Algoralgia: Fast Fashion, Compulsive Consumerism and Hyper-Targeted Marketing

• In Event: Cultural Criminology 3: Online Harms & Art-Based Methods

Abstract

This paper introduces “algoralgia” as a new term that captures the psychological and emotional harms produced by algorithmic marketing strategies within the fast fashion industry. By employing personalized, data-driven prompts and hyper-targeted advertising, fast fashion brands create compulsive consumption cycles tied to anxiety, FOMO (fear of missing out), and escalating shopping addictions. These high-pressure tactics exploit consumers’ vulnerabilities, fueling immediate gratification at the expense of mental well-being. Drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives in criminology, psychology, and digital ethics, this work contextualizes how relentless, algorithmic marketing manipulates consumer behaviors and fosters detrimental mental health outcomes. It likewise proposes avenues for regulatory reforms and technological safeguards to protect consumers from these insidious, algorithmically driven pressures. Ultimately, recognizing algoralgia enables stakeholders to more effectively challenge and mitigate the damaging emotional and psychological dynamics underlying fast fashion’s relentless pursuit of profit.

Author

• Oliver Smith, University of Pymouth, UK