The social meaning of credit and money in the context of credit consumers' expenditure habits: A qualitative research

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the social meaning assigned to credit and money on expenditures made with the money obtained as a result of the increased use of credit in recent years. It is based on the argument that the generally accepted definition of money by neoclassical economics is incomplete in explaining human behavior and that economic behavior of people can be better understood and interpreted by considering social meanings thanks to the contribution of economic sociology. The norms, values and beliefs determined by the society and culture in which people live, cause distinctions to be made by adding different names to money. It has been tried to show that the labeling of money, especially according to its source, affects the expenditure direction, and at this point, it has been tried to evaluate how the credit is seen as a source can make a difference in the spending and repayment of the loan. Using the phenomenological research method, interviews were conducted with people who used and made loans. According to the findings, it has been determined that people do not see money as equal and interchangeable, and they channel them into different areas of use by labeling them with social meanings. How bank loans are seen as a source also differs according to the income group of the individuals. However, credit has been completely accepted and used by everyone in every income group, despite all kinds of denominations. It has been determined that the income group of the people, their personality traits and the cultural environment they grew up in are determinants in the labeling of money and credit. It has been revealed that people's perspectives are constantly changing with the effects of the environments, culture and age in which they grow up, and the developments in the world. For this reason, social effects should not be ignored in understanding the economic behavior of people.