A recent study from MIT revealed that credit cards could stimulate your brain into more shopping. Drazen Prelec, study author and professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management explained that credit card shopping could trigger more “purchase cravings”. How does the phenomenon work?
Credit cards splurge: a shopping thirst to quench
CNBC reported that MIT has just recently conducted research on the brain over how human brains react to paying method. Utilizing MRI machines, the research studies how our brains function upon cash or a credit cards purchase.
Upon the experiment, different products from video games to beauty products were displayed on a screen inside the MRI to the participants. The participants were then given the option to pay for what they purchase with $50 cash or a credit card. Apparently, more people chose to pay for expensive items with credit cash, although the overall spendings also get bigger.
Consequently, the participants’ brains also react differently to each different payment method. The research pointed out that credit cards purchase could activate a region of the brain’s reward system, called the striatum. The striatum releases dopamine that relates to reward, reinforcement, pleasure and even addiction.
“The reward networks in the brain that are activated by all kinds of rewards are activated by a credit card purchase,” CNBC quotes Prelec. Thus, the study authors concluded that credit cards may act like “cues”. It’s similar to logos or buy-now buttons which “activate the pursuit of rewarding products”.
How is it different from cash payments?
According to the study, the brain’s reward network “has been chronically sensitized by prior experience with credit cards”. Hence, “the act of putting that plastic credit card in your hand is associated with enjoyable purchases,” Prelec further explained through the release.
The study authors also pointed out that other studies revealed that credit cards payments ease your mind out of the costs to pay. Unlike paying in cash, credit cards allow you to pay for the total cost in several instalments. Furthermore, credit cards spendings for travel and restaurants give a different effect from essentials purchase. Prelec said, “the card you use for restaurants and vacations creates a different appetite for spending than the card you use to buy gas for your card”.
With the publication of the study, the bottom line that we need to note is how new payment system adoption could actually affect our thoughts. Contactless payment sure has a handful of benefits in the new age. However, it is as much important to know how our body responds. Without such studies, we may unknowingly develop detrimental habits that eat us up.
Read also: Maxed Out Credit Cards and 4 Steps How to Avoid It
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