03/08/2023
By Patricia Morena

Join the next Global Entrepreneurship Exchange (GE2) and IUCEE Entrepreneurship Webinar.

"Perspectives on a Cashless Consumer Economy"

Date: Thursday, March 22, 2023
Time: 9 a.m. ET
Free webinar

Presenter: Spencer Ross, Associate Professor, Manning School of Business, UMass Lowell

Register for webinar.

In contemporary marketplaces, it often seems as though the resilience of cash has come into question. Though personal checks and ATM and credit cards have been around for decades, the proliferation of fintech has rapidly and radically changed the nature of how consumers make payments. In this talk, I draw on my various ongoing research projects to discuss how digitalizing payments is transforming these behaviors, from Venmo-ing donations to street performers to using cryptocurrency to buy NFTs in web3 marketplaces. Of particular note is how cashless economies may affect vulnerable consumers and strengthen the case for cash, after all.

Spencer M. Ross, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Marketing at UMass Lowell's Manning School of Business. His dual research interests in consumer contexts focus on both marketing ethics and technology. In the marketing ethics context, Ross is primarily focused on prosocial consumption behaviors and consumer ethics; he has published work in the European Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Business Ethics on consumer dispositions toward prosocial consumption versus self-interest. He has also published in the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, and Journal of Consumer Affairs on consumer welfare-related issues such as sustainability, mindfulness, and cashless economies. Ross has also presented research on consumers' behavioral responses to digital marketing initiatives, such as holograms and social media branding.