On the Mental Accounting of Restricted-Use Funds

How Gift Cards Change What People Purchase

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2237356
AutoresNicholas Reinholtz (0000-0003-0696-1972, Georgia State University), Daniel M Bartels (0000-0003-1642-8426, Georgia State University), Jeffrey R Parker (0000-0003-4587-9381, Georgia State University)
Ano2015
Páginasucv045
Data de publicação2015-08-26
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Consumer Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0093-5301 • E-ISSN: 1537-5277
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jcr/ucv045
OpenAlexW2263503001
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas7
Referências citadas47

This article emphasizes the role of categorization in mental accounting and proposes that once a mental account is established, purchases that are highly congruent with the purpose of the mental account (i.e., typical category members) will be more preferred in selection decisions compared to purchases that are less congruent (i.e., atypical category members). This hypothesis is tested in the context of gift cards. Six studies find that people shopping with a retailer-specific gift card-and so, the authors argue, possessing a retailer-specific mental accountexpress an increased preference for products more typical of the retailer compared to those shopping with more fungible currency. This pattern is found to occur for both well-known retailers, where people already possess product-typicality knowledge, and fictional retailers, where product-typicality cues are provided. An alternative account based on semantic priming is not supported by these data. These results both broaden the contemporary understanding of how mental accounting influences preferences and provide retailers deeper insight into their customers' decision processes.

Actuarial science · Advertising · Business · Categorization · Cognition · Context (archaeology) · Currency · Economics · Mental accounting · Mental representation · Microeconomics · Preference · Priming (agriculture) · Product (mathematics) · Product category · Computer Science · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Marketing · Psychology · Psychology of Social Influence