Why Intrum is helping people avoid overspending this Black Friday
Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year. Sometimes, it seems like nothing can stop us from spending. How can we resist when surrounded by so many deals?
Even in 2022 - when post-COVID inflation had already taken a serious toll on everyone’s wallets - shoppers in the UK alone spent over 10 billion Euros over the Black Friday weekend according to Reuters.
Easy temptation
It’s easy for people to be tempted to splash out on Black Friday. This is true if the spender doesn’t have the money, and even if they are already in debt. After all, temptation is everywhere. Brands worldwide are promoting deals so attractive that it can feel like we’re practically saving money by spending.
We’re constantly bombarded with texts, emails, browser ads and more in the build-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. US email marketing company Twilio SendGrid processed 8.8 billion emails last Black Friday. On Cyber Monday, they processed another 8.9 billion.
That’s the problem
More and more people struggle to pay their bills on time (according to our latest European Consumer Payment Report published November 2023) and the cost of living is skyrocketing and defaults are expected to increase as well. Despite that, Black Friday remains a huge spending day, one where people are encouraged to spend despite other challenges they and their families face.
Our insights shows that the number of debt collection cases is likely to increase in the coming years.
We believe education is part of the solution.
It’s more important than ever for consumers to understand how Black Friday’s marketing works from a psychological perspective, and why they need to stay vigilant and focused on their financial goals.
We launched an educational campaign across multiple markets
That’s why, in the lead up to this Black Friday, we decided to release a series of educational articles covering the psychology of Black Friday, the impact of Black Friday on our wellbeing, and tips for outsmarting Black Friday in 2023. We launched the campaign in multiple markets across Europe during November.
The aim of these articles is to raise awareness among people in debt - or anyone else invested in meeting their financial goals. We wanted to help consumers understand how the marketing behind Black Friday works, the impact it can have if people spend irresponsibly during the Black Friday weekend, and how to overcome the challenges of spending responsibly in a month packed to the brim with apparent bargains and other temptations.
As a debt collection company, we have a responsibility to help guide our customers as they set and work towards their financial goals. Our customers need to be given every opportunity to stay on track - to both their benefit and their creditors’.
We wanted to help consumers understand how the marketing behind Black Friday works, the impact it can have if people spend irresponsibly during the Black Friday weekend, and how to overcome the challenges of spending responsibly in a month packed to the brim with apparent bargains and other temptations
It’s equally important that the general public have access to articles like these to help prevent more people from falling into debt at a time when an increased cost of living sees people becoming increasingly vulnerable.
We want the people we help every day to have all the available resources they can and to feel comfortable knowing that we are invested in them, not the money they owe. At the same time, we want our clients to know why we do the work we do, and that they can rely on our team members to take a compassionate approach that goes above and beyond to get the best for all parties.
That takes effort, but it’s worth it.
If you want to read our Black Friday articles, you can find the UK articles in English below. The articles were translated to local language in the markets we launched the campaign.
The Psychology of Black Friday