It’s a question that’s been asked of consumers for decades. And despite the increasing popularity of digital payment methods, cash and card remain the most popular choices worldwide. In 2021, 65 percent of all point-of-sale transactions globally were made using cash or card, according to Fidelity National Information Services. 

Past research shows that 90 percent of households use multiple payment methods, but new research from the University of Notre Dame takes a first look into how consumers choose between them. The study finds that the justifiability of a purchase affects how consumers choose to pay.

“Purchase Justifiability Drives Payment Choice: Consumers Pay With Card To Remember And Cash To Forget” is forthcoming in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research from Christopher Bechler, assistant professor of marketing in Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, along with Szu-chi Huang from Stanford University and Joshua Morris, data science manager for Nike.

“When a purchase is difficult to justify — like buying an overpriced bottle of water at the airport, cigarettes or candy — consumers pay with less-trackable methods, like cash, so they can eliminate the paper or electronic trail and ‘forget’ this guilty purchase,” said Bechler, who specializes in consumer behavior and social psychology with an emphasis on attitudes, persuasion and financial decision-making. “When a purchase is easy to justify, consumers have no problem paying with trackable methods like credit cards that create paper or electronic trails.”

Despite the vast amount of research on financial decision-making in behavioral economics, consumer behavior and social psychology, this is the first study to take an in-depth look at how consumers choose to pay.

The team analyzed real transaction data from 118,042 purchases and manipulated the justifiability of purchases consumers imagined making in six experiments on more than 5,000 individuals. They hoped to capture the causal effect of hard-to-justify purchases on consumers’ intentions to use cash vs. a credit or debit card.

“I think a lot of consumers — particularly those who diligently track their card expenses — recognize that they use cash so they don’t have to think about certain purchases again,” Bechler said. “In fact, this strategy of using cash to hide purchases from ourselves if we feel bad about them is something my co-authors and I admitted to doing ourselves.”

The findings show merchants it’s a good idea to be strategic with the types of payment methods they allow.

“A doughnut shop could benefit from letting its customers pay with cash because they may want to forget their unhealthy purchase,” Bechler said. “A salad shop might not see the same benefit.”

And as the world turns to cryptocurrencies and new payment methods, the study underscores implications for both merchants and financial institutions designing payment methods of the future. Bechler said understanding the factors that affect how consumers choose to pay could be important for predicting which new methods will succeed.

Holiday Charity Scams: This may be the commonest scam of all.

Delivery Scams: As holiday packages are delivered around the country, scammers send out phishing scam emails disguised as UPS, FedEx or U.S. Postal Service with a link to view your “missed deliveries.” These links can lead to phony sign-in pages asking for personal information or to websites infected with malware. 

Online Shopping Scams: It’s so easy to shop online, especially during the busy holiday season. It’s also easy for scammers to extract information if you’re not protecting yourself.

Travel Scams: Booking sites and email offers with travel deals that look too good to be true are most likely scams. Scammers try to mimic popular travel websites by recreating familiar branding, logos or company verbiage.

Gift Card Scams: Gift cards make the perfect holiday gift. Be cautious about buying gift cards from third-party sites.

Darius Kingsley, Head of Business Practices at Chase Bank, offers the following tips to deal with each kind of scheme:

On charity scams: “To avoid a charity scam, refrain from donating if a website or caller seeks payment only by wire transfer, gift card or prepaid card—scam calls are frequently used to try and get your information over the phone. Be wary of unsolicited social media messages or emails from organizations claiming to need donations. For instance, don’t click on links or respond to email messages from charities you haven’t supported in the past. Legitimate organizations will never send you a message with an attachment. And if you receive an email appeal for aid with an attachment, delete it.” 

For more tips, click here.

In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service has search tools that reveal whether an organization is eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions.

On delivery scams: “Don’t reply to an email, phone call or text message that asks you for your personal or financial information, including asking you to send money or cryptocurrencies to avoid a service interruption or to receive your delivery,” Kingsley says. “Other ways a scam message may contact you include threatening to close or suspend your account if you don’t take immediate action, inviting you to answer a survey that asks you to enter personal or account information, or asking you to confirm, verify or update your account, credit card or billing information.”

On online shopping scams: “Steer clear of private sellers with goods for sale at a price that seems too good to be true or with hard-luck stories, such as a need to sell quickly because of family loss, divorce or military deployment. Also, buy directly from a retailer’s official website and avoid websites offering unrealistic discounts on popular merchandise.”

On travel scams: “When booking a rental home for a vacation,” Kingsley says, “always pay through the service’s official website. Some scammers will try to convince you to pay for your trip using other means. Advocate for yourself as a scam checker by looking up unfamiliar retail, travel and charity sites online by searching for their names along with terms like ‘scam,’ ‘complaints’ or ‘reviews.’”

On gift scams: “Buy cards directly from the retailer and avoid shopping for discount gift cards through local swap sites. Additionally, don’t respond to an unsolicited email or text message offering you a gift card – your computer or mobile device could become infected with a virus or malware.”

In July 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted warning letters to companies that are violating federal law by selling products marketed as food which contain undisclosed or hidden prescription medication. These products are labeled as honey with herbal ingredients and are marketed with claims to treat disease or improve health.

These products are promoted and sold for sexual enhancement on various websites and online marketplaces, and possibly in some retail stores. If you are struggling with sexual performance issues, you may have a physical condition that is keeping your body from responding as it normally would. Talk openly with your health care professional before considering any treatments.

With some products, you cannot just read the label and trust what’s inside.

