By EmilyM

Barely have Thanksgiving leftovers hit the fridge and “whack,” it is officially Christmas season! Subtlety is not the name of the game when it comes to Christmas shopping ads and sales. Loud flashy commercials and full page ads count down the days left until the big event. All the hoopla even drives people to leave their warm beds at 3:00 or 4:00 AM the morning after Thanksgiving to hit the infamous Black Friday sales. Typically each year there are stories of how grown adults have physically fought one another in stores, stolen goods from another person’s cart or had full on shouting matches with employees and others stoppers all to snag that perfect sale item.

There is a slight regrouping, and then low and behold it’s on to Cyber Monday, the Internet shopping equivalent to Black Friday.

So why are many of us unable to resist a sale? I know I have personally faced this dilemma before. I ordinarily would not spend $100 on a whim purchase, however, you place a “originally x amount” tag on it and you’ve got me hook, line and sinker. Today I have diligently avoided all the hustle and bustle of Internet shopping carts filled to the brim – as much as possible, that is. Too much temptation to hit the “buy now” button for me. So what drives many of us into a buying frenzy? According to a recent article on LiveScience.com.

In this article, the writer, Stephanie Pappas, references the statements of a marketing professor at the University of Michigan Scott Rick. It is stated in Pappas article that “about a quarter of adults are “tightwads” and another quarter “spendthrifts.”” According to Rick, as stated in the article, the gap between the two groups is normally fairly wide but quickly narrows when sales and holiday shopping grow near.

There are many underlying reasons that could be responsible for this trend. As mentioned in the article, the gap may narrow simply due to the joy of giving, the unavoidable fact that you must buy gifts for friends and family or perhaps the compulsory aspect of tons of sales.

Whatever the case, there are many temptations around each corner to buy not only for others but maybe even yourself. In fact, I have noticed in speaking to other people and through various social media channels that many even use these major shopping days simply for splurging on gifts for themselves. While marketers and psychologists alike still attempt to find exactly what makes people head for the check out line or add things to their online shopping cart, it still remains to some degree a mystery.

What makes you want to take advantage of sales? Have you taken part in either of the main shopping events?

And now … drum roll please.. if you are ready for one more great deal, KwikMed is offering 5% off all refills through 12/5/2010! Just enter the coupon code “CYBER” upon checkout.

Happy shopping!