A growing internet trend known as "dopamine sites" is gaining traction by allowing users to engage in the rituals of shopping and ordering without the final act of consumption. One prominent example, FoodNeverComes, enables visitors to browse 22 cuisines and hundreds of dishes, complete with a simulated checkout and a fake delivery tracker, all without any real food being prepared or delivered.

Launched in June by software developers Purvansh Parmar and Anshul Sharma, the site has reportedly attracted over 2.7 million visitors. The founders, who also created a similar platform called TripNeverLeaves for virtual travel planning, developed the concept after observing their own habits of filling online shopping carts with items they never intended to purchase. Parmar suggests that for many, the satisfaction stems from the process of ordering rather than the acquisition of the product itself.

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Experts note that this behavior taps into the brain's "wanting" system. Kent Berridge, a neuroscientist at the University of Michigan, explains that dopamine drives the motivation to pursue a reward—a process distinct from the pleasure of actually possessing it. Dr. Anna Lembke, an addiction psychiatrist at Stanford University, adds that rituals associated with rewards can become reinforcing on their own, though she cautions that such sites might inadvertently strengthen the neural networks they aim to simulate.

While some researchers, such as Ravi Dhar of the Yale Center for Customer Insights, view these platforms as a potential "release valve" for consumer urges, others remain skeptical about their long-term impact. Despite the debate, the founders state that their current goal is not profit, but rather to explore the psychology of modern consumption and eventually share their data with the scientific community.

Source: BBC News