People Save More After Viewing Age-morphed Images of Themselves Says Study
In response to requests from departments of Treasury and Labor on public comments concerning whether or not guaranteed-income products are able to provide financial security for retirees, Allianz of America performed a study, which among other things, found if a person viewed an age-morphed image of themselves, they saved a lot more money than those that didn’t view the image.
How the research was conducted concerning the image portion of it, was some participants were shown image of their current selves, while other the age-morphed images, which was what generated more savings from them.
What it seems to have triggered was how decisions they make today can affect the type of financial future they will experience, which is seemingly the impetus behind more savings. Continued research is being conducted to see if the age-morphing images can be used in an even more effective way.
According to Shlomo Benartzi, the University of California, Los Angeles, professor who prepared the report, including the behavior of retirees is a crucial element in savings, and not just how economic models are created to determine how they really should respond. He said, “Since the responsibility for managing money is shifting from employers to employees and retirees, the human element is vital to understanding how retirees manage–or mismanage–their savings and critical to designing better solutions and policies.”
Those participating in the research (forex trading demo), said their focus wasn’t on specific investment products, but on the actual behavior of people responding to investing in general.
In other research, an interesting piece of data concerning use of images was the opposite, in this case using photos of children as an incentive to put away more money for them.
Those putting aside money in an envelope with a picture of their children, were found to save much more than those that didn’t.
This research could be something you use to motivate yourself to save more. Even if you picture yourself older or have a photo of someone you’re saving for, it could be a good tool to improve and aid your saving practices.
Tags: money management, Savings Tips
