'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.
