Black Friday: How a Post-Thanksgiving Sale Became a Global Psychological Trap

The Origins: From Financial Panic to Retail Frenzy
The term “Black Friday” first appeared not in shopping malls but in financial panic. In 1869, American speculators Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market by buying up the metal and artificially driving the price higher. They used political insiders, manipulated government policy, and built an illusion of scarcity, a perfect demonstration that when greed meets psychology, markets obey panic, not logic. When President Ulysses Grant ordered the Treasury to sell gold and break the scheme, prices collapsed, fortunes evaporated, and Wall Street plunged into chaos. The day became known as Black Friday not because people saved money, but because thousands lost their shirts. Meanwhile, Gould and his friends made a lot of money by hedging some of the positions and sold at the top, while escaping harsh punishment thanks to their “connections”.

So, like many great traditions, whether it is war, toxic wellness trends, and overpriced weddings, Black Friday was born from disorder and later rebranded as excitement.

Ironically, the modern Black Friday has a similar emotional root – panic; not among traders, but among consumers. The current retail version emerged in Philadelphia during the mid-20th century, when post-Thanksgiving crowds flooded the city for a football game and police dreaded the unruly mobs of shoppers. They called it “Black Friday” due to traffic jams, shoplifting, and near-riot behaviour.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that retailers took this catastrophic term and, with marketing alchemy, turned it into a symbol of profit and a noble act of altruism. What began as a day police hated became a day manufacturers worship.

A Consumer’s Puppeteer Strings
If Black Friday seems irrational, that is because it is scientifically engineered to be so. Retailers don’t sell products; they sell dopamine, using psychological tricks so well-studied they might as well come with academic citations.

Let’s dissect the most potent weapons:

1. Scarcity Principle
Humans equate rarity with value. A “SALE ENDS IN 2 HOURS!” banner is not information. It is a time bomb strapped to your prefrontal cortex. Scarcity does not make products better; it simply makes humans more anxious. The irony is often times the sale continues much beyond those lucrative time windows!

Like a starving caveman hunting the last buffalo, you click BUY NOW on a toaster.

2. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
If scarcity is the bomb, fear of missing out is the shrapnel. “3,213 people purchased this item today!” is not a statistic but an emotional peer pressure. You don’t want the item. You just don’t want others to have it at a lower price.

Black Friday turns shopping into competition, where the prize is a gadget you’ll forget exists in six weeks.

3. Anchoring Effect
Retailers show you the “original price” first, then the “discounted price.” This anchors your brain to believe you are winning. A product that was never ₹10,000 is suddenly a steal at ₹4,999.

It’s not a deal; just a mathematical theatre.

4. Micro-Dopamine Hits
Every flash sale, every “Only 1 left!” ping, every checkout confirmation triggers tiny dopamine surges. You’re not shopping! You’re gambling with electronics instead of poker chips.

Black Friday is effectively a casino with shopping carts.

The Underbelly - Exploit the Deliberately Designed Chaos
Producers don’t simply wait for Black Friday. They prepare for it like generals preparing for war. Factories churn out specially created “Black Friday models”, cheaper versions of

Black Friday doesn’t just sell products. It sells a downgraded illusion.

Producers also exploit another factor - overproduction. Instead of disposing excess inventory (which costs money), they turn it into a festival of “slashed prices,” making consumers pay to clear warehouses.

Black Friday is a clearance bin wearing lipstick.

The Trap: How Consumers End Up Paying for What They Don’t Need
What’s the biggest lie of consumerism? That purchasing equals saving.

Buying a ₹12,000 appliance for ₹6,000 doesn’t save ₹6,000. It rather spends ₹6,000. Owning five pairs of discounted shoes doesn’t add value — it subtracts from your bank balance. Purchasing something “just in case” is like paying rent to clutter.

Black Friday teaches consumers to treat spending as victory. The illusion works because Black Friday does not discount products. It discounts consumers’ judgement.

We don’t buy because we need.

We buy to feel smart, to feel lucky, to feel like we outwitted the market.

Meanwhile, producers smirk in boardrooms, knowing we are willingly enrolling in economic self-harm.

The Smartest Shopper May Be the One Who Buys Nothing
Black Friday thrives because consumers are convinced that they are heroes conquering capitalism. But the real rebellion isn’t fighting crowds, racing timers, or hoarding discounts. It’s walking away.

To buy only what you need is not frugality; it is resistance.
To not be manipulated by flashing banners is not stinginess; it is intelligence.
The greatest discount is keeping your money and your mind out of the sale.

In 1869, markets crashed because people chased fake scarcity. Today, wallets crash for the same reason.