Shows / Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
What really drives the way people spend, save, and invest? Behavioral economics challenges the textbook assumption of the rational actor by revealing the systematic biases and mental shortcuts that shape every financial decision. In this show, Lucas and Luna sit down at the research library to dissect the experimental evidence, from Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory to Thaler's nudge framework, and test those findings against real-world pricing, marketing, and policy design. They walk…
Episodes
Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really SpendThe Endowment Effect Why You Overvalue What You Already Own
Why do we demand more to sell a coffee mug than we'd pay to buy it? In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Free Sample as a Favor Owed
A dive into the 'debt' you feel after accepting a free sample — and why stores and brands exploit that impulse more than you realize. In this episode…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats an Auction as a Gamble
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the psychology of auctions—why your brain treats bidding like a gamble even when…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Windfall as Play Money
Why do we spend an unexpected bonus or tax refund so much more freely than our regular paycheck? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the behavioral…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats Poverty as a Cognitive Tax
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the concept of 'cognitive scarcity' — how financial stress actually reduces IQ scores and decision-making…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Budget Cap as a Target to Hit
Episode 111 dives into the 'what the hell effect' — the behavioral bias where setting a budget cap actually encourages overspending. Using a 2025…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Frequent Flyer Mile as Real Money
Episode 110 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna explore the endowment effect in loyalty points—specifically how Delta Air Lines' 2023…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Rebate as a Windfall
Why do we spend rebate money more freely than our own cash? In episode 109 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna examine the 'rebate…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Price Increase as a Quality Signal
Episode 108 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna explore the Veblen effect — why higher prices can actually increase demand for certain goods…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Round Number as a Trust Signal
This episode explores the behavioral economics of just-below pricing and round numbers. Lucas and Luna examine why we intuitively trust round prices like $10…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Surcharge as Theft But a Fee as Fair
You swipe your card at a convenience store and the screen adds a 50-cent surcharge. You feel cheated. Yet you pay a $3.50 ATM fee without blinking. Why? In…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Rent Payment as a Moral Choice
In Episode 105 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore why paying rent feels different from other bills. Drawing on a 2024 study by…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Subscription as a Sunk Cost Trap
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore why subscription services exploit our tendency to treat monthly fees as sunk…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Loyalty Card as a Free Pass to Overpay
Episode 103 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo dives into the psychological trap of loyalty programs. Lucas and Luna explore how your brain treats a punch…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Price Match as a Fairness Signal
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the psychology behind price-match guarantees. Why do these policies feel like a…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Discount as a Reward
Episode 101 digs into the 'discount-as-reward' effect — why your brain fires dopamine when you see a sale tag, even if you weren't planning to…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Free Trial as a Debt You Owe
In this milestone 100th episode, Lucas and Luna explore the behavioral economics of free trials — specifically, why they often feel like a debt rather than a…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats Spending as a Social Signal
In episode 99 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how your brain processes spending as a social signal—not just a transaction. They…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Subscription as a Sunk Cost Trap
Episode 98 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores why we keep paying for subscriptions we barely use. Lucas and Luna dissect the psychology of the sunk…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats Money as a Mental Account
Episode 97 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores mental accounting — the cognitive shortcut that makes us treat $50 found on the street differently…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Subscription as a Sunk Cost Trap
Episode 96 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo dives into the sunk cost fallacy as it applies to subscriptions. Lucas and Luna explore why we keep paying for…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why You Spend More When You Touch the Product
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the 'endowment effect' and why physically touching a product makes you…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why You Spend More When You Feel Time Pressure
This episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores time pressure as a hidden driver of spending. Lucas and Luna dive into a 2024 study by researchers…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why You Buy More When You Touch the Product
Episode 93 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores the endowment effect and why physically touching a product dramatically increases your willingness to…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Sale as a Loss Aversion Trap
Episode 92 of Behavioral Economics dives into the psychology of sales. Lucas and Luna unpack a 2024 experiment showing that consumers actually feel a subtle…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Flat Fee as a License to Consume
This episode explores the 'flat-rate bias': why paying a fixed fee for unlimited access — whether at a gym, a streaming service, or a buffet — makes…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Price Anchor as a Bargain
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the anchoring effect — how a single initial price can warp your perception of…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats Cashback as Income Not a Discount
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the 'cashback illusion' — why people treat cashback rewards as income…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Price Match as a Trap
Lucas and Luna explore why price-match guarantees actually reduce shopping around. Retailers like Best Buy and Home Depot rely on a behavioral quirk called…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
How Your Brain Treats Monthly Subscriptions as a Fixed Cost
We explore why your brain mentally reclassifies recurring subscription fees from a discretionary expense into a fixed monthly cost, like rent or a utility…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Debit Card as a Withdrawal With Fee
