Does it pain you to use cash? Would you accept a higher interest rate if an attractive salesperson offered it? And can your credit card really help you lose weight?

In this episode of It’s Not Real, Dr Paul Harrison dives into the psychology of spending, exploring why paying with cash hurts more than tapping a card, how payment methods influence our shopping habits, and why credit makes us more impulsive. From the origins of the first credit card to the hidden costs of convenience, we unpack the research behind why we spend the way we do—and what it means for our wallets, waistlines, and well-being.

Listen in and find out why sometimes, the best financial advice might be to leave your cards at home.

In this episode of Talking Shop, originally broadcast in 2015, Dr Paul Harrison and Kirsten Drysdale explore a surprising truth—money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it the right way.

We start with ‘shopper’s high,’ looking at how dopamine, often mistaken for a pleasure chemical, actually facilitates the anticipation and reward system that drives our behaviour. But because the buzz is short-lived, material purchases rarely provide lasting happiness.

That’s where affective forecasting comes in—the way we misjudge how future events, like winning a game or making a big purchase, will impact our happiness. More often than not, we get it wrong, which is why retail therapy can leave us feeling flat.

So how can we spend money in ways that actually make us happier? The research points to one clear answer: buy experiences, not things. Experiences create lasting memories, evolve over time, and often involve other people, making them far more valuable than physical objects.

But there’s a catch. A 2014 study suggests that for some people—so-called ‘material buyers’—neither experiences nor material goods bring long-term happiness. I put this theory to the test with my own experience: a fancy winter coat that still brings me joy every time I wear it. Paul explains why—its infrequent use, emotional attachment, and social reinforcement all play a role.

Ultimately, happiness isn’t just about what you buy—it’s about how and why you buy it.

In this special edition of The Marketing Lab, I have a quick chat with Associate Professor Josh Newton about his research into how the mere presence of Christmas decorations lead people to soften their evaluations of a personally experienced service failure encounter.

Josh and his colleagues' research was published in the Journal of Service Research in 2018. The abstract is noted below.

Thanks for listening to The Marketing Lab (at Deakin) in 2021, and we look forward to talking to you again in 2022.
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The Marketing Lab (at Deakin) is recorded and produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and traditional custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.
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Newton, J., Wong, J. and Casidy, R., 2018. Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly to Soften Evaluations of Service Failure. Journal of Service Research, 21(4), pp.389-404.

Abstract
Symbols associated with seasonal religious festivals are periodically displayed by service providers, but do these symbols serve more than just a decorative function? Findings from seven experiments suggest they do. In the presence of such symbols, individuals soften their evaluations of a personally experienced service failure encounter. This effect emerges through the activation of forgiveness but only among those with a religious upbringing and only when the encounter involves service failure (rather than neutral service). The softening of service evaluations in the presence of such symbols is reversed, however, when service failure is observed (rather than directed at the self) and when the recipient of that failure is perceived to be vulnerable. Contextual exposure to symbols associated with seasonal religious festivals therefore presents a double-edged sword for managers; depending upon the service failure recipient, these symbols can harden or soften evaluations of the service failure encounter.