The Downside of Saving for That Perfect Occasion

My wife is quoted in a recent U.S. News and World Report feature on credit cards where she talks about a quirky aspect of consumer behavior:

Suzanne Shu, assistant professor of marketing at Southern Methodist University, says rewarding people with luxury experiences gives them permission to indulge in splurges that they might otherwise feel guilty about buying. The risk, she says, is when the experience seems so special that people wait to schedule it and end up putting it off into the future indefinitely.

"People get into the problem where no occasion is quite special enough where they feel like they've earned the right to use the reward," she says, whether it's an expensive bottle of wine or a gift certificate to a high-end restaurant. Her advice is to set a specific date for the reward and then use it. "It's the drive for the perfect occasion that really throws people off."

Note to self: Companies that can better understand systemic quirks and biases related to consumer behavior can apply such learnings to improve their sales and marketing programs.