🟣 3 Reasons Shopping Should Come With a Warning Label, Like Gambling

Gambling is a sin, shopping is self-care...

“Fun” fact about me:

Straight out of law school, I spent eight years working for a London-based independent research provider, analyzing and comparing gambling regulations for governments around the world.

I visited casinos in South Africa, Greece, and the Netherlands. I presented research or chaired panels at conferences in Paris, Belgrade, Dar es Salaam, Vienna, and Rome.

I know the legal frameworks. I know the most effective online tools to prevent gambling addiction. I know the addiction stats of different types of games.

I’ve seen how seriously (yet imperfectly) we treat gambling harms, and for good reason. But the more I study online shopping behaviors, the more I wonder:

Why aren’t we applying the same level of care and concern there too?

Here’s why.

Reason 1: Shopping is a behavioral addiction too

Both gambling and shopping engage the brain’s dopamine-driven reward system, also known as the dopamine loop in similar ways:

Anticipation → Reward → Craving → Repeat.

Whether you’re playing online poker or scrolling through your favorite shopping app, the process is the same: You anticipate something good (a win, a deal), you get a dopamine hit when you land it (or even just almost land it), and your brain wants to repeat the experience.

This cycle is what makes both behaviors capable of turning into behavioral addictions, a type of addiction just like those involving substances, such as alcohol or drugs.

“Compulsive buying disorder” is the clinical term but sometimes I’ll use “shopping addiction” just because it’s more commonly understood.

Research also shows that the addiction to both buying and gambling can be driven by similar vulnerabilities (like high impulsivity, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety).

Of course, they also have distinct psychological triggers. Shopping addiction is heavily influenced by social appearance anxiety and materialism. Meanwhile, gambling disorder is more strongly associated with sensation-seeking and risk-taking tendencies.

Estimates vary, so take this with a pinch of salt, but recent research (December 2024) found that 5.4% of adults meet the criteria for compulsive buying disorder. That’s consistent with earlier studies (like this 2016 paper), which also found rates between 5 and 6%.

That’s about 1 in 20 adults struggling with compulsive buying.

And in a 2024 Credit Karma survey, over one-third of Gen Z and Millennials said they believe they have a shopping addiction. (It was self-reported, not clinically diagnosed.)

Reason 2: Shopping is not regulated.

Gambling, whether online or in physical venues like casinos or betting shops, is considered a high-risk activity in many countries and often comes with specific regulations, though the type and strictness of those rules vary significantly from place to place.

In the US, for instance, gambling regulation is handled at the state level, which means it’s regulated differently depending on where you live. In the EU too, there’s no harmonized framework. So each country sets its own standards. Some are stricter than others.

Here are some examples of what online gambling platforms are required to do in many countries:

• Display the odds of winning (in other words: remind you that you’re more likely to lose).

• Let users set deposit limits (so you can’t spend beyond a chosen amount).

• Monitor player behavior using algorithms to detect patterns of risk (like playing for extended hours without breaks).

• Offer national self-exclusion lists (it means you can voluntarily block yourself from all licensed gambling platforms in that country).

• Include health warnings in every ad like “Gamble responsibly” or helpline information.

• Let users set time or spending limits in advance.

• Show real-time spending data (so you can see exactly how much you’ve lost).

• Feature an emergency “panic button” on every page to self-ban in one click!

Compared to that, online shopping is a Wild West.

No friction. No built-in “pause” button. No friendly pop-up that says, “You’ve been scrolling for 142 minutes, you okay?”

It’s all on us to put in place “self-binding strategies”, meditate, participate in No-Buy challenges, seek out cognitive-behavioral therapy, try grayscale mode, app timers, browser extensions, take guided reflection to control our impulses, pay for financial well-being apps, make accountability pacts with friends, et cetera!

Just imagine if, instead of putting the burden on us, we made the platforms fueling our dopamine loops take responsibility.

Imagine if your favorite shopping apps had to:

• Suggest a 72-hour “cooling-off” period if you’ve made 3 impulse buys this month.

• Display your weekly or monthly spending total before you hit checkout.

• Let you set a shopping budget and lock you out once you hit it.

• Ask “Why do you want this?” before adding to cart.

• Show the odds that you’ll actually wear that top more than once lol.

But none of that exists. In fact, platforms are doing the opposite: optimizing for addiction.

Research shows that specific features of online shopping such as infinite scroll, livestreams, flash sales, and personalized recommendations, amplify compulsive buying.

Even more, some shopping apps are boosting compulsive binge spending by borrowing design tricks from gaming that make you feel like you’re in a virtual casino (like spin-the-wheel features, countdown timers, quizzes, invite-your-friends bonuses).

Shopping doesn’t look dangerous. But the environment is built to bypass your attention and your limits. It’s designed for zero friction, endless consumption, and it’s encouraged.

Reason 3: Shopping is normalized, encouraged, and rewarded

If someone told you they were going to play online poker tonight, you might raise an eyebrow. But if they said they were going to spend two hours scrolling through [enter your favorite brand name], no one blinks.

Gambling is considered a vice.

Shopping is a lifestyle. Worst. It’s marketed as self-care.

Shopping is seen as normal, fun, and even aspirational. “Retail therapy” is joked about. Buying is encouraged by influencers.

Sure, shopping can be joyful. It can be mindful. It can even be a hobby.

But let’s not pretend it’s a neutral one.

And is it still okay if it hijacks your dopamine, drains your savings, fills your life with things that don’t reflect your values, or just makes you lose entire days of your life scrolling?

Because compulsive buying disorder isn’t just about excessive spending. One of its core features is also time-consuming shopping behaviors like endless browsing, researching, and scrolling.

This means that the compulsive part is not limited to the act of purchasing. It’s about the urge, time spent, and emotional regulation component, whether you end up hitting "Buy now" or not.

The point here isn’t to shame people who enjoy shopping. It’s to realize some of the ways society is pushing us towards this “hobby” and to open a window and ask ourselves:

Did I actually choose this?

Is it truly making me happy?

Is it aligned with my values?

Or is it just a way of numbing and distracting me?

*Note: I edited the title of this piece on June 18 to better reflect the arguments I intended to convey. I also revised a few elements to clarify that I’m not suggesting gambling is a safe or perfectly regulated activity or that gambling and shopping are the same issue. They’re not. But they do share key behavioral and neurological mechanisms involved in addiction that are worth comparing, especially when it comes to how we think about risk and regulation.

If this spoke to you, you’ll love these too:

🟣 Do You Lie About Your Spending Habits?

🧠 No-Buy Challenges: Here’s What Happens In Your Brain When You Stop Buying

Want to go deeper? Here are three tools from the Paid Corner

These are exclusive to paid subscribers and accessible directly from your dedicated section of Money Feelings.

🟣 The No-Buy Program → A printable PDF or Notion dashboard to reset your spending habits and dopamine levels. Follow a 4-week program to explore the psychology behind your shopping impulses.

🟣 The No-Buy Bingo → A playful, printable self-binding strategy bingo to build a buffer between you and impulse spending. It’s a fun way to stick to your goals without relying only on willpower!

🟣 The Impulses Guided Reflection → A structured exercise to spot your triggers, clarify what you actually want, and design more intentional spending habits.

👏 Well done for dedicating the past minutes to your financial self.

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Pauline 💜