TY  - JOUR
TI  - “Money versus goods” in the conditions of limited and unlimited choice
T2  - Psychology. Journal of Higher School of Economics
IS  - Psychology. Journal of Higher School of Economics
KW  - money
KW  - freedom of choice
KW  - choice
KW  - value of money
KW  - limited choice
KW  - unlimited choice
KW  - psychology of money
AB  - This work is dedicated to the subjective value of money as a factor in the buyer's freedom to choose from a range of available products and services. It is suggested that the value of money goes beyond the product that could potentially been purchased with that money, it has an "added value" - the value of the freedom to choose between many products. This research is based on a previous study conducted in collaboration with V.A. Petrovsky, where this phenomenon was shown empirically. The purpose of this work is to compare the subjective value (attractiveness) of money and, accordingly, the goods purchased with this money, in conditions of free and limited choice. The conducted experiment allows to analyze this difference quantitatively and explore its causes qualitatively. Four groups of respondents were identified, differing in their resolution of the attractiveness of products or money, based on the number of available options. It was recorded that for the majority of participants, money, in a situation of free choice, is more attractive than goods potentially purchased with this money. It has been shown that the available range of choices affects the subjective value of money. The maximum attractiveness of money belongs to the average range of product selection - from 5 to 10 options. The attractiveness of money decreases, although it remains positive, in all other cases when the freedom of choice of goods is either limited ("there is nothing to choose from!") or too great ("immensity" and, consequently, the "burden" of choice). The phenomenon of non-economic (psychological) asymmetry of the value (attractiveness) of money and the value of goods was established. Three phenomena have been found in relation to different groups of people: the phenomenon of the predominant value of money regardless of the measure of freedom of choice; the phenomenon of the predominant value of things regardless of the measure of freedom of choice; the phenomenon of the predominant value of money in conditions of working and unlimited freedom of choice.
AU  - Maria Maricheva
UR  - https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2024-21-3/965046692.html
PY  - 2024
SP  - 547-568
VL  - 21