00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,639
Speaker 1: this and read the article is my brain making Me

334
00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,040
Speaker 1: buy things that I don't need? By Julia Layton, you

335
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,920
Speaker 1: can go to how stuff works dot com and if

336
00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,040
Speaker 1: you have any questions or comments for me and Molly,

337
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,280
Speaker 1: you can email us at mom stuff at how stuff

338
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:20,320
Speaker 1: works dot com for moralness and thousands of other topics.

339
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:27,480
Speaker 1: Because it how stuff works dot com brought to you

340
00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,880
Speaker 1: by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are

341
00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:31,080
Speaker 1: you