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the hidden pain of debit card spending. Drawing on a 2020 study from the Journal…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why You Feel Richer With a Higher Credit Limit
Episode 85 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores the 'credit limit effect' — how a higher credit limit changes your spending psychology even…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
How Your Brain Spends More When You Are Tired
Episode 84 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores ego depletion: the finding that self-control is a finite resource that gets drained over the course of…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats Free Shipping as a Discount
Free shipping seems like a straightforward perk, but behavioral economics reveals it hijacks our perception of value in surprising ways. In this episode, Lucas…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats Windfall Gains Differently Than Earned Income
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the 'windfall effect' — the psychological quirk that makes people spend found money, tax refunds, and lottery…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
How Your Brain Overpays for Certainty
Why are we willing to overpay for a product or service that guarantees a specific outcome—even when the cheaper alternative works just as well? This episode…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
How Precommitment Contracts Beat Your Impulse Spending
Episode 80 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores precommitment contracts—binding yourself in advance to override future impulses. Lucas and Luna break…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
How Your Brain Treats Cashback as a Reward
Episode 79 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo drills into why your brain processes cashback differently than a straight discount. Lucas and Luna explore the…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats Loyalty Points as Fake Money
Episode 78 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo digs into the psychological illusion of loyalty points and airline miles. Lucas and Luna explore why people…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
The Pain of Paying Why Spending Feels Physically Unpleasant
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the concept of 'the pain of paying' — the visceral discomfort we feel…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why You Pay More for the Same Item at a Different Store
Episode 76 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores why your brain accepts higher prices for identical products depending on the store you're in…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why You Feel Cash Differently Than Credit
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the mental accounting bias known as the form-of-payment effect. They break down a…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Receipt as a Loss
Why does opening a credit card statement or seeing a receipt feel worse than the actual purchase? In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Refund as a Loss
Why do we feel worse returning an item than we did buying it? This episode digs into the psychological concept of 'psychological ownership' and the…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats Gift Cards as Free Money
Lucas and Luna explore the psychology of gift cards — why recipients often spend them differently than cash, and why retailers love them. They dive into the…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Subscription as a Sunk Cost
Episode 71 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores the sunk cost fallacy and its powerful grip on subscription renewals. Lucas and Luna use the case of a…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
The Compromise Effect Why We Pick the Middle Option
Episode 70 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo digs into the compromise effect: why consumers consistently choose the mid-priced option, even when it makes no…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
The Decoy Effect How a Third Option Tricks Your Brain
Why do movie theaters sell giant popcorn for just a dollar more than medium? It's not about value — it's about a cognitive quirk called the decoy…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
How Your Brain Makes You Overpay for Fairness
Why do we walk away from a deal that benefits us just because it feels unfair? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the ultimatum game, a classic behavioral…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
The Scarcity Trap How Deadlines Hijack Your Spending
Why does a countdown timer make you buy something you never wanted? Behavioral economist Dan Ariely's famous 'high school reunion' experiment…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Loves a One-Day Sale More Than a Permanent Discount
Episode 66 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna unpack the 'scarcity heuristic'—why your brain treats a flash sale as more urgent…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
How One Number Creates a Self-Fulfilling Prediction
Episode 65 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores the placebo effect in economics — how expectations alone can shape financial outcomes. Lucas and Luna…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Overweights Small Probabilities
Episode 64 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo dives into probability weighting — why your brain treats a 1-in-100 chance as much more likely than it actually…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
How Social Proof Decides What You Buy
Lucas and Luna dive into social proof — why we look to others to decide what's worth buying. They explore the classic Asch conformity experiments, Solomon…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
The Ikea Effect Why You Love What You Build
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Ikea effect — the cognitive bias where people overvalue products they partially assemble themselves. Using…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why You Overvalue What You Already Own
Episode 61 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo explores the endowment effect through a famous experiment with chocolate bars and coffee mugs. Lucas and Luna…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
Why Your Brain Treats a Discount as a Gain
Episode 60 dives into the psychology of discounting: why a $20 item marked down to $15 feels like a win while a $15 item without a markdown feels neutral…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
The Spotlight Effect How We Overestimate How Much Others Notice Us
In this episode of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the spotlight effect—our tendency to believe others are paying far more attention…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
The Anchoring Effect How a First Number Hijacks Your Brain
Episode 58 of Behavioral Economics with Fexingo dives into the anchoring effect — how an arbitrary first number can warp every decision that follows. Lucas and…
- Behavioral Economics with Fexingo: Decision Making, Bias, and How People Really Spend
The Default Effect Why You Stay With What You Chose First
Why do we stick with the default option, whether it's a 401(k) enrollment plan, a phone settings screen, or a brand of toothpaste we picked years ago?…