Why do people hesitate before spending gift cards?
The easier money arrives, the harder people sometimes try to spend it wisely.
People often delay spending gift cards because emotionally they treat gifted money differently from earned money.
The card is free.
The balance is waiting.
Still, months pass.
The hidden mechanism is mental accounting.
Humans organize money into emotional categories.
Gift money feels special.
Separate.
Almost symbolic.
People fear wasting it.
They wait for the perfect purchase.
Sometimes perfection never arrives.
Money is objective.
But the stories people attach to money rarely are.
