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Psychological mechanisms that influence our decision to use a specific means of payment!-- There are some obvious factors that influence the decision to pay with card or with cash. Unconscious psychological factors, even if not consciously considered, also influence our behavior and therefore this decision. In a research project, Yevgen Bogodistov, a lecturer in the Department of Business Administration Online, has tried to find answers to the questions related to the psychological mechanisms for choosing a means of payment.The aim of this study was to understand psychological distance in the context of different means of payment. The concept of psychological distance describes the way we perceive different objects or situations. In fact, the same event is perceived differently depending on the circumstances. Think of an exam for illustration. Compare for yourself how you feel in the following situations: "You have to take the statistics exam tonight" vs. "You have to take the statistics exam next semester." As you notice, you think about the same event in different ways: you think very concretely and in detail about the exam tonight, while you think abstractly and vaguely when it comes to the same event in the future. While you think in detail, you ask yourself, "How exactly can I prepare? Where is the exam? What should I take with me?" On the other hand, when you think abstractly, ask yourself questions like, "Why should I think about this? Why is it important? Should I start preparing or wait another week?" These thought streams lead to different actions and even an immediate physical reaction (e.g., stress, anxiety, or nervousness).In these situations, scientists argue, a person changes the way he or she processes information. The lower the psychological distance, the more persons tend to process information on a concrete level; the higher the psychological distance, the more persons tend to process information on an abstract level.In his first study, Yevgen Bogodistov explored the implicit association people have with payments (40 participants in total). He found that cash is associated with low psychological distance, while a card payment is associated with high psychological distance. This test had an important implication. Think back to the example with the test for a moment. Those who saw the cash began to think more concretely, as you did on the exam that would take place tonight. In contrast, those who saw debit cards started thinking like you did about the exam next semester. The question now arose as to whether the participants had really begun to think differently. To answer this question, an additional experiment was designed.Based on the ideas of Liberman et al. (2007), a picture of a product was shown with cash or a credit card. Participants were asked to formulate a question that ended with "...buy this product?". It was assumed that participants who are in the abstract thinking mode will formulate "why" questions, such as "Why do I need to buy this product?". In contrast, participants who are in the concrete thinking mode were assumed to formulate "how" questions, such as, "How can I buy this product?". The results were significant: participants who saw the product picture with a credit card manipulation tended to ask more general questions (why questions).These two studies can be summarized with two implications: First, each time a particular payment method is suggested to someone (e.g., paying for a product with a card), he/she might change his/her mindset and start perceiving that product on a more abstract level. Second, there could be more appropriate and inappropriate payment processes. Think about the newly announced iPhone that you can pre-order. Since you have never had this product in your hands and barely know the technical details, but love the design (high psychological distance, abstract thinking), an offer to pay for the pre-order by card would be a fitting condition. What if you are asked to pay in cash? Will you perceive the iPhone differently then? Will you start thinking about the technical aspects of the iPhone? Or will you refuse to pay because you feel uncomfortable?These questions could have big implications for companies working in marketing, consumer behavior and payment process design.Various psychological mechanisms influence our decision whether to pay with card or cash. Photo: stevebp - PixabayBachelor Betriebswirtschaft OnlineBachelor Business Administration OnlineMaster Corporate Governance & Finance Online endsearch-->

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!-- An online conference on "Digital Learning" was held at the MCI on November 12, 20. Besides interesting speakers from the companies Udemy and duftner.digital, also our head of studies, Maria Pammer, spoke about the topic "Virtual Teams and Collaborative Learning". We would like to share with you our three most important take-aways from this exciting conference:Informal learningInformal learning does not happen completely detached, but must have a framework. This framework is mostly given unnoticed in everyday work, e.g. with the coffee kitchen. In the digital environment these possibilities disappear quite fast and then have to be created again, which (counterintuitive) again seems quite formal. Those who use informal learning, even in the digital world, must therefore substitute the basic conditions of the workplace. In the In the best case, set a good example, for example by sharing your own learning. Design of self-paced coursesThe design of a self-paced course requires an even greater concentration on authentic content and engaging or winning approaches, also with the help of different media. The more the mediated can be used directly, the better.  Most searched training topics The two professional training topics with the highest number of requests (at Udemy) are Self Mastery and Collaboration/Communication/Leadership which are extremely variable areas of competence. Only then are more concrete topics such as automation, cloud computing or Cyber Security listed in the searching list. This shows, in our opinion, quite well how much the digital transformation has changed the requirements of the working world and thus also the requirements of (professional/company) learning and which topics employees are concerned with. There is another point that has emerged in this context: The future of lifelong learning, also in relation to learning in the digital world, lies in the freedom of the learner. He has not only the possibility to choose its own learning path, but even to create it itself. Digitalization has also an impact on our way of learning. Photo: MCIBachelor Betriebswirtschaft OnlineBachelor Business Administration OnlineMaster Corporate Governance & Finance Online endsearch--> 3 Insights from the conference "Digital Learning”