Overview

'Retail Therapy' refers to the act of going on a shopping spree to alleviate negative mood (Kang, 2009). It is a consumption behavior that is engaged in to cope with stress or depression, caused by some negative event that a person is either unwilling to or unable to tackle directly (Woodruffe, 2001). Consequently, she (/he) uses shopping or buying as an indirect means to reduce the tension and feel relaxed (Woodruffe, 2001). Shopping activity works as a coping mechanism that generates happiness in short-run (Hama, 2001; Kang, 2009; Atalay & Meloy, 2011), and enhances psychological well-being in the long-run (Kang & Johnson, 2011). Different types of therapeutic benefits offered by shopping include- distraction, escape, indulgence, relaxation, sensory stimulation, social connection etc. (Luomala, 2002; Lee, 2013). As per the existing literature and based on the survey reports of various expert agencies' websites (e.g. ebates.com, dendyneville.co.uk, addictionexperts.co.uk, creditkarma.com, etc.), it has been found that the usage of shopping for therapeutic reasons is more common in western countries like U.S. and U.K. This is mainly because of the developed retail market in these countries, which offers wider product choice to shoppers as well as gives them an entertaining and pleasurable shopping environment (McVeigh, 2000). However, the adoption of retail therapy in less developed or developing countries, has so far, not been much acknowledged. The research in this field has also been limited in these countries. The present study has been an effort in this direction. It has advanced the knowledge regarding usage of retail therapy among shoppers in India, which is a country with a different kind of retail environment and cultural background as compared to the developed countries.

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