"Black Friday", the ultimate sale, has also established itself definitively in the Netherlands. Sandra Phlippen, assistant professor at Erasmus School of Economics and Head for the Netherlands of ABN AMRO’s Group Economics, explains In RTL Late Night that the concept “from-for” works like a red rag on a bull.
According to Phlippen Black Friday is also “hot” in the Netherlands, even though it is not a day off here like in the United States, due to the fact that high discounts are given and the holidays are coming up.‘For example, a lot of people already buy their Sinterklaas gifts. 60% of the people who buy something during Black Friday were already planning to buy it in advance. However, due to the discounts they buy even more.’
joy & happiness, excitement & tension, and fear
The emotions that underlie the success of Black Friday are joy & happiness, excitement & tension, and fear. ‘Psychologists who observed the phenomenon in America, found that the most important emotion is joy & happiness, especially among women. This is caused by the difference between “high value, little money”.’
People are also fooling themselves according to Phlippen. ‘It is indeed greediness, but underneath this there are interesting layers. The tension of Black Friday brings up a kind of hunting instinct in people. In addition, consumers are driven by fear: the fear of missing out on discounts and the fear that the product is no longer there. In the Netherlands there the fear of being “cheated on” also plays an important role. People feel like there are fake discounts, and that the prices are artificially driven up just before Black Friday.’
Plippen also has a tip for people who are still planning to shop during Black Friday: take cash with you. ‘If you use your debit card you are much less aware of what you are spending. With cash you make more conscious choices and your limit is reached earlier.’
- More information
The full item of RTL Late Night, 21 November 2018, can be found here (in Dutch).