Black Friday is here, and it's hard to miss. Posters scream about big sales while emails flood inboxes — warning the savings are for one day only. It's become one of the busiest shopping days of the year. But experts say it's also a time when impulse spending can spiral out of control.

Canadians' overall holiday spending is forecast to rise 10 per cent this year compared to last, to about $1,478 per household, according to a survey by the consulting firm Deloitte. Many consumers are looking for deals, with 48 per cent of those surveyed saying they plan to shop on Black Friday.

Annie Taurasi, who was doing some shopping at Sherway Gardens in Toronto on Monday, says she's buying food and  skin care  products and gift cards for her family this year. She knows how good it feels to get a deal.

"I feel accomplished, really, like I could spend twice as much now," she said.

But another shopper at the same east end mall said she often feels bombarded by all the advertising.

"You get two or three emails from the same company a day, so sometimes I find it a bit too much," said Michelle Latchman.

Ying Zhu of the University of British Columbia says certain advertising tactics are meant to 'generate a sense of urgency' among consumers. (Tom Popyk/CBC)

Ying Zhu, an associate professor of marketing at the University of British Columbia, explains how those ads are designed to tap into consumer emotions and encourage buying.

Red text, like on Amazon's Black Friday deals, triggers excitement and action, while yellow, like Walmart uses in its stores, is linked to happiness and affordability, she says. Others use a countdown clock or phrases like "one day only."

They "generate a sense of urgency," Zhu said — triggering a fear of missing out (a.k.a. FOMO).

"But the reality is there will always be some deal. So if you don't get this one, later on you may even get a better one. In order to be a smart consumer, we have to prepare ourselves to deal with this."

Social media is adding another level of pressure and increasingly shaping shopping decisions, Zhu said. Sometimes consumers feel so connected to an influencer, they trust the recommendations completely.

WATCH | Designed to spur spending:

"Companies use influencers to establish trust and emotion to make those spill over to their brand and spill over to their products," she said. Those are much easier sales to make than if the company were to try to persuade the shopper on its own, she says.