In the Norwegian newspaper, VG’s “Young Opinions”, Melina Grødseth Helledal wrote a compelling piece about beauty advent calendars and how they are really selling dopamine, not products. She is absolutely right. This is not just about teenagers and makeup, but about how all of us are trapped in a dopamine economy. Every click and every purchase is designed to give the brain a small hit. It is not random, it is science.
How Companies Use Dopamine to Make You Buy More
Behind every click and every purchase lies a calculated mechanism. Companies know how to activate the brain’s reward system. That is why you get small bursts of satisfaction every time you open a notification, see a special offer, or receive a new package in the mail.
But anticipation is temporary. When the dopamine fades, the hunt for the next little hit begins. That is why you “just check” your phone. Why you suddenly want another subscription, a new outfit, or a product you do not actually need.
How Marketing Creates Addiction From Childhood to Adulthood
In a previous article, I wrote about the Labubu trend and how children are drawn into a product universe where marketing and entertainment blend together. The adult versions are not very different.
Beauty advent calendars, limited editions, and pre-orders all rely on the same mechanisms of anticipation, scarcity, and social comparison. The only difference is that we like to believe we are too smart to fall for it.
But the brain does not distinguish between toys and luxury products. It reacts to the feeling of “almost”, “soon”, and “just one more”.
How TikTok and Instagram Keep You Addicted
Digital platforms figured out long ago what triggers dopamine. That is why they deliver small rewards just often enough to keep us hooked, a “like” here, a discount code there, a news notification that sparks curiosity.
Small, unpredictable rewards work like slot machines. The brain loves unpredictability because it creates excitement, and excitement means dopamine.
It is no coincidence that TikTok and Instagram feel impossible to put down. You never get the same content twice, and the platforms know exactly when you start losing interest. That is when they serve you something new before you even have time to close the app.
Many products are also sold alongside the feeling that you are taking care of yourself. “You deserve it,” the advertising says. “This is self-care.”
That does not mean you should never treat yourself. The point is understanding why you are doing it.
Are you actually experiencing joy, or just a dopamine hit that disappears as quickly as it arrived?
How Marketing Connects Consumption to Self-Worth
The beauty advent calendar is called “self-care”. The new fitness app promises motivation. The extra cup of coffee in a limited-edition design offers “a small moment of peace in a busy day”.
But everything plays on the same psychological string: you deserve it. And you do, of course, but the industry knows that this very thought makes you willing to buy more. In the dopamine economy, consumption is packaged as care, and the feeling of taking care of yourself becomes a sales argument.
The world’s oldest sales trick is appealing to emotions. More than two thousand years ago, Aristotle already explained how pathos (emotion) is one of three ways to persuade, alongside ethos (credibility) and logos (logic).
When emotions are triggered, the parts of the brain responsible for decision-making become activated. That is why emotionally driven communication can feel genuine, even when it is carefully planned.
We see it everywhere: beggars appealing to empathy, manipulative personalities using guilt or charm to get what they want, and marketers wrapping their messages in warmth, humor, or care. The principle is always the same: when emotions are triggered, logic arrives just a little too late.
What Dopamine Does to Happiness, Shopping, and Satisfaction
The dangerous part of the dopamine economy is not the joy in the moment, but the emptiness afterward. When the reward disappears, the brain needs a new one. That is why we check our phones again, buy another fragrance, or watch one more episode.
It feels like choice, but it is design.
I have been down that road myself. Many years ago, I searched for happiness in things I could buy, only to discover how short-lived the joy really was. I especially remember saving for almost a year to buy a sofa that cost 9,000 NOK. I kept it for eight years, and I genuinely loved it. Years later, when I earned more money, I bought a sofa for 25,000 NOK. I enjoyed it for a few months, and then the feeling disappeared. The first one required time, effort, and patience. The second came too easily, and the joy faded faster.
Eventually, I realized that the only thing you can truly buy with money, and that actually lasts, is experiences.
They do not lose value, they grow. Memories do not age, they mature. As someone once said so perfectly: Travel is the only thing you can buy that actually makes you richer.
We have gone from buying products to buying feelings, and dopamine has become the best-selling product of our time.
How to Take Back Control of Your Attention
You cannot shut out the dopamine economy, but you can decide what should trigger it by changing your mindset. You do this by making other things more important than the feeling of needing to buy something in order to feel happiness.
We can start small.
- Make waiting meaningful. Put your phone away while waiting for the bus. Look around. Let your brain settle.
- Delay purchases by 24 hours. If the desire is still there the next day, it is a genuine wish, not an impulse.
- Change your dopamine source. Get the same “kick” from something that lasts longer: a good conversation, a walk, or completing a meaningful task.
- Give your brain breaks. Dopamine needs contrast to work properly. Without stillness, we lose the ability to truly appreciate joy.
When you do small things like this, something subtle happens: the brain starts associating happiness with experiences, mastery, and presence instead of purchases.
Why Experiences Bring More Happiness Than Things
We have gone from buying products to buying feelings, and dopamine has become the best-selling product of our time. But there are many other ways to trigger dopamine. I personally fly paragliders. A friend of mine rides mountain bikes. Others find joy in painting, playing music, creating something, running, cold-water swimming, or helping other people.
If the only way you can trigger dopamine is by buying something, it may be time to sit down and reflect for a moment.
It is like the luxury you allow yourself when your salary increases. It feels good in the moment, but the joy rarely lasts. Eventually, you want more, something new, something bigger. In the end, it becomes an endless chase. A chase that costs money, energy, and eventually, perhaps even meaning.
When you find a source that actually gives you energy instead of stealing it, dopamine returns to the role it was meant to have, as a driving force, not a distraction.
A happiness that depends on money is an impossible success. Too much will always want more.
