I continue to work on managing impulses to shop for entertainment or to alleviate boredom. It’s not easy. I sometimes find myself in a store with an armful of things and then have to stop and ask myself what I’m doing, and why.

The good news is that since working on being more intentional, I put most, if not all, of the things back, and then go home. I do better by not going into stores in the first place but am proud of myself that I’ve moved into a mindset where I can “snap out of it” when I’m mainlining dopamine by mindlessly shopping.

In this same context, I’ve also caught myself reaching for my phone to add something to an online shopping cart as an impulse. The most recent example happened when I was working on a pair of knitted leg warmers.

As you can see in the photo at the top of this post, I’m using double pointed needles to make these. The needles are size 4 (US), and two of them were made by the Prym company. I was knitting while out and about (not at home) when I realized that only two of them were Prym needles, and I was finding that I preferred those over the generic needles. My impulse was to pick up my phone and order a set of them. I got as far as adding them to my cart, and then stopped myself.

I asked myself whether I needed to spend almost $10 when it was highly likely that the remaining three Prym dpns were at home in the drawer with the rest of my double pointed needles. I decided that the answer to that was no, so I closed the cart and went back to my knitting.

We’ve been “programmed” for decades to shop for pleasure. We’ve been (and continue to be) marketed to and manipulated by sellers of cars, clothing, food/drinks, snacks, toys, and more – even fabric, yarn and craft supplies! Apparently a lot of success comes from the marketing and manipulation because the companies doing all of that are upping their game – not dialing back.

Social media expanded the reach of these tactics, and social psychologists tell us that the algorithms gathered on each of us by our behavior drive the things we are shown in our “feeds“. Articles or posts that seem to “just show up” in our feeds are not “just showing up”. They’re appearing based on the information that we’ve given up by our browsing – and pausing – behaviors.

Most of us also know that our phones can (and do) listen to us, and have had the experience of chatting with family or friends about some thing that is then advertised on Instagram or Facebook the next time we open the app.

Like it or not, we’re being digitally stalked to learn where our “weaknesses” lie. Once these are identified, attempts are made to exploit those weaknesses with a goal of extracting as much money from us as possible.

Lately, I have been feeling extremely rebellious about all of this. In addition to reducing my stash (fabric, yarn), shopping more sustainably, and crafting in harmony with Mother Nature, I’m pushing back against the onslaught of marketing and manipulation.

The psychology of spending

Research into consumer habits has shown that customers who have an emotional connection to the company or brand have a 306% higher lifetime value to the business. In other words, if we’re emotionally connected to the brand, business, or what they sell, we will SPEND 306% more than the average consumer in those places. And I think we all know that as fiber artists/crafters, we are indeed emotionally connected to our crafting, as well as the supplies.

This short (< 6-minutes) video explains these tactics and the impact they have on us and our spending.

According to Maxwell Finn of Unicorn Marketers, Walmart became the largest US retailer by understanding one thing: people don’t make rational shopping decisions – they make emotional ones.

Most of us have heard that if we grocery shop when we are HUNGRY, we will spend more. While that has been argued back and forth, one thing is certain. We do NOT go into any store on an even playing field with the retailer. They almost always have significant psychological and sociological advantages. To combat these, we must remember that our EMOTIONAL reactions are controlled by us.

Here are some things that retailers know based on more than 100 years (since 1903) of retail psychological research.

• Discounted or sale prices have the original price crossed out and visible on the tag/signs.
  • This isn’t an accident – it’s anchoring bias in action.
  • When we see “$4.97” next to a crossed out “$5.78” our brain anchors to the higher number first.
  • The sale price suddenly feels like an incredible deal.
  • Research from MIT has shown that people will pay up to 346% more when anchored to higher numbers.
• Stores will deliberately place pallets of products right in the middle of aisles to interrupt our shopping routine and force ud to notice deals.
  • This leverages salience bias as our brains prioritize things that stand out or seem out of place.
  • The technique is so effective that when Walmart removed “Action Alley” in 2009, sales dropped so much they brought it back within a year.
• Sweet bakery aromas trigger freshness perceptions.
• Narrow hallways create psychological pressure to move faster and decide quicker
  • wide aisles in high-margin areas make you linger longer.
• Lighting is always intentional.
  • Bright fluorescent lighting keeps you alert and focused on products.
• Even shopping cart sizes are calculated.
  • bigger carts encourage larger purchases

Every detail is designed to influence our behavior (and make more money).

We need to be MINDFUL that when we walk into just about any store – or log onto a social media app – we are stepping OFF of a level playing field and into a carefully orchestrated scheme to get us to spend as MUCH of our money as possible, and to be eager and excited to do so.

Getting a rush of “feel good” hormones feels good in the moment. Watching our debt levels DROP and our savings account valances RISE feel better, and these don’t evaporate in a few minutes or hours like the dopamine rush we get from shopping.

Like all of you, I will continue to shop, and purchase things that I want, and that I may or may not need, but I will be doing so more intentionally, and with more information on my side, so I can be sure that I am spending money on things that I truly want or need, and not on things that the store or business wants me to buy.

Be careful out there!

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(C) 2026 Stitch ‘n Dish