1867: Your Brain on Money: The Science Behind Your Last Impulse Purchase

So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

Farnoosh Torabi

Entrepreneurship, Business

4.7 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ever wonder why we take on debt knowing it will cost us — or why flashing a credit card can feel like flashing status? It’s not just poor math or bad habits. It’s biology, psychology, and marketing, all tangled together.

In today’s episode, we unpack the psychology of spending with Wright State University professor and author John Dinsmore, whose new book The Marketing of Debt: How They Get You breaks down the subtle — and not-so-subtle — ways marketers capitalize on our optimism, impulsivity, and desire for status.

We talk about:

Why your brain underestimates the pain of future debt
How credit card companies brand products to play on our egos
Why handling money can make us less generous
The hidden costs of “quiet luxury” and keeping up appearances
And how Dinsmore’s own research found that just touching $20 bills increased testosterone and reduced charitable giving

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Looking for a high-yield savings account or car insurance, I've curated my go-to financial tools
0:07.0	all in one place at so-moneylinks.com. These are the resources I trust presented in partnership with
0:13.9	Money Magazine. So-Money Links is no overwhelm, no fluff, just solid vetted options to help you
0:19.6	save more and stress less.
0:22.0	So Moneylinks.com. Check it out.
0:25.1	The psychology of spending and why our brains misunderstand debt.
0:31.7	You're listening to So Money with award-winning money guru Farnoosh Karabi.
0:36.6	Each day, get a 30-minute dose of financial
0:39.1	inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers, and from Farnoose yourself.
0:45.9	Looking for ways to save on gas or double your double coupons? Sorry, you're in the wrong
0:51.2	place. Seeking profound ways to live a richer, happier life. Welcome to So Money.
0:58.1	If you look around now at credit card offers, you will see a lot of like free paid credit cards or higher interest credit cards for people with lower incomes that are branded platinum and diamond and all these things.
1:17.4	And what researchers have found is that when someone has, particularly someone of lower means, if they have one of these status branded cards, they like to use them more often
1:22.6	in front of other people whose opinion they care about and they tend to spend more as a result.
1:28.4	Welcome to So Money, everyone. I'm Farnoosh Tarabi. Ever wonder why we take on debt knowing it's
1:34.7	going to cost us or why flashing a credit card at dinner with friends can feel like flashing
1:40.1	status? It's not just bad math or bad habits. It's biology, psychology, and marketing all
1:47.1	tangled together. And in today's episode, we're going to unpack all of that with Wright State
1:51.9	University professor and author John Dinsmore, whose new book, The Marketing of Debt, How They Get You,
1:58.4	breaks down the subtle and not so subtle ways that marketers
2:02.2	capitalize on our optimism, impulsivity, and desire for status. We talk about why our brains
2:09.0	underestimate the pain of future debt, how credit card companies brand products to play on
	...

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