Buyer’s remorse
Buyer’s remorse – sostantivo
Chances are, if you’re a shopper experiencing buyer’s remorse, you’ve felt it in the past as well.
Buyer’s remorse can have serious consequences—and not just the usual symptoms of anxiety, nausea and sweaty palms.
The former editor of The Sun, Kelvin Mackenzie, says he has “buyers remorse” after voting for the UK to leave the European Union.
Vi è mai capitato di fare una follia e spendere una cifra in qualcosa che vi era sembrata irresistibile, un must, per poi pentirvene una volta arrivati a casa e chiedervi sconsolati che diamine vi aveva preso per comprare una cosa così inutile/orribile/sopra le righe? Se sì (e a chi non è capitato?), sappiate di aver provato il buyer’s remorse nel suo significato originale.
Di recente l’espressione è diventata d’uso frequente sui media britannici con un signficato diverso, più lato: si riferisce quei cittadini britannici che nel referndum si sono espressi per il “leave” e ora si rendono conto che gli avevano rifilato il classico pacco. Sfortunatamente, mentre si può riportare in negozio l’acquisto incauto – o rivenderlo su eBay –, la prospettiva di ribaltare il Brexit o di mitigarne le conseguenze sembra poco probabile.
Origini del termine
Buyer’s remorse, nel suo significato originale, comparve negli Stati Uniti negli anni ’60. La frequenza d’uso del termine aumentò costantemente nei decenni seguenti con l’avvento dell’era consumistica.
Buyer’s remorse – noun
Chances are, if you’re a shopper experiencing buyer’s remorse, you’ve felt it in the past as well.
Buyer’s remorse can have serious consequences—and not just the usual symptoms of anxiety, nausea and sweaty palms.
The former editor of The Sun, Kelvin Mackenzie, says he has “buyers remorse” after voting for the UK to leave the European Union.
Have you ever splashed out on a purchase that seemed highly desirable – a must-have in fact – only to get it home and wonder what on earth possessed you to spend so much money on something so useless/hideous/extravagant? If you have (and who hasn’t?) then you have experienced buyer’s remorse in its original meaning.
The term has been seen a lot in the UK media recently with a different, extended meaning. It refers in this instance to UK voters who, having voted to leave the EU, realised too late that they might just have been sold a pig in a poke. Unfortunately while you can take back an unsuitable purchase, or at least sell it on eBay, the prospect of reversing Brexit, or even mitigating its consequences, seems far less likely.
Origin
Buyer’s remorse in its original meaning first appeared in the US in the 1960s and usage rose steadily over the following decades as the consumer age took hold.
