Cash or Card: Consumer Perceptions of Payment Modes - Scholarly ...

2.1: Introduction
Chapter Two
Literature Review
This study has two goals. One is to identify the cognitive and emotional associations people
have with payment modes and to ascertain if these link to payment mode choice. The other is
to determine the nature of the relationship between payment mode use and purchase
behaviour. Central to the study is the thesis that the long standing use of notes and coins as
tokens denoting monetary value has resulted in a complex visceral and somatic relationship
with such tokens and that this relationship affects our perceptions. Furthermore, this thesis
claims that our perceptions of the payment mode used, influences our purchase behaviour.
To understand the antecedents of this relationship, one needs to be familiar with the literature
pertaining to money as an economic and psycho-social phenomenon.
According to Snelders, Lea, Webley and Hussein (1992) money is a typical polymorphous
concept. It has relevance to many aspects of human activities and so discussion and research
occurs in numerous disciplines and across numerous perspectives. For this study, the focus is
on examining how individuals perceive and respond to the tangibility of a payment mode in
their day to day purchases. Of particular relevance therefore is the literature pertaining to
money as a psycho-physical phenomenon. However, as the philosophical (spiritual/moral)
and functional (economic) aspects of money probably influence psycho-physical aspects an
overview of the literature pertaining to the philosophical and functional aspects of money is
presented (Appendix 1. Pg.1-8.)
This chapter begins by presenting a brief historical overview of the emergence of money and
the mechanisms for facilitating purchases, followed by a review of the extant research in the
area of mode of payment effects. The final section identifies pertinent issues and gaps that are
the foundation of the research questions this study seeks to address.
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