Improving Consumer Well-being: A Focus on Financial Health and Technology Adoption

Abstract

Humans have always faced threats, including physical, economic, and psychological harm from their environments. Unlike physical harm, psychological harm is less tangible and yet can lead to prolonged stress or mental illness. As society has evolved through technological advancements and increased complexity, so too has the nature of harm. Some threats, like the COVID-19 pandemic, have relatively clear and predictable consequences such as job loss and financial hardships, impacting both economic and psychological well-being. The digital age has introduced new types of harm associated with privacy violations and AI technology adoption. While people might have a vague idea of the negative consequences of such harm, they are often not certain about what specific harm they might encounter and how these could affect them in the future. Given the dynamics of harm, it is critical to understand both the impacts of harm that has already occurred and those that might occur in the future. The focus of this dissertation is on understanding psychological harm that consumers experience in two important domains—that of financial well-being and technology adoption. In essay 1, I study how consumers respond after missing a credit card payment and suggest an effective intervention to increase repayment. I find that providing an additional short period of time where any fees associated with missed payment are not levied increases repayment. I call this the "additional grace period" and demonstrate why it emerges. In essay 2, I investigate how consumers judge AI systems that use machine learning models that learn from customers' data to improve their performance. Although learning carries positive connotations associated with knowledge acquisition and personal growth, I find that consumers perceive a greater risk of using AI systems that are still learning compared to those that have completed learning. I document why this happens and explore the behavioral consequences.