Magic money
Posted on October 22, 2007
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Kids see adults hand a plastic card to someone and get what they want, says James Roberts, a marketing professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. But they don’t see that you have to earn the money you spend or that those bills come home to roost.
“Kids don’t get the connection, and it’s not just kids,” Roberts says. Studies show we spend more, whether for food or college textbooks, if we use credit cards instead of cash, he says.
Handing cash to a clerk makes us immediately aware of how much we are spending and what we have left. A credit card pushes the day of reckoning into the future so we tend to spend more. Now that consumers no longer have to sign for card purchases of less than $25, they are even less likely to be aware of their spending, Roberts says.
Hasbro spokeswoman Pat Riso says the new Game of Life edition recognizes that life is not just about accumulating the most cash. The goal here is to rack up points by earning money and undertaking certain life experiences, such as going to college, getting married, and buying a house or car. The game allows children to test-drive life choices, she says.
“You can’t win the game unless you manage your finances properly,” Riso says.
Keeping contemporary
Riso says the game maker chose a Visa-brand card to make the game more contemporary and because the game fit Visa’s ad campaign of “Life takes Visa.” Visa’s role was to add the financial education component, says Jason Alderman, Visa’s director of financial education.
“We need kids to understand there are choices. There is a big difference between the world of needs and wants,” he says.
Parents struggle to make finances engaging and fun for kids, and Visa designed a money guide brochure and money tips to help parents start what could be a difficult conversation, Alderman says. Parents also are directed to Visa’s online resources at practicalmoneyskills.com/life for lesson plans and other games.
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