Quick: Shopaholic?

There are a number of ways to be a shopper. You could be a Window Shopper or an Impulse Buyer or a Conservative Consumer. Or you could simply hate shopping and resent the requirement to ever purchase anything.

The Window Shopper enjoys the process of seeing what there is out there. Eyeing the displays for ideas, or for the pleasure of viewing that which is aesthetically pleasing. Considering the merits and demerits of each item. The Window Shopper is in the shopping experience for the shopping, not the buying. She (or he) can (will) leave a mall with few (or no) packages in tow, and still be able to consider the day well spent.

The Impulse Buyer buys on impulse - exactly as it sounds. The Impulse Buyer doesn't need a list to purchase.  In fact, items on a list might be ignored for the "great new find." The great new find may or may not actually have a place in the home, but the Impulse Buyer will be satisfied with the purchase(s), having spotted the (previously inconceivable) perfect thing, and having brought it home successfully.

The Conservative Consumer will appreciate a purchase made well. Research will have been conducted to target the best brand and the best buy. The price should be low and the quality high. Sometimes, the Conservative Consumer will deliberate a purchase past the sell-by date, and be relieved that the decision is made. But when she (or he) does buy the item under consideration, you can rest assured that the transaction was undertaken with confidence.

All three of these types will enjoy shopping. Under the right circumstances, we might dub any of the above, "shopaholic."

There are variations on the themes, of course. When the Impulse Buyer who is a Window-Shopper-Who-Buys-Quickly. Not often - but on occasion, the Window Shopper may buy with speed and conviction.  There’s the directed Impulse Buyer, who makes some purchases on the fly, but competes with the Conservative Consumer’s deliberative stance for others.

Is this a choice?  Well, even if it's all a matter of personality, and not subject to the individual shopper’s choice, said shopper makes many choices in the course of her (or his) trip to the store (or the website, as the case may be). Indeed, the details of shopping deserve further (future) consideration in a blog called “Choices.”

Keeping in mind that “materialist” is a different characterization from “shopaholic,” which kind are you? Or are you a different kind of shopper altogether? Or even the kind who avoids shopping at all costs?

Me, I'm a combination of all of the above, depending on the objective, and my mood.