Why we feel anxious after making an important decision

 Buyers always think before doing anything.

Sometimes they only think for a split second and sometimes they think about a purchase for months, even years.

 

When buyers think about a purchase they access memory and emotions.

 

Thinking is an emotional as well as a cognitive process. Every thought we have brings with it a congruent emotion. Unless we are anxious when the emotions can disrupt our thinking.

 

Decisions about whether to buy something or not involve thoughts, memories and emotions. The emotional aspect of decision making is the most influential.

 

Thinking about a purchase provokes feelings of anxiety to a greater or lesser degree.

 

Every time we make a decision we experience anxiety to a greater or lesser degree. The more meaningful the decision is to us the greater will be the anxiety.

 

When anxiety reaches a certain level we begin to think irrationally.

 

When we experience anxiety our brains act in a set way that is difficult to override.

 

When we experience anxiety about making a decision three things happen in a progressive sequence.

 

1.    We avoid thinking about the subject

2.    Our brains block access to thoughts about the subject

3.    We will 'escape' if the anxiety gets too high.

 

As we approach the point of making a decision the anxiety will increase.

The bigger or more emotionally important the higher the anxiety.

All this brings a sense of mixed feelings, psychologists call it cognitive dissonance.

The bigger the purchase or the higher the emotional charge the bigger the feelings of pleasure and anxiety and the more we research the purchase.

Eventually we make a decision and buy the big item or make an important decision.

We experience a moment of pleasure but very soon after the purchase we begin to question if we've done the right thing. Another wave of cognitive dissonance hits us and this is called 'buyers regret'.

It passes in due course.