Vampire shoppers - 6 Minute English

Neil: Hello. This is 6 Minute English and

I'm Neil. And joining me today is Rob.

Rob: Hello.

Neil: Rob, how do feel about shopping?

Rob: Urgh! Mooching around a

shopping mall from one shop to another,

spending money - it's

my idea of hell!

Neil: How about shopping online?

Rob: Ah yes, much better - sitting

in front of the TV and browsing

online is much easier.

Neil: Well that can be a problem - it's

sometimes too easy, especially

when we are tired - and

we sometimes make purchases

we regret. That's what we'll be

talking about in this programme

- an activity known as 'vampire shopping'.

But before we continue, it's my job to set

you a quiz question,

so here goes. According to the UK's

Office for National Statistics,

at the end of 2018, what percentage of

all retail sales took place online? Was it...

a) 9.8%, b) 19.8%, or c) 29.8%?

Rob: Buying things online is

big business now, so I'll say c) 29.8%.

Neil: Well, you'll have to wait a bit to find

out. But let's talk more now about vampire

shopping - this term refers to

shopping late at night - traditionally

a time when vampires appear.

Rob: Most of us are asleep at

this time but sleep-deprived parents,

shift-workers and

gamers might not be. If you're

an insomniac - someone who can't

sleep easily - it's tempting

to open up your laptop

and start shopping.

Neil: Online shops are open

24 hours a day so it's easy to get sucked in

and do some shopping!

Rob: When you get sucked into

something it means you can't stop

yourself getting involved

with something that you didn't want to do.

So what you're saying, Neil,

is at night, when

we're very tired, we don't always

think straight and can make

some bad decisions.

Neil: That's right. And this

shopping temptation can be

particularly problematic for those

with mental health issues.

It's something Helen Undy has been

talking about on the BBC

Radio 4 programme, You and Yours.

She is the Chief Executive of

the Money and Mental Health

Institute. Let's hear what she had to say...

Helen Undy: Our ability to control

our impulse to spend and to resist

things like advertising

is reduced when we're sleep deprived.

Well mental health problems

can have a similar effect so

the mental health problems themselves

make it harder to resist the urge to spend

and they also cause sleep deprivation, so

you're alone possibly surfing the internet,

and both the lack of sleep

and the mental health problems

make it harder to resist the things

that you can see.

Neil: Helen said that for all us,

when we're sleep deprived - that

means not having enough

sleep - we find it harder to resist

the urge to shop. We're more

sucked in to shopping

by the advertising we see.

Rob: And resist the urge means

stop yourself acting on a strong

feeling to do something.

But this is more serious for people

with mental health issues.

They are particularly sleep

deprived and along with everything that's

going on in their minds, they find it harder

to resist - to stop themselves

buying things.

Neil: I suppose buying things at night,

if you're alone, gives you

some comfort - even

a feel-good factor - doing something

that gives someone a happy

and positive feeling.

I certainly feel good when

I've bought something. But Rob, have you

ever bought something you regret?

Rob: Yes. Bits of tech, even flight tickets

to somewhere I didn't really want to go to

- because they were cheap!

Neil: Regret is a sad feeling

you get when you've made a mistake

and wished you hadn't

made the mistake in the first place.

We all have regrets, Rob,

particularly when buying

things - but there's usually the option to

return something and get a refund.

Rob: That's true but it's not always easy.

Let's hear what Helen Undy

had to say about that.

Helen Undy: We found in our research

that 75% of people, so

regardless of whether you've

got a mental health problem or not -

three-quarters of people

didn't send back the last

thing they bought online that they

regretted. We found that 4 in 10 people

with mental health problems didn't

send things back because they were so

ashamed of the things that they were

buying that they just wanted

to pretend it never happened.

Neil: So, she says that three-quarters of

people didn't send back the last thing they

bought that they regretted.

Maybe they were too embarrassed?

Rob: Possibly. But it's not always

easy to return an item and

for those with mental health

issues it can be a struggle,

a great effort. Helen Undy says that

sometimes they were ashamed

of their purchase.

Neil: Well I think we have all

bought things we are ashamed of.

But while online shopping

continues to expand the

temptation will always be there.

Rob: Well your question earlier was about

the rise in online shopping, so what's the

answer, Neil?

Neil: I asked according to the UK's Office

for National Statistics, at the end of 2018,

what percentage of all retail sales

took place online? Was it... a) 9.8%,

b) 19.8%, or c) 29.8%?

Rob: I said c) 29.8%. I've got to be right!

Neil: Well, you're not. The rise was a bit

smaller at b) 19.8%. But that's still large

compared with ten years previously,

when the figure was just 5.8%

of all retail sales.

Rob: No doubt the figure will continue to

rise. And before I nip off to do a bit of

vampire shopping, let's recap

some of the vocabulary we've

mentioned today. Starting

with insomniac.

Neil: An insomniac is someone

who can't sleep easily. They suffer

from insomnia.

Rob: Next we talked about to get

sucked into something.

This informal phrase means not

being able to stop yourself

getting involved with something

that you don't want to do.

Neil: If you are sleep deprived, you do not

having enough sleep.

Rob: And if you resist the urge, you stop

yourself acting on a strong feeling to do

something. For example,

resisting the urge to buy

something online.

Neil: But if you don't resist the urge to

buy something, it might

have a feel-good factor.

A feel-good factor is something that

makes you feel happy and positive.

Rob: But after buying something

you may have regret. That's a

sad feeling you get when

you've made a mistake and

wished you hadn't made the mistake

in the first place.

Neil: Well hopefully you haven't

regretted spending 6 minutes

listening to us! Please join us next time

and in the meantime, why not check us

out on your favourite social

media platforms and on our app.

Rob: Goodbye!

Neil: Goodbye!