We often throw aside the caution and darkness of December when it comes to spending. The cost of living crisis can go unnoticed amid the glitz and glamor of Christmas. We just want a moment to have fun, to forget the melancholy. It is natural that we behave this way. Our brains are wired for this.
Neuromarketing, a field of neuroscience that understands how our brains respond to products, can help us resist the temptation to overspend.
The reasons we buy so much at Christmas are largely unconscious and emotional. For example, our brains are programmed to avoid feeling excluded. Social connections were essential 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 novelty, while having no intrinsic value, also has evolutionary roots. Finding and saving new information and objects gives us a sense of reducing uncertainty about the future. Therefore, marketing a product as the “latest” version in its category can make it irresistible.
Brain signals (neurotransmitters) also change our behavior. Dopamine stimulates our motivation and impulsiveness in seeking rewards. Oxytocin strengthens our sense of belonging, which can be boosted by buying the same things as our friends. And cortisol levels can increase if we’re afraid of missing out.
These neurotransmitters direct our gaze when we view product advertisements, capturing our attention and making us desire the reward of the purchase. In July 2025, researchers analyzed three years of eye-tracking data from study participants who watched the 50 most eye-catching Christmas ads. They found that moving stories are very effective at capturing our attention, making us more likely to buy the product. Images containing icons and emotional elements, such as popular celebrities or cute cartoon characters, distract us. We know that distraction prevents us from thinking about future goals (like saving money).
Why does your will seem to evaporate?
The 1970 Marshmallow Test, 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 show more discipline as adults, because their brains were wired for greater self-control.
But a replication of the test in 2018 found that family background and economic situation were the main factors determining whether children and adults were able to delay gratification and be less impulsive (resisting eating the marshmallow). Therefore, if there is family instability or financial difficulties at Christmas, this can lead to quicker, impulsive decisions and, paradoxically, overspending on large quantities of items that we don’t really need or want.
Psychological research suggests that our willpower becomes more depleted when we are tired, have too much to think about, or are needy. It’s like overloading a muscle that needs constant energy.
It’s the perfect formula to distract yourself from Christmas. We think of all the family and friends we buy gifts for and seek comfort in enjoyable products and experiences 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, which helps us control our behavior by thinking about our long-term goals. And the prefrontal cortex is directly connected to the reward center of the brain. Therefore, if the prefrontal cortex is overloaded, rapid, 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, impulsive thinking. Think about limited-time promotions and the feeling of crisis that arises when a child or loved one misses out on a much-desired gift.
Training our brain
However, there are ways to strengthen our desire to enjoy the Christmas period with balance. The key is to become aware of our emotions and our actions. The more we are aware of our impulsivity, the better we can control it next time.
You can start now by writing down all the impulse purchases you’ve made over the past week or month. And the next time you go to buy something, ask yourself if you think slowly or quickly.
And since the prefrontal cortex is like a muscle that can be trained to become stronger, cognitive training in the run-up to Christmas can help strengthen your resolve. Consider playing online chess, sudoku, or reading one of the books you received last Christmas. Puzzles, reading, meditation practices that calm the mind—all of these can strengthen your brain’s circuits and perhaps help you be less impulsive this year.
What if you were reading this in a cafe, taking a break from your Christmas shopping? You can review your shopping list (or write one before leaving the house) and reaffirm your plans. Remember to stick to the list and budget no matter what. Research shows that planning and setting intentions prevents impulsive reactions, especially if people plan in advance what they will do if they find a can’t-miss deal.
If you can control your impulsive Christmas purchases now, your future self will thank you.
*Samantha Brooks is Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Liverpool John Moores University.
*This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original.
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