A scientist who does research in economic psychology and who wants to predict the way in which consumers will spend their money

A scientist who does research in economic psychology and who wants to predict the way in which consumers will spend their money must study consumer behavior. To form sound conclusions, he must obtain data both, on resources of consumers and on the motives that tend to encourage or discourage money spending.
    If an economist were asked which of three groups borrow most-- people with rising incomes, stable incomes, or declining incomes-- He would probably answer: those with declining incomes. Actually, in the years 1947- 1950, the answer was: people with rising incomes. People with declining incomes were next and people with stable incomes borrowed the least. This shows us that traditional assumptions about earning and spending are not always reliable. Another traditional conclusion is that if people who have money expect prices to go up, they will hasten to buy. If they expect prices to go down, they will postpone buying. But research surveys have shown that this is not always true. The expectations of price increases may not stimulate buying.
    One typical attitude was expressed by the wife of a mechanic in an interview at a time of rising prices, "In a few months," she .said, "we’ll have to pay more for meat and milk; that is to say we’ll have much less to spend on other things we need. It’s really annoying." Her family had been planning to buy a new car but they postponed this purchase. Furthermore, the rise in prices that has already taken place may be resented and buyer’s resistance may arise. This is shown by the following typical comment: "I just don’t pay these prices; they are too high."