This Study Reveals a Link Between Smartphone Addiction and Compulsive Shopping

The intersection of smartphones have ecommerce have created the perfect storm for the industry, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it might be harming the consumers themselves. Flow experiences on smartphones which describe a situation where someone loses themselves in their smartphone activities so much so that they forget the passage of time may be leading to other compulsive behaviors, particularly among members of the Gen Z cohort.

A new study has just revealed that two harmful behaviors, namely smartphone addiction and compulsive shopping, might actually go hand in hand. Gen Z consumers are referred to as Digital Natives due to them being born and raised in an era of smartphones and other technological devices. They don’t know a world without smartphones, and that makes them much more susceptible to such behavior than might have been the case otherwise.

This data comes from a survey conducted by Italian researchers. The study revealed a strong correlation between compulsive smartphone usage and buying things on a whim online without doing due diligence first. Many shopping platforms have a flow inducing experience because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up increasing sales. It turns out that they are quite effective, although this study suggests that they are exploiting compulsive behaviors in the process.

A major contributing factor to this trend is the desire for mood stabilization or regulation. Consumers who are browsing shopping platforms might enter a flow state and make purchases without rationalizing the. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the study only analyzed behavior over a short period of time.

Longer study periods might reveal new information, although many other studies have confirmed what is being presented here in one way or another. Gen Z people are frequently turning to self destructive behaviors, many of which center around their smartphones. Gaming apps are a frequent source of criticism for being addictive, but shopping apps are also a part of the problem and need to change.


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