Why people are ordering fake food and fashion deliveries on free ‘dopamine apps’

A viral trend has people downloading apps to order food, clothes, and other products that never arrive — because the orders were never real. FoodNeverComes, one free, ad-supported app, claims nearly a million 'cravings satisfied.' Per The Conversation, these dopamine apps trigger the rush of anticipation, selection, and confirmation — all the feel-good parts of shopping, minus the consumption. Researchers have flagged a potential concern: studies show roughly a quarter of social casino players later move to real money gambling, raising the question of whether simulated transactions blur the line to actual ones. Plus there's a privacy catch — your fake choices are tracked through cookies, helping advertisers target you with ads for the real versions of everything you pretended to buy.

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