Wright State marketing professor’s new book takes the horror out of managing debt

John Dinsmore, professor of marketing at Wright State, explores how common sales tactics lead people to make costly mistakes with credit cards, loans and mortgages in his new book, “The Marketing of Debt: How They Get You.” (Photo by Erin Pence)

Wright State marketing professor John Dinsmore, Ph.D., wants to help consumers recognize when financial decisions are being influenced by clever marketing.

In his new book, “The Marketing of Debt: How They Get You,” Dinsmore explores how common sales tactics lead people to make costly mistakes with credit cards, loans and mortgages.

“Marketing tactics, deliberately or not, exploit these biases or blind spots when it comes to evaluating debt,” he said.

He said research has shown, for example, that the marketing of high-priced goods by offering no payments for six months can lead to people overestimating their ability to pay off that debt.

“People find themselves in more debt than they had anticipated because they’re overly optimistic,” Dinsmore said. “Optimism can be great, but in financial decision-making, it can be hurtful. Not that not having to make a payment for six months is bad, but it causes people to make misjudgments.”

The subtitle “How They Get You” calls attention to how financial products are marketed, leading to misjudgments.

Dinsmore said consumers “assume they’ll have more time, money and energy than they have today,” but that’s rarely the case.

He examines different topics, and at the end of each chapter, suggests ways to avoid those misjudgments. The topics include resisting temptation and refocusing on long-term goals, how money lenders hide pricing, partitioned pricing, drip pricing, the issue with status-branded credit cards and taking scientifically proven steps for making better financial decisions.

Dinsmore, a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, teaches digital marketing in Wright State’s Raj Soin College of Business.

He said that field changes so quickly, if he wrote solely about that subject “when the book would be in print it would be out of date.” Instead, he focused “The Marketing of Debt” on his research of financial decision making, which he said is a more evergreen topic.

Dinsmore said his book certainly is not meant to be scary and, at 160 pages, was written so readers will find it accessible.

“It’s not an academic book,” he said. “It’s written for people who are trying to figure out ways to use their money better.”

Wrapping up his 11th year at Wright State’s Raj Soin College of Business, Dinsmore, in the acknowledgements section of the book, thanked his colleagues, who, he said, have “made this the best job I’ve ever had.”

“The Marketing of Debt,” published by Emerald Publishing, will be available at Amazon starting on June 3.