As the cost of living rises and every pound has to punch above its weight, the way we pay has never felt more loaded. With cash quietly exiting stage left and digital payments taking centre stage, our relationship with money is changing, not just on our bank apps, but in the metaphors we reach for to make sense of it all.
In our ‘Think Forward Initiative’ research, we went beyond the tap-and-go surface to explore the stories and symbols people use to navigate this new terrain. Because when life gets financially tight, even the simplest tools can stir up very real feelings about control, safety and uncertainty.
And sometimes, those stories show up in unexpected places.
One participant chose a photo of Stormzy to represent cashless payments, explaining:“Apple Pay is kinda on-trend… fashionable. People who have all the latest stuff seem to be using it. Stormzy’s like that too, respected, a good all-rounder. He hasn’t done anyone wrong. Apple Pay is a bit like that, you don’t hear bad things about it.”
It’s a perfect illustration of what we found:
Digital payments aren’t just technology, they’re culture, identity, reassurance and risk, all tangled together.
Cashless payments should feel like a warm blanket: fraud protection, emergency credit, help only a click away. But for many, that blanket feels more like a tightrope. One hacked account, one frozen app, and suddenly the whole thing wobbles.
When everything becomes contactless, money takes on a strange texture—no weight, no friction, just numbers gliding past. People describe it as feeling like “monopoly money”, something with Teflon on it. In a cost-of-living crunch, that abstraction stops being convenient and starts being unsettling.
Behavioural economists have written about this for decades. Studies on the “pain of paying” show that handing over physical cash makes spending feel real and digital payments remove that moment of pause. We heard that, too.
Digital payments make the day flow, shorter queues, no rummaging, no faff. But that speed steals the micro-moment in which we decide whether we really need the thing we’re about to buy. In financially pressured times, that moment matters more than ever.
Tech promises frictionless ease… until it doesn’t. A blocked card, a random double charge, a login that won’t load, each one a reminder that control can be as thin as your phone battery at 1%. And when every transaction counts, that illusion cracks quickly.
Credit scores, hidden eligibility criteria, algorithms quietly judging us, the financial system can feel like a game whose rules are written in six-point font. In a cost-of-living crisis, that sense of powerlessness only amplifies.
In uncertain times, our emotional relationship with money becomes sharper, not softer. Tightropes, slippery surfaces, games we didn’t sign up to play, these aren’t just metaphors. They shape behaviour, choices and coping strategies.
We’re not just describing payment trends, we’re revealing the stories beneath the stats, the cultural cues (like choosing Stormzy as the face of Apple Pay), the emotional logic shaping how people survive a cashless world in a cost-of-living crisis.
Understanding these stories helps us design financial products, policies and communication that meet people where they actually are, not where we assume they should be. It’s not only about making payments easy; it’s about giving people back a sense of calm, clarity and confidence when they need it most.
At Truth be Gold, we believe the real truths, the ones that actually change behaviour, sit beyond the obvious. In the metaphors, emotions and human stories we live by.
Because the future of money might be digital, but the experience of it will always be deeply, stubbornly human. You can read the full technical research challenge report for the Think Forward Initiative here:
As the calendar flips to 2025, many of us embrace the familiar and hopeful mantra, “New Year, New Me.” And while the sentiment is inspiring, Optimism Bias (tendency to overestimate our likelihood of experiencing positive events and underestimate our likelihood of experiencing negative events) is often our enemy when it comes to sticking to and achieving our goals.
A 2023 survey found that 30 million people around the UK made new year’s resolutions, with health (28%), money (27%), family (24%) and self-improvement (21%) topping the charts for the most common resolutions.
However, on average, British adults are only likely to last seven weeks before giving up a new habit, and 21% of British adults only lasted for a month before breaking.
But we’ve got some good news! We can overcome these unhelpful traits by focusing on tiny, actionable habits—an approach championed by BJ Fogg in his book Tiny Habits. BJ founded the Behaviour Design Lab at Stanford Universityand has the tools to help us understand how cognitive biases shape our behaviour so we can set ourselves up for success in becoming the person we aspire to be this year!
So why is there a painful gap between what we say and what we do?
Well, there are a number of factors that could affect our chances of success:
What can you do about it?
In the book Tiny Habits, Fogg has a great exercise to help you find the perfect habits you might stick to, our low hanging fruit! He calls these our ‘Golden Behaviours’.
In order to build the perfect habit, we need to ensure we have the following three behaviours:
Our brains are wired to seek immediate rewards, a trait influenced by present bias—the tendency to prioritise short-term satisfaction over long-term benefits. This is why a cosy evening on the couch often wins over a trip to the gym. However, knowing this can empower us to design resolutions that work with, rather than against, our natural tendencies.
In Tiny Habits, Fogg explains that motivation fluctuates, and relying solely on it can lead to failure. Instead, he suggests anchoring new habits to existing routines, such as flossing one tooth after brushing or doing two squats after brewing your morning coffee. These small actions build momentum and make forming habits easier and more enjoyable.
Many of us fall into the all-or-nothing trap, believing we must completely overhaul our lives to see meaningful change. However, behavioural research, echoed in Tiny Habits, shows that small, incremental changes are much more sustainable. For example, if your goal is to read more, commit to just one page a day. These micro-habits bypass the brain's resistance to large, intimidating changes, leveraging the consistency bias, which drives us to act in alignment with our previous actions.
Fogg’s also suggests the concept of “celebration” after completing your tiny habit! By celebrating each tiny habit—whether with a fist pump, a smile, or a verbal “I did it!”—you engage your brain’s reward system, reinforcing the behaviour and increasing the likelihood of repetition.
The endowment effect—valuing what we already possess—can be a powerful motivator as we form new habits. Once we’ve invested time and energy into positive changes, we become less likely to abandon them. Reflecting on how far you’ve come can solidify your identity as someone who prioritizes growth and self-improvement.
Fogg’s “ABC Formula”—Anchor, Build, Celebrate—provides a roadmap for sustaining habits long-term. By anchoring habits to existing routines, building them gradually, and celebrating successes, we create a feedback loop that reinforces progress and cultivates identity-based habits.
As market researchers, we know that understanding human behaviour is key to driving change, whether in consumer decisions or personal growth. By applying insights from behavioural science and embracing the power of tiny habits, as outlined in BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits, we can transform “New Year, New Me” from a fleeting idea into a sustainable reality.
This year, let’s use our knowledge to shape resolutions that stick—starting with one small, intentional step. As Fogg reminds us, “Tiny is mighty.” After all, progress, not perfection, is the true measure of success.
Many years ago I remember attending my first idea generation session at Yum Restaurants International and feeling extremely apprehensive.
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