From impulse fashion hauls to midnight food orders, Gen Z’s stress shopping promises emotional relief, but beneath the dopamine hit lies a growing tension between self-care, financial strain and ethical
business responsibility.
For Gen Z, buying something small, including clothes, dessert, skincare, or a gadget, often feels like the quickest route to calm. The practice, which was once dismissed as “retail therapy,” has quietly evolved into a structured coping mechanism that has strangely settled into daily routines through apps, instant payment methods and influencers.
Stress shopping offers fleeting relief and fuels business growth, but it also raises questions about mental health, financial well-being and the role brands play in shaping emotional consumption.
Is Stress Shopping The New Self-Care Trend For Gen Z?
For urban Gen Z, stress shopping has become one of the easiest ways to survive in an overstimulated world. Early-career instability, academic pressure, rising living costs and relentless exposure to curated lives on social media combine to create a constant layer of anxiety.
Unlike older generations who associated shopping with weekend outings, Gen Z has adapted to one-click checkouts, digital wallets and same-day delivery.
The act of buying provides a sense of relief for them, from a new outfit to a skincare serum; this behaviour is increasingly visible where Gen Z consumers describe shopping as “therapy,” “a small win, or a means of “mood reset” after a difficult day. But while the emotional relief is real, it often comes with a price tag that lingers longer than the dopamine rush.
According to Dr Santosh Bangar, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist at Gleneagles Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, awareness is the first step toward managing stress-driven shopping habits.
He explains that individuals can become more conscious of their triggers by observing when and why the urge to shop arises. “Noticing emotions like stress, sadness, boredom, or low self-esteem, and tracking them through a diary, can help identify patterns,” he says.
Dr Bangar adds that impulsive buying is often driven by stressful situations and later followed by regret. By introducing a basic activity in the schedule, it can not only curb the urge to shop but also help an individual to identify the trigger.
Asking oneself a simple question, ‘Do I really need this?’ can help curb unnecessary purchases. He also points out that poor self-esteem can reinforce compulsive shopping habits, as purchases are mistakenly used to compensate for negative self-views.
“Stress shopping can be triggered by work pressure, professional uncertainty, financial stress, and FOMO,” he notes, adding that learning to manage these triggers is essential for healthier coping mechanisms.
What Research Says
Academic research supports the idea that shopping can reduce stress up to a point. A widely cited research paper by Yasuhisa Hama, “Shopping as a Coping Behaviour for Stress” (Japanese Psychological Research, 2001), explored how shopping functions as a psychological stress regulator.
Hama introduced the concept of “diversion buying,” where shopping is driven not by need, but by the desire to divert attention away from stress. His experiments separated shopping into two key components:
- The acquisition factor
- The expenditure factor
The study found that both acquiring an item and spending money can reduce stress, but only to an extent. One of the most unique yet striking conclusions challenges modern overconsumption:
“A high expenditure rate (spending most of the money) did not relieve stress.”
In simple terms, spending more does not necessarily make people feel better. There is an emotional saturation point beyond which shopping stops functioning as an effective coping mechanism. This insight is particularly relevant for Gen Z, whose stress shopping is frequent, impulsive, and digitally frictionless.
Why Stress Shopping Is Becoming The Norm For Urban Gen Z
For many Gen Z consumers, shopping provides a sense of control when other aspects of life, including careers, finances, and relationships, feel uncertain. Research from the University of Michigan has also shown that shopping can increase feelings of control and reduce sadness more effectively than browsing alone.
Instagram hauls, influencer-led recommendations and “Get Ready With Me (GRWM) videos” normalise buying as a form of self-care. The line between need and desire blurs when emotional vulnerability meets algorithm driven persuastion.
Instant payments, buy now pay later schemes, and hyper-fast delivery reduce the “pause” that once allowed consumers to reflect. Stress shopping becomes automatic rather than intentional.
The Business Perspective: Growth, FOMO and Ethics
For businesses, stress shopping presents a different picture. It not only drives sales but also raises ethical questions. Dr Kennaa Manjrekar, Founder of Elite Leaders Tribe and an honorary doctorate holder in Leadership Coaching, offers a critical perspective. On whether stress-driven shopping contributes to business growth, she says:
“Shopping under stress is created only because of the FOMO factor created by the marketers of brands… These definitely give profits to companies, but short-term so-called success to consumers.”
She warns that many branding strategies intentionally make consumers believe they need certain products to “stand out and succeed,” fuelling emotional dependency rather than genuine value. According to her, this approach may boost numbers temporarily but erodes consumer well-being in the long run.
How Social Media Shapes Gen Z’s Emotional Buying
Dr Manjrekar also highlights the role of influencer culture in shaping Gen Z’s decisions:
“Every corner of the street, we now observe influencers taking videos and showcasing themselves as experts… Gen Z consumers are now relying on either these influencers or AI to make decisions.”
She cautions that excessive reliance on external validation, whether from influencers or algorithms, can weaken decision-making skills and emotional resilience. While this dependency benefits brands in the short term, she believes it contributes to a broader societal cost.
Ayushi, a social media executive based in Noida, says, “When everything feels overwhelming, shopping gives me a quick sense of relief. I know it is temporary, but that moment of excitement helps me breathe. It is like pressing that annoying pause button on stress, even if I feel the pinch later. Sometimes, that instant relief feels worth the swipe. Some days, life really does become a cycle of stress, swipe, and repeat.”
When Stress Shopping Turns Into Addiction
While occasional stress shopping is harmless sometimes, compulsive buying comes with a different set of challenges and consequences. Shopping addiction, classified under behavioural addictions, involves uncontrollable urges to buy despite negative outcomes.
When it comes to impulsive or stress buying, some of the top categories Gen Zs are choosing include fashion, beauty and self-care, food and beverage, wellness, and tech and digital services.
Research also suggests that it is often linked to low self-esteem, negative emotions, and social anonymity online. Symptoms include repeated unnecessary purchases, guilt after spending, financial instability, and strained relationships.
Profit With Purpose
Stress shopping is neither entirely harmful nor beneficial. As Hama’s research suggests, shopping can reduce stress, but only within limits. Beyond that threshold, emotional relief diminishes while financial and psychological costs rise.
For businesses, the challenge is clear. Brands that succeed long-term will be those that balance profitability with responsibility, encouraging mindful consumption and genuine value.
As Gen Z continues to reshape self-care, the question is no longer whether stress shopping exists, but how consciously it is defined. The future of this trend will depend on whether businesses choose to exploit stress or help consumers navigate it with intention.
