Sources
Everything we cite, in one place.
Our rule is simple: every statistic on this site carries a named source and a year, and every framework we teach traces back to published research. This page lists all of it, with links, so you can check our work.
The statistics
These are the only statistics published anywhere on this site. Where we state a figure derived from one of them - an annual total from a monthly average, say - we show the arithmetic next to it, and the derived figure is described here too. A number we cannot trace back to this page does not go on the site.
C+R Research (2022). Subscription Service Statistics and Costs.
The source of the two subscription numbers we cite: participants estimated they spent $86 a month on subscriptions, and when they itemized their actual charges, the average came to $219 a month.
Slickdeals / OnePoll (2023). Impulse Spending Survey.
The source of the impulse-spending number we cite: respondents reported spending an average of $151 a month on impulse purchases. Where we say $1,812 a year - including in the headline on our home page - that is this same figure over twelve months, $151 x 12. It is not a second study, and we show the multiplication wherever we use it.
The frameworks
The academic bases of the three frameworks behind everything we teach.
The academic basis for anchoring - how the first number you see shapes what feels like a fair price. This research informs The Spending Trigger Map.
Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Yale University Press.
The foundational work on defaults and choice architecture - why the path of least resistance usually wins, and how small amounts of friction change decisions. This research informs The Friction Principle.
Belk, R. W. (1988). Possessions and the Extended Self. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(2), 139-168.
The academic basis for identity-based consumption - how possessions become part of who we believe we are. This research informs The Identity-Spend Loop.
Spot a claim that isn’t here? Email hello@psychandprofits.com and we’ll either cite it or remove it. As always: behavioral education, not financial advice.