Cash means control: Emotions and payment process design

Purpose – to investigate reasons and conditions impacting payment preferences. Design/Method/Approach. In this exploratory study, we apply the Implicit Association Test in order to investigate whether the prejudice of the population of some countries such as Germany preferring cash holds. Findings. Cash payments still play a major role in a number of countries although other payment options, namely card payments, are promoted heavily. We discover that the type of payment and the level of control are implicitly associated. We manipulate the emotions of fear and joy. The relationship changes when participants experience fear, whereas emotion of joy does not produce statistically significant effects. Practical implications. The results have major implications for the design of payment processes. Originality/Value. Our study helps explain preferences with regard to payment types as well as predict preferences as a response to scary or joyful events. Research limitations/Future research. Generalizability is limited. Future research can focus on other emotions and types of payment (e.g., NFC – based payments). Paper type – empirical.