We often leave caution aside when it comes to spending at Christmas time. However, there are ways to control the impulse to buy.
The cost of living crisis can go unnoticed amid the glitz and glamor of Christmas. We just want a time to have funto forget the winter gloom. It is natural for us to behave this way. Our brains are programmed for this.
In the UK, people spend an average of £700 more at Christmas. The UK Office for National Statistics reports increases of between 15% and 100% in sales of books, music, computers, phones and electronics, clothing and footwear, cosmetics and toiletries, food and alcoholic drinks in December.
But neuromarketing, a field of neuroscience that understands how our brains react to products, can help us resist temptation of spending too much.
The reasons why we buy so much at Christmas are largely unconscious and emotional. For example, our brains are programmed to avoid the feeling of exclusion. Social bonds were vital to the survival of our ancestors, so when everyone seems to be buying things and having fun at Christmas, we are motivated by evolutionary impulses to want to participate.
Our desire for new things, even when they have no intrinsic value, also has evolutionary roots. Finding and saving new information and objects gives us the feeling that we are reduce uncertainty about the future. So marketing a product as the “latest” version in its category can make it irresistible.
Brain signals (neurotransmitters) also change our behavior. Dopamine drives our motivation and impulsivity for rewards. Oxytocin boosts our sense of belonging, which can be stimulated by buying the same things as our friends. And cortisol levels can increase if we have fear of being left out.
These neurotransmitters direct our gaze when we look at product advertisements, capturing our attention and making us want to feel the reward of the purchase. In July 2025, researchers analyzed three years of eye-tracking data from study participants who looked at the 50 most eye-catching Christmas ads. They discovered that the touching stories are great to capture our attention, which increases the likelihood of us purchasing the product. Images with icons and emotional stimuli, such as popular celebrities or adorable cartoon characters, distract us. It is known that distraction prevents us from thinking about future goals (such as saving money).
Why does your willpower seem to evaporate?
O 1970 Marshmallow Testabout delayed gratification, developed by psychologist Walter Mischel, suggested that young children who could resist the temptation to eat a marshmallow while the experimenter left the room would have more discipline in adulthood, because their brains were wired for better self-control.
But a 2018 replication of the test found that family background and economic situation were the main factors determining whether children and adults would be able to delay gratification and be less impulsive (resist eating the marshmallow). Therefore, if there is instability in the family or if money is tight at Christmas, this can lead to quicker, more impulsive decisions and, paradoxically, to overspending on large quantities of items that we don’t really need or want.
Psychological research suggests that our willpower is depleted most when we are tired, have too many things to think about, or are cold and needy. It’s a bit like overloading a muscle that needs constant energy.
This is the perfect formula for Christmas distraction. We think about all the family and friends we buy gifts for, and we look for comfort in enjoyable products and experiences at this time of year. All of this overloads our cognitive control system in the prefrontal cortex – the front part of the brain, below the forehead, that gives us helps control our behavior thinking about our long-term goals. And the prefrontal cortex connects directly to the brain’s reward center. Therefore, if the prefrontal cortex is overloaded, quick, impulsive, dopamine-driven reward responses are likely to take over.
Fast, impulsive thinking, as well as slow, deliberate thinking, are part of the brain’s natural activity. Christmas shopping exploits this quick and impulsive thinking. Think about limited-time promotions and the sense of crisis that comes when a child or loved one misses out on a much-desired gift.
Train our brains
Still, there are ways to strengthen our willpower to enjoy the Christmas season with balance. The key is become aware of our emotions and actions. The more aware we are of our impulsiveness, the better we will be able to control it next time.
You can start right now by writing down all the impulsive purchases you made in the last week or last month. And the next time you go to buy something, ask yourself if you are thinking slowly or quickly.
And since the prefrontal cortex is like a muscle that can be trained To become stronger, cognitive training before Christmas can help strengthen your resolve. Think about playing online chess, or Sudoku, or reading one of the books you received last Christmas. Puzzles, reading, meditation practices that calm the mind can strengthen your brain’s circuits and perhaps help you be less impulsive this year.
What if you’re reading this in a cafe, taking a break from Christmas shopping? You can review your shopping list (or write one before leaving home) and reaffirm your plans. Remember to follow the list and budgetwhatever happens. Research shows that planning and setting intentions prevents impulsive reactions, especially if people plan in advance what they will do if they find an unmissable bargain.
If you can control your impulsive Christmas shopping now, your future self will thank you.
