This article presents the findings of a new study recently published in the Journal of Consumer Research. The study shows that people who experience feelings of social isolation often choose to take risks in their financial decisions. The leader of the study, Rod Duclos, reported that people who are unhappy or feel socially void use investments and the chance of financial success as a way to fill that void. The experiment involved an online virtual game of ball-toss. To recreate the impact of social isolation, the researchers rarely passed the ball to certain participants. Those subjects reported feeling rejected and left out. They were then given the choice between a safe bet of an 80% chance of winning $200 (with a 20% chance of winning nothing) and a 20% chance of winning $800 (with an 80% chance of winning nothing). The players who were rejected the most during the ball toss went for the lucrative bet.
I think it's interesting how our social interactions effect our financial decisions, and most of the time, we don't really realize it. It's also a little unsettling to me that our daily expenses vary depending on our mood for the day and our reaction to social settings, and to avoid that, we must be keenly in-touch with our emotions and the role they play in the science of economics.
http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2013/01/22/16625505-unlucky-in-love-dont-make-snap-financial-decisions?lite
I think it's interesting how our social interactions effect our financial decisions, and most of the time, we don't really realize it. It's also a little unsettling to me that our daily expenses vary depending on our mood for the day and our reaction to social settings, and to avoid that, we must be keenly in-touch with our emotions and the role they play in the science of economics.
http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2013/01/22/16625505-unlucky-in-love-dont-make-snap-financial-decisions?lite
6 comments:
I feel like this study is just proving what many advertising agencies already seem to know- playing on a consumer's insecurities can get them to shell out big bucks for an unremarkable product (ex: diet pills). It would be interesting to see how much the excluded group would be (hypothetically) willing to pay to be included in the game.
I think it would also be interesting to see how prolonged feelings of inadequacy or insecurities could impact spending compared to the short term feelings that were shown in the study.
I mean, I know whenever I go shopping in a bad mood I always end up buying a ton of pointless crap to try and make myself feel better. Or doughnuts.
A very interesting article! I have always wondered why the penny is still around when the cost of making a penny is actually more than the value of it. I feel like this could be a gradual process which is going to give Jarden a chance to make a transition into producing something else if Jarden losing money is the main concern. Anyway, I'm with you Kelsey, 5 years is quite reasonable.
This study does seem to prove the marketing strategies already used by many companies. "If you buy our product, you will be more popular!" It would be interesting to see how different levels of isolation affect buying. Does someone who is clinically depressed buy more or less than someone who is merely having a bad day? Is there a point where isolation becomes so extreme that there is a drop-off in risky behavior when it comes to sales?
Post a Comment