Festive Selling Fever: How to exceed your brain at the checkout
Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Festive sales fever: The tapered trick to stay calm if your brain “buys” every October, and India’s e-commerce platforms convert the festive season into an online carnival. (Mint) Summary Dopamine, Fomo and Digital Design: What Really Drives the Indian Festivals Shopping Tour and how to buy smarter is the festival known that the country’s bazaars are now relieving the browsers. Every October, India’s e-commerce platforms turn the festive season into a shopping carnival. Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Days’ and Amazon’s ‘Great Indian Festival’ are now just as much part of Diwali as sweets and lights. The numbers are astonishing. Amazon reported 1.1 billion visits last year, while Flipkart saw 1.4 billion according to AIPDMA. Market Xcel expects the online festive sales to be $ 12 billion this year, by 23% higher than 2024. Behind these record numbers are a quieter story: a disciplinary-of-war between excitement and restraint; Between the excitement of an agreement and the small voice asking, “Do I really need it?” The science of the sale that buzzes after an agreement is not imagination, it is chemistry. Each time you buy something rewarding, the brain releases dopamine, the neuro transferring agent that attracts pleasure and anticipation. “Once we find something pleasant or rewarding, the brain releases dopamine and indicates that it feels surprising,” says psychologist Nishtha Jain. Retailers build their programs around the answer. Flash sales, countdown timers and spin-the-wheel coupons create variable reward-on-pre-preachable hits that make buyers return. Add urgency (“Only 2 left!”) And exclusivity (“Prime members get early access”), and rational thinking takes a back seat. What we chase is not the product itself, but the feeling of winning. Culture and celebration in India carry its own moral consent slip. The purchase of new things during Diwali or Dussehra feels like renewal, not indulgence. Psychologists call this moral licensing: expenses that feel virtuous when they are linked to family or donated. E-tailers know the emotion well. Campaigns promise ‘Happiness delivered’ or ‘Family Upgrade Week’. If shopping feels like love, budgets stretch easily. Social proof adds more pressure: Friends put their ‘tax’, apps flash ’10 .000 people bought it today ‘ – and suddenly self -control looks outdated. In a culture where wealth is shared in public, Fomo becomes the most convincing salesman. How retailers hold you behind each sale is careful choreography. Flash offers, limited shares and ticking watch warnings are designed to keep decisions. The countdown does what no salesman can: It whispers that hesitation means loss. Then the personalized push comes. A day before the sale peck your phone – “Your favorite phone is now 20% off.” It feels personal, but it’s data. Gamified features, coupon wheels and rewards coins – Add small dopamine hits, which keep users longer. ‘Buy 2, get 1 free’ and ‘free delivery over £ 999’ faded and expenses. Celebrity and influencer approval becomes shopping in a shared celebration. With most purchases taking place on mobile devices, these subtle directions follow us everywhere: at work, on commute, even before bed. The money side of impulse impuls spending seems harmless, but its cost adds. As value research online notes, friction-free digital payments are quietly weakening India’s saving habits, especially among young earners. No cash changes hands: No break reminds you of the lost value. The short excitement of buying replaces the small pain of payment. Over time, the shift rewrites how we handle money: Emotion exceeds the intention. How to stay in control is not about giving festive joy a mist; It’s about staying calm if everything around you insists on the opposite. The smartest buyer is not those who never buy, but those who know when to quit. If an agreement flashes, wait. Sleep on it. Most “urgent” desires fade in the morning. A little distance often separates a need from an impulse. Use the Taper Checklist – A Five Step – Pause Before Completing: T – Time: Want it long, or did I just see it? A – Affordability: Can I buy it comfortably, without debt or debt? P – goal: Is it really useful or exciting now? E – Emotion: Do I buy to celebrate or fill boredom? R – Regret: Will I regret that I don’t bought or buy later? If even one answer arouses, then step back. Add small frictions: Remove stored cards, dampen alerts, report to browse. That few seconds of extra effort restore the mindfulness. And as the temptation increases, try to “surf the urge”. Notice, breathe through it and pass it by. Like a wave, peak it and fade if you do not respond. The establishment of a fixed shopping budget before sales starts becomes planned, not tension. The quiet lesson festival sales are now intertwined in the cultural rhythm of India: part of the celebration, part of psychology, partial marketing. But for all their sparkle, they remind us of something older than e-commerce: Peace of the mind of any discount. So, this Diwali, browse through the offers and buy what is important, but do it with intention. Because the best “festival offer” does not glow on your screen: it is the calm that stems from the knowledge that you are in control. Simarjeet Singh is assistant professor at the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon; Sanchita Kuchi is associate professor at the same institute. Catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. 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