NEW YORK—Credit cards get consumers to spend by creating a “purchase craving” in the brain, according to a new study by Nature.com.
When a consumer uses a credit card instead of cash, it serves to “step on the gas,” driving more spending “by putting costs out-of-mind regardless of the price of the product,” the study states.
The study further found that paying with a credit card sensitizes reward networks in the brain. The process involves the striatum, a dopaminergic reward center that drugs like cocaine and amphetamines exploit. Once these reward networks are sensitized, credit card use drives an increase in purchases, according to the study.