Analysis of the Definition and State-of-Art Investigations for Mental Accounting

Yifei Niu

2025

Abstract

Mental accounting theory is an important concept in behavioural economics, formally proposed by Richard Thaler in 1985. This theory reveals the psychological process of classifying, encoding, and evaluating financial outcomes in economic decision-making, explaining why individuals often deviate from the "rational person" assumption in behaviours, e.g., consumption and investment. Based on the analysis, this paper systematically summarizes the concept, classification, related theories, and applications of mental accounting in areas such as consumer behaviour and wealth management, while also exploring future research directions. To be specific, mental accounting is widely used in economic decision-making, and it is really important factor which force the final decision. The two decision tendencies reflect the difference in risk attitude when people face different mental accounts。Risk-oriented decision making: People tend to take higher risks in pursuit of potentially higher returns, usually in "profit accounts," e.g., when investing or gambling. Conservative decision making: People are more risk-averse and tend to choose safe, low-risk options, usually in "loss accounts" or "protection accounts," such as savings or insurance.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Niu Y. (2025). Analysis of the Definition and State-of-Art Investigations for Mental Accounting. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-commerce and Modern Logistics - Volume 1: ICEML; ISBN 978-989-758-775-7, SciTePress, pages 786-790. DOI: 10.5220/0013861300004719

in Bibtex Style

@conference{iceml25,
author={Yifei Niu},
title={Analysis of the Definition and State-of-Art Investigations for Mental Accounting},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-commerce and Modern Logistics - Volume 1: ICEML},
year={2025},
pages={786-790},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013861300004719},
isbn={978-989-758-775-7},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-commerce and Modern Logistics - Volume 1: ICEML
TI - Analysis of the Definition and State-of-Art Investigations for Mental Accounting
SN - 978-989-758-775-7
AU - Niu Y.
PY - 2025
SP - 786
EP - 790
DO - 10.5220/0013861300004719
PB - SciTePress