CDR Seminar & 'Cities Theme' Seminar: Erik Hoelzl - Consumer credit use: Automatic and controlled processes

Abstract

Erik Hoelzl, Professor of Economics and Social Psychology at the University of Cologne, will be delivering this Centre for Decision Research (CDR) and 'Cities Theme' co-badged seminar.

Consumer credit has become widespread, and credit can be now be taken up easily and immediately. Consequently, credit decisions may be made more spontaneously. Dual-process theories explain decisions as an interaction between automatic and controlled processes. In several studies, this research examined how cognitive load influences credit decisions. Results indicate that credit-related heuristics (take-the-best APR, debt account aversion) become more prominent under cognitive load. This has implications for both consumer policy and consumer counselling.

About the speaker

Erik Hoelzl is Professor of Economic and Social Psychology at the University of Cologne, Germany. He formerly worked at the University of Vienna, Austria, and was a research fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA. He was editor of the Journal of Economic Psychology, and currently is president of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology. He has published on economic decisions, i.e., decisions about money management, spending, saving, credit use, taxpaying, etc. Recently, Erich Kirchler and he published the textbook “Economic Psychology: An Introduction”.

For further information, contact research.LUBS@leeds.ac.uk.