Acquisition mode and credit card overspending behavior: An empirical analysis of the credit card industry

Although credit card overspending behavior has become a critical societal concern with severe negative impacts on consumer welfare and economic stability, research on credit card overspending behavior remains fragmented and understudied. This study investigates new types of antecedents of credit card overspending behavior that are overlooked in the prior literature-the acquisition mode of credit card companies. Based on data set from a large commercial bank in China, this study measures credit card overspending behavior using consumption amount, cash withdrawal amount and overdueness, and suggests that gift acquisition has a positive effect on cash withdrawal amount and overdue probability as well as a negative effect on consumption amount. Furthermore, we find that this relationship could be weakened for female customers and for customers with higher education levels. This study provides theoretical implications for both the credit card overspending literature and customer acquisition literature. It also has important implications for consumer welfare and public policymaking.