A Korean trend is helping shoppers get their retail-therapy fix without spending a cent. Are fake ‘dopamine sites’ the answer to overconsumption?

Now, as Techspot reports, some developers are hacking the hack with a wave of pretend food and shopping sites to help consumers get hits without spending money

These so-called “dopamine sites” openly state they’re purely simulations, allowing users to browse menus and shop without exchanging any money, except for a subscription to the app.

Most are Korean, but there’s an English-language version — FakeEats — that promises to help reduce two types of consumption: dietary and financial.

“Beat cravings. Save the money and avoid the calories,” the site reads.

Sounds great. Are there any downsides?

Moneywise spoke to Vanderbilt University marketing professor Kelly Haws — a leading researcher in consumer behavior — to find out.

Replacing consumption with ‘vicarious satiation’

Haws studies consumer psychology with a special interest in food consumption, particularly overconsumption. That had her intrigued by the FakeEats site.

“It’s a fascinating concept,” she told Moneywise. “If this works for you, why not?”

She noted that these sites could provide a buffer when someone wants to impulsively snack or spend money, by helping them remember to take a pause before making the decision.

Haws said research suggests some people may enjoy ‘vicarious satiation’ when it comes to food — getting a bit of pleasure by watching others eat or imagining the act of eating themselves.

But she said the research suggests that virtual solutions, like “dopamine sites,” work better for people with bad habits, not serious issues.

“I have some doubts about how well it will work with people once the novelty wears off,” she said.

In fact, she’s concerned about the potential for the virtual shopping and food delivery apps to backfire.

“What’s a stronger dopamine hit than pretending to eat? It’s actually doing it,” she observes. “If people try to use it, maybe they don’t go to order takeout, but they do go to the pantry and take out Doritos.”

She suggests that rather than an app, medical treatment may be more appropriate for people who eat compulsively, because it can help address the underlying impulse driving the behaviour (sometimes called “food noise”).

Ways to reduce consumption without a fake food app

You don’t need a fake food app to hit pause on your spending.

Haws said you can achieve the same thing — without spending the money on a subscription to a “dopamine site” — by window-shopping on a legitimate e-commerce site and adding things to a wish list or cart without buying anything.

Going for a walk or meditating can also help ease the temptation.