AUTHOR=Hung Hui-Hsi , Cheng Yin-Hui , Chuang Shih-Chieh , Wang Tzu-Ming 

TITLE=Swipe now, regret later? How credit cards reduce the appeal of safe choices

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1517460

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1517460

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Most research on the influence of decision-making on the compromise effect has focused on paying with cash rather than with a credit card. The experimental investigations of this paper revealed that the compromise effect was reduced when consumers paid with a credit card rather than with cash, and that the pain of paying played a mediating role between the payment form and the occurrence of the compromise effect. In addition, the authors successfully excluded alternative explanations such as differences in price, product category, and attribute importance. Finally, this paper showed that the impact of cash payments on the compromise effect was stronger among tightwads than among spendthrifts.