Excessive sale hunting, the boundary between saving and wasting gradually fades

Hunting for sales according to emotions

Along with large-scale discount programs, online shopping activities recorded clear growth, especially among young consumers. Many people are willing to stay up late, following each preferential time frame to "finalize their orders" at the lowest price.

As a person who regularly "hunts" for large discounts, Ms. Hoang Lan Anh (25 years old, Hanoi) admitted that she has repeatedly set up alarms in the middle of the night just to keep an eye on the flashing discount time.

Once, the initial plan was just to find and buy a pair of essential shoes, but before the attraction of a series of deep discounted products, I did not hesitate to continue to fill my shopping basket," Ms. Lan Anh said.

Ms. Lan Anh said that after just one night of sale, the amount paid usually increases sharply compared to the estimate. Although each item is cheap thanks to incentives, when combined, the total cost becomes a large amount, including items bought based on emotions instead of actual needs.

Similarly, Mr. Le Tuan Khang (23 years old, Hanoi) also said that he had fallen into the situation of "buying for fun" during major discounts.

I am often drawn into deep discount programs of 50 - 70%. Once, I bought 5-6 small technology items at the same time just because I found them cheap, but then almost didn't use them," Mr. Khang shared.

According to Mr. Khang, the convenience of online payment methods gives buyers very little time to consider carefully. With just a few quick steps, orders have been set even when users have not had time to calculate their usage needs, leading to the situation that total monthly spending often exceeds the initial plan.

Cheap goods become expensive

From an economic perspective, experts believe that the phenomenon of "closing applications based on emotions" not only occurs in young people but is also common in many age groups. Current promotional campaigns are designed methodically with deep discounts, free shipping, gifts... to hit psychology, making it difficult for consumers to ignore.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy - CEO of the Faculty of Finance - Banking (Nguyen Trai University) - analyzed that one of the notable factors is that "golden" hours often fall late at night, from about 10 pm to after 0 am. This is the time when consumers are tired after a day of work, so it is easy to make emotional decisions instead of analyzing and calculating.

Continuous and continuous discount programs along with the psychology of fear of missing out (FOMO) make many people finalize applications very quickly. However, many products after purchase are only used a few times, even forgotten, leading to waste," Mr. Huy said.

According to experts, the combination of limited time and preferential pressure has reduced the ability to analyze, making it difficult for buyers to control their spending behavior. "Quickly finalizing bills" at these times therefore poses a risk of exceeding personal budget.

If considering the value of use, many "cheap" items become expensive due to low usage frequency. Conversely, products with good quality, carefully considered, even if the price is higher, have more cost-effective long-term use," the expert said.

Faced with this reality, experts recommend that consumers need to develop clear financial plans, allocate budgets according to each spending group and prioritize essential needs. Considering based on long-term use value instead of temporary emotions not only helps control spending but also aims for sustainable consumption habits.