Who Causes More Harm to Our Youth, The Media or Us?

Media-driven fast fashion has become increasingly adept at exploiting consumers’ impulsive buying behaviors, leading to heightened pressure on individuals to make purchases they may not need. With just a click of a button, we can access everything we could ever need, and media is the driving force behind this convenience. 

Cognitive behaviors are rooted in a person’s life experiences. From birth to death, each interaction shapes our behavior in response. In the case of impulsive and compulsive buying behaviors, the root cause lies not solely in media influence, but in the rise of adverse childhood experiences. Marketers exploit these vulnerabilities, manipulating our weaknesses for profit.

Adverse childhood experiences, also known as ACE’s, are, according to General Hospital Psychiatry in an article titled “Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and associated physical and mental health problems amongst hospital patients: Results from a cross-sectional study”, differing types of abuse including emotional, physical, sexual, negligence, and neglect experienced by children under the age of 18. Many experience ACE’s, some more than others, and such experience with these traumatic events are linked to impairment of the “development of the nervous, endocrine and immune systems”, as per the aforementioned article. Impairment of the nervous system, which is responsible for a multitude of functions, including emotion, memory, and learning, are key factors for the developmental process in decision making. 

With an impaired development process in aspects of decision making, the experience of ACE’s can therefore lead to poor decision making in adults who deal with compulsive and impulsive buying behavior. This is further supported as the General Hospital Psychiatry then goes on to state that “ACE’s were also associated with patterns of dysfunctional health-harming behaviors in adult life”. For that reason it can be said that the higher ACE’s one is exposed to in early life, the more likely one will be susceptible to the self-harming coping mechanisms seen in those subjected to compulsive and impulsive buying behavior. 

The rise of ACEs and the surge in media-driven fashion bingeing are contributing to a culture of reckless overspending, leading to financial instability, bankruptcies, and ruined credit. General Hospital Psychiatry reported that as much as 74% of the general Western population have experienced at least one type of ACE, with as many as 21% reporting they’ve experienced at least four. And so, the rise in ACEs appears to be reinforcing negative consumer behaviors down the line.

A study done by the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma specifically looked into the relationship between ACE’s and later in life impulsive spending, and found a connection between the two. As found by the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, “greater childhood trauma predicted increased impulsive spending via greater impulsivity and emotional dysregulation”. Which makes sense, as emotional dysregulation, seen commonly in those who’ve experienced abuse and traumatic experiences, deals with mood swings, intense emotions, and difficulty dealing with stress. All of which aid in the production of impulsivity and impulsive buying behavior. 

As stated prior, many who’ve experienced ACE’s end up using damaging coping mechanisms, and this has been further supported as those who have a hard time dealing with stress, experience mood swings, and intense emotions often look for an outlet. In this case impulsive buying, which, as defined by the article “The Personality Puzzle: a comprehensive analysis of its impact on three buying behaviors”, is defined as making a random, not thought through, and direct purchase. In the case of manipulative media and fashion purchases, the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma “found that individuals who are susceptible to impulse spending often engage in the behavior to improve their mood.” The evidence of which further connects that the experience of ACE’s can almost directly lead to impulsive buying behavior as a coping mechanism. Even how they’re coping is a direct cause of their experienced ACE’s, as the impulsivity experienced by the individual may be due to impaired development of the nervous system, which is in charge of impulse control regulation. 

In a final conclusion drawn by the study, the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma discovered that “Childhood trauma showed a weak but significant positive correlation with impulsive spending, indicating that greater exposure to childhood trauma increases the likelihood that an individual will impulsively spend in later life”. Though weak, the correlation between ACE’s and impulsive spending does hold, and even more interestingly leaves room for more reasons as to what else may cause impulsive buying behavior. 

Such a gap leaves room for speculation that beyond ACE’s the root cause for impulsive spending may be the generational rise of media marketing. Each and every day, as the media takes a firmer hold of the billions of people on this planet, the masses are suspected to add after add. It is not just a phenomenon, but a culture encrusted in trigger happy consumers who go on to suggest what their friends’ next dopamine hit of a purchase should be. Our attention spans are not the only aspect taking a hit, yet our impulse control as well.

Either way, the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma suggests that “psychological therapies should seek to reduce impulsivity and improve emotion regulation to mitigate impulse spending in those with histories of early adversity and childhood trauma.” While this may help, the advice feels more so like a given. Of course therapy would help, but who’s gonna go? The consumer, who feels more than justified in their purchases? The issue with such a suggestion is that until their impulsive buying behavior devastatingly cripples them, they will more than likely not go. The key is rather to dedicate more resources to children who are currently experiencing ACE’s, and nip the future problem in the butt before it can even take hold. All the while, the aforementioned services may remain for those who chose to go, or those forced by family members who recognize the problem.

Impulsive buying behaviors, ACE’s, and Media marketing all go hand in hand. It is, with the power of such knowledge, a responsibility of the people to mitigate the effect all three are having due to one another. More worryingly, the rise of ACE’s on our youth, as this may be the domino effect that causes such problems down the line. Though some may claim impulsive buying behavior is just due to poor impulse control, they’re missing the mark. It is what causes such poor impulse control that is the issue. In understanding the fundamental foundations of how our behavior is shaped by our experiences, our society can better enforce child safety to protect those experiencing adverse childhood experiences. It is up to us, as a people, to protect our children from becoming a self sabotaging disaster down the line.

References

Aquino, S. D., & Lins, S. (2023). The personality puzzle: a comprehensive analysis of its impact on three buying behaviors. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1179257. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1179257

Richardson, T., Annelise Egglishaw, & Sood, M. (2024). Does Childhood Trauma Predict Impulsive Spending in Later Life? An Analysis of the Mediating Roles of Impulsivity and Emotion Regulation. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-023-00600-7

Riedl, D., Lampe, A., Exenberger, S., Nolte, T., Trawöger, I., & Beck, T. (2020). Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and associated physical and mental health problems amongst hospital patients: Results from a cross-sectional study. General Hospital Psychiatry, 64, 80–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2020.03.005