Psychological Science ›› 2018, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (4): 904-909.

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Does Electronic Wallet Make One Spend More? :Mental Accounting of Mobile Payment

  

  • Received:2017-07-28 Revised:2018-02-07 Online:2018-07-20 Published:2018-07-20
  • Contact: Ruilin WU

“电子钱包”让人花钱更多?——手机支付的心理账户效应

张美萱1,吴瑞林2,张涵2,田奕真2,杨鹿野3,姚唐2,4   

  1. 1. 北京师范大学
    2. 北京航空航天大学
    3. 北京大学
    4. 北京航空航天大学经济管理学院
  • 通讯作者: 吴瑞林

Abstract: Researchers found users’ switch from cash payment to mobile payment and we will have a cashless society. many studies were interested in overspending of using non-cash payment methods such as credit cards and debit cards. But few research paid attention to overspending of mobile payment. Mental accounting has been proved to be associated with irrational economic decisions. However, there weren’t enough studies on mental accounting of mobile payment. Therefore, the present study hypothesized mobile payment and cash payment as two different mental accountings, and mental accounting of mobile payment makes one spend more. We also hypothesized that mental accounting effect of pocket change doesn’t exist so that people no longer tend to control their spending of 100 yuan while the effect of windfall gains with mobile phone red packet still exists, resulting in more spending and greater preference for hedonic goods in the mobile payment accounting. 114 undergraduates were recruited in three experiments. In Experiment 1, 47 participants (14 males and 33 females, mage=21.19) were divided into two groups. The experimental group used mobile payment, meanwhile the control group used cash payment to choose goods displayed on the computer screen by E-prime. In Experiment 2, 35 participants (17 males and 18 females, age=21.29) were divided into two groups. One group was given 100 yuan once. Meanwhile another group was given four times but the total amount was 100 yuan. Participants all used mobile payment. In Experiment 3, 32 participants (17 males and 15 females, mage=19.51) were divided into two groups. One group was given windfall gains via WeChat red packets, the other group was given money via regular accounts. Both groups used mobile payment to choose groceries like Experiment 1 and 2. Experiment 1 showed mobile payment group spent significantly more than cash payment group (p<0.01). In the same way mobile payment group had more frequent buying behaviors (p<0.01). Mobile payment users chose more utilitarian goods than cash users (p<0.01). Experiment 2 showed mobile payment users given money four times, non-significantly spent more money than the other users who were paid off once (p=0.277). In Experiment 3, “Windfall gains” group spent more (p<0.01) and bought more frequently (p<0.01) than “regular gains” group. For hedonic goods, “windfall gains” group also spent more money (p<0.01) and bought more frequently (p<0.05). Conclusions are: (1) Mobile payment and cash payment belong to different mental accountings. The former of mobile payment is more inconspicuous of finances going down than cash payment. Using mobile payment makes one feel less pain and spend more money. Besides, Consumers are much willing to spend cash on utilitarian goods. (2) In the mental accounting of mobile payment, the principle of “control major, ignore minor” is not prominent. Participants didn’t tend to control their consuming of large money. (3) Mobile payment accounting exists the windfall gains effect with mobile phone red packets. With windfall gains, the consumption sum is higher and participants inclined to hedonic consumption. Key words mobile payment, mental accounting, pain of paying, cashless society

Key words: mobile payment, mental accounting, pain of paying, cashless society

摘要: 为探究手机支付使用者消费增加的现象及其心理账户效应,使用计算机程序对114名被试进行了三项模拟购物实验。实验发现:(1)手机支付组被试的商品消费次数和金额都显著高于现金支付组被试,且这种差异体现在功能型商品的消费上。(2)手机支付时被试不会倾向于对大金额的消费进行控制,对大钱和小钱的花费不存在显著差异。(3)手机支付时收到红包的被试消费次数和金额显著高于账户常规收入的被试,且更多用于享乐型消费。总的来看,手机支付减弱了对大额金钱和意外收入的消费控制,非现金支付让消费者花钱更多。

关键词: 手机支付, 心理账户, 支付痛感, 无现金社会

CLC Number: