The mere urgency effect in household financial decisions: evidence from a high-inflation economy
FINANCE RESEARCH LETTERS, cilt.109, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 109
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.110564
- Dergi Adı: FINANCE RESEARCH LETTERS
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, ABI/INFORM
- İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study tests whether short deadlines distort household financial prioritization and whether financial literacy attenuates this distortion in a high-inflation economy. Using an online survey of 447 Turkish adults, this study examines present bias via a preference-reversal paradigm and the mere urgency effect (MUE) via paired financial-task scenarios that contrast spurious urgency (Q12, Q14) with rational urgency (Q13, manipulation check). Present bias was strongly supported: 63.0% preferred 1000 TRY today over 1100 TRY in one month, but only 52.4% preferred the sooner option when both rewards were delayed by one year (chi 2(1) = 10.34, p = .001, ( = .108). Because the reversal is a within-subject contrast, time-invariant individual factors-including the level of inflation expectations, liquidity constraints, and risk preferences-are differenced out and cannot, by themselves, generate it. A pooled logistic regression on the two spurious-urgency scenarios shows that urgency selection is significantly attenuated when the payoff advantage of the important option is large and concrete (Q14 vs Q12: OR = 0.72, 95% CI [0.54, 0.97], p = .033). Financial literacy did not moderate urgency choices. An exploratory heterogeneity analysis indicates that susceptibility to spurious urgency is higher among present-biased participants and among those high in self-reported urgency orientation, even though financial literacy does not distinguish more susceptible consumers. Findings indicate that urgency effects in consumer financial contexts are real but contingent on payoff salience, and that structural rather than informational interventions are more likely to reduce their welfare costs.