【明報專訊】Revenge consumption, like panic buying, is excessive spending and accumulation of material goods, just carried out in two vastly different moods. The "revenge mood" arises as a way to offset the feeling of deprivation from a prolonged period of imposed isolation and other restrictions. It helps to let the steam off of our pent-up resentment. While it is unclear whether "revenge consumption" enacts a revenge to the policymakers who imposed restrictions on us or to the virus itself for having ruined our so-called normal life, the "revenge" signals the impulsive need to make a dramatic response, with the hope that it will somehow restore or make up for what was lost.