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This dissertation is structured in the form of two empirical essays, each investigating one type of irrational decision caused by mental accounting. The first essay, titled "Managing the Cost of Multiple Debt Accounts: A Behavioral Perspective", explores why many people pay off credit cards' with the lowest rate first when rationally speaking they should repay the debt with the highest rate most quickly. This essay suggests that irrationality emerges when people seek to close `mental accounts' associated with their credit cards and reduce the total number of outstanding loans rather than decrease the amount of total debt among all credit cards. Consumers want to be debt free. If they can get rid of debt, on even one credit card, they feel a sense of accomplishment which psychologically helps them manage remainder of their debt better. The second essay, titled "Saving by Overspending", explores consumers' over-expenditure and indulgent consumption when they make prepayments in the form of time, effort, or money toward a consumption goal. This essay proposes that people subconsciously try to get their prepayments' worth, but in fact they may be spending their money irrationally. In addition, contrary to common knowledge, this essay suggests that when a prepayment is unanticipated, the loss of self-control is often more prominent when prepayments are made with behavioral resources (e.g., time or effort) than equivalent monetary resources.

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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The frightening growth of the number of Brazilian credit card users has generated concerns about the level of financial responsibility of those individuals in the use of the card. This work deals with this issue by seeking to assess the causes and consequences of credit card debt from behavioral factors. For this, we carried out a survey with 1.831 citizens users of credit card in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais and Maranhão. As an instrument for data collection was used a structured questionnaire consisting by 114 questions, that addressed demographic variables, cultural variables, usage characteristics of credit card and seven behavioral factors - financial literacy, compulsive shopping, materialism, behavior of using of credit card, credit card debt, financial well -being and emotions. The analysis of the main model was based in the Structural Equation Modeling. Already the evaluation of the influence of demographic variables and characteristics of the credit card about the debt were measured by parametric hypothesis tests. The main results show that the presence of high levels of financial knowledge, attitudes and positive financial behaviors and the responsible use of the card reduce the probability of an individual incurring in credit card debt. On the other hand, the presence of materialistic behavior and compulsive consumption increases the probability of debt. As consequences of the debt, it was reported the lowest level of well-being and financial satisfaction and the presence of negative emotions and feelings. The descriptive statistics showed that respondents maintain responsible behavior in time to use the credit, are neither materialistic nor compulsive shoppers, contributing to low levels of debt checked on the credit card. The results of hypothesis tests bring to light that male individuals , young people , with dependent and with children, low education level, low income, who are unaware of the value of the interest rate paid in the event of use of revolving credit and who hold a greater number of credit cards are more likely to have credit card debts. These results are of interest in the financial sector and bodies with policy-making power. The work points to the need to provide citizens with information about the proper use of credit tools and develop on them the necessary financial skills for making responsible decisions keeping in mind the negative consequences experienced as a result of the debt. / O crescimento assustador do número de brasileiros usuários de cartão de crédito tem gerado preocupações quanto ao nível de responsabilidade financeira desses indivíduos no uso do cartão. Esse trabalho lida com essa questão ao buscar avaliar as causas e consequências da dívida no cartão de crédito a partir de fatores comportamentais. Para tanto, realizou-se uma pesquisa survey com 1.831 cidadãos usuários de cartão de crédito dos estados do Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais e Maranhão. Como instrumento de coleta de dados adotou-se um questionário estruturado, composto por 114 questões, as quais abordaram variáveis demográficas, variáveis culturais, características de uso do cartão de crédito e sete fatores comportamentais alfabetização financeira, compras compulsivas, materialismo, comportamento de uso do cartão de crédito, dívida no cartão de crédito, bem-estar financeiro e emoções. A análise do modelo principal foi realizada com base na Modelagem de Equações Estruturais. Já a avaliação da influência das variáveis demográficas e das características do cartão de crédito sobre a dívida foi feita a partir de testes de hipóteses paramétricos. Os principais resultados apontam que a presença de bons níveis de conhecimento financeiro, atitudes e comportamentos financeiros positivos e o uso responsável do cartão reduzem a probabilidade de o indivíduo incorrer em Dívidas. Por outro lado, a presença de comportamentos materialistas e de consumo compulsivo aumenta essa probabilidade de endividamento. Como consequências da dívida, relatou-se o menor nível de bem-estar e satisfação financeira e a presença de emoções e sentimentos negativos. A estatística descritiva demonstrou que os respondentes mantem comportamentos responsáveis na hora de usar o crédito, não são materialistas e nem compradores compulsivos, o que contribuiu para os baixos índices de endividamento verificados no cartão de crédito. Os resultados do teste de hipótese trouxeram à tona que indivíduos do gênero masculino, jovens, com dependentes e filhos, baixo grau de escolaridade, baixa renda, que desconhecem o valor da taxa de juros paga em caso de uso do crédito rotativo e que detêm um maior número de cartões de crédito são mais propensos a apresentar dívidas no cartão. Os resultados auferidos são de interesse do setor financeiro e de órgãos com poder de decisão política. Esse trabalho aponta para a necessidade de prover os cidadãos de informações sobre o uso adequado das ferramentas de crédito e de desenvolver nos mesmos as habilidades financeiras necessárias para a tomada de decisões responsáveis tendo em mente as consequências negativas vivenciadas em decorrência da dívida.