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Paying on credit card can enhance self-esteem

According to a research, people tend to buy high-end items using their credit cards rather than the usual cash when they feel disheartened. This therapeutic method of relieving stress proves to be beneficial not only for women but also for men. It may not be as good from a monetary perspective but it’s the thing that comes to the modern human’s rescue when he or she has a bad day at the office.

The actual research was conducted by teams from London Business School and Cornell University. Both reveal that people have a predilection to buying expensive things using their credit cards when subjected to bad stimuli that make them feel downtrodden.

Volunteers from both the US and the UK have put the theory to the test by taking an easy computer test. Not taking the results into account, half of them were told that they lacked intelligence because of their results. The other half were congratulated for their results and by receiving this positive feedback, the volunteers felt encouraged to spend money on shopping. Another study closely related to this one revealed that people also tend to buy luxury things when their self-esteem has to win. Both of the studies were posted in the journal called Social Psychological and Personality Science.

It is hard for people to go shopping with their wallets bursting with cash rather than having a piece of plastic tucked away in their back pockets. This way, people don’t get to feel stressed about having spent too much money on the things they already bought. It is less of a psychological toll.

It is also easy for people to get carried away, spend too much, and later suffer the consequences of their shopping spree. This is why many people still prefer paying with cash when faced with long shopping lists.

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• hildaadiaz says:

  Frequently we will see high value coupons available at “Printapons” (printable coupons) when a new product is being introduced or when a product is going to undergo a radical change.

• #1 - Posted on: 12th May 2011 - 10:25am

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