The real danger might be what’s not listed on these product labels – hidden prescription drugs that can put your health at risk, or even kill you.

The FDA is finding an increasing number of illegally marketed, adulterated honey-based or honey-flavored syrup products that test positive for active drug ingredients not listed on the label.

The FDA’s laboratory testing found that product samples contained active prescription drug ingredients not listed on the product labels, including the active drug ingredients found in Cialis (tadalafil) and Viagra (sildenafil), which are FDA-approved drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction. Sildenafil and tadalafil are restricted to use under the supervision of a licensed health care professional. These undeclared ingredients may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs, such as nitroglycerin, and they may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. People with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take nitrates.

Additionally, since companies label these products as foods or dietary supplements and sell them illegally, they are not subject to the same approval process and quality standards as medications you get from your doctor.

The Bottom Line

Why should you be wary of honey-based or honey-flavored syrup “sexual enhancement” products?

The hidden active drug ingredients in these products can present significant health risks to patients with certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease.

You may be consuming a product that can have severe interactions with other medications you take. Never assume these products will mix safely with your prescription or over-the-counter medicines.

The dose of the undisclosed ingredient, which may be a drug, is not controlled. Some products contain only a small percentage of a normal prescription dose, while others contain multiple times the typical dose.

In addition to the safety concerns, there is no medical proof that consuming this type of honey with herbs will provide any sexual enhancement or other claimed benefits.

Report a Problem

The FDA wants to hear from  you if you have an unexpected reaction from an FDA-regulated product or suspect unlawful sales of medical products online. If you want to make a report or discuss a specific question, FDA pharmacists are available to help you use medications safely.

he FDA warned consumers about hundreds of products with hidden ingredients not listed on the label, many of which have sexual enhancement claims. Additionally, the agency issued warning letters and stopped products from being imported into the U.S. by immediately detaining them upon entry. The FDA may also pursue other civil or criminal enforcement actions against those who continue to break the law.

According to a news release from the FTC, the agency received fraud reports from more than 2.8 million consumers last year (2021), with the most commonly reported category once again being imposter scams, followed by online shopping scams.

Prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; internet services; and business and job opportunities rounded out the top five fraud categories.

Of the losses reported by consumers, more than $2.3 billion of losses reported in 2021 were due to imposter scams—up from $1.2 billion in 2020, while online shopping accounted for about $392 million in reported losses from consumers—up from $246 million in 2020.

The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network (Sentinel) is a database that receives reports directly from consumers, as well as from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, the Better Business Bureau, industry members, and non-profit organizations. Twenty-five states now contribute to Sentinel. Reports from around the country about consumer protection issues are a key resource for FTC investigations that stop illegal activities and, when possible, provide refunds to consumers.

Sentinel received more than 5.7 million reports in 2021; these include the fraud reports detailed above, as well as identity theft reports and complaints related to other consumer issues, such as problems with credit bureaus and banks and lenders. In 2021, there were nearly 1.4 million reports of identity theft received by the FTC.

The FTC uses the reports it receives through Sentinel as the starting point for many of its law enforcement investigations, and the agency also shares these reports with approximately 2,800 federal, state, local, and international law enforcement professionals. While the FTC does not intervene in individual complaints, Sentinel reports are a vital part of the agency’s law enforcement mission.

Report fraud, scams, or bad business practices at by clicking here. Get consumer advice here.  You can also follow the FTC on social media and the FTC blogs.

The FTC also said that nearly three million people signed up for its Do Not Call Registry Data Book, bringing the total number of calls in that data base close to 245 million phone numbers.

Now in its thirteenth year of publication, the Data Book also provides the most recent fiscal year information available on robocall complaints, the types of calls consumers reported to the FTC, and a complete state-by-state analysis. According to the Data Book, complaints about imposter calls again topped the list, with almost 594,000 received during the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2021, including both live calls and robocalls. In such calls, imposters falsely pose as government representatives, such as the Social Security Administration or the IRS, legitimate business entities, or as people affiliated with them. Explore Data with the FTC: Find out about Do Not Call complaints and registrations

According to the Data Book, at the end of FY 2021, the DNC Registry contained 244.3 million actively registered phone numbers, up from 241.5 million at the end of FY 2020. The number of consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls increased, from nearly four million in FY 2020 to over five million in FY 2021. Of those complaints, 68 percent concerned robocalls and 22 percent were about live telemarketing.

In FY 2021, the Commission received 3.4 million complaints about robocalls, up from 2.8 million in FY 2020. The FY 2021 total is in line with previous years, following FY 2020’s significant decline. For every month in the fiscal year, robocalls—defined under FTC regulations as calls delivering a prerecorded message—made up the majority of consumer complaints about DNC violations, with the most — 347,000 — coming in March of this year.

Again this year, imposters were the topic of the robocalls consumers reported the most, with more than 496,000 complaints received. Warranties and protection plans comprised the second-most commonly reported topic, with consumers filing more than 412,000 robocall complaints. Calls about supposed debt-reduction made up the third-most commonly reported topic, followed by complaints about medical and prescription issues, and computers and technical support.

With respect to state data, New Hampshire continues to top the nation in active DNC registrations per capita (94,642). The states reporting the most complaints per 100,000 population changed in FY 2021: the top five states were Maryland (2,028 per 100K population), Delaware (1,982 per 100K population), Arizona (1,945 per 100K population), Colorado (1,943 per 100K population), and Virginia (1,939 per 100K population).

Consumers can click here or call 1-888-382-1222 to reported unwanted calls.

For additional information and statistics, click here.