60秒科学:Thanksgiving Dinner Could Stop Black Friday Shopp

Thanksgiving Dinner Could Stop Black Friday Shopping
A study in the Journal of Marketing¹ Research finds that the traditional Thanksgiving meal may affect brain chemistry in such a way as to lessen² the likelihood of impulse buying during Black Friday's store sales. Karen Hopkin reports

Here in the U.S., it’s Thanksgiving week. And many of us are getting ready to stuff our faces, watch football and take advantage of all those Black Friday sales. But eat enough turkey and you may not want to shop. Because a new study, in the Journal of Marketing Research, shows that people who enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal are less likely to buy things on impulse.

We all know that turkey with all the trimmings can make you sleepy, in part because the bird is chock full of tryptophan. Tryptophan gets converted into serotonin, a brain chemical that affects mood and behavior. In previous studies, serotonin's been shown to inhibit³ impulsive⁴ behavior. So scientists got to wondering whether eating turkey would curb⁵ the urge to reach for a credit card. They asked subjects to fill out a questionnaire after dinner on Thanksgiving. And they found that people who’d eaten the traditional turkey were less willing to jump on a bargain than those who’d had lasagna or a burrito.

Mind you, the think-before-you-buy effects of serotonin wear off after a few hours. So to stop from shopping on Black Friday, you may need to top up with a late-night turkey club. And start the day with a turkey scramble⁶.
 

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

3 inhibit   

vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制

参考例句：

• Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。
• They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

4 impulsive   

adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的

参考例句：

• She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
• He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人，也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。