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The prior literature suggests that money offers symbolic or exchange values, thereby directly or indirectly motivating behaviours (i.e., money as a direct or an indirect behavioural incentive). Building on this distinction, the current research argues that the way consumers perceive the value of money (i.e., money‐view) affects their preferences for financial strategies in enhancing their financial positions. Specifically, our finding shows that consumers tend to prefer financial strategies that focus on financial gains (vs. losses) when they perceive money as a direct (vs. indirect) behavioural incentive (Study 1). We further show that consumers are more motivated to enhance their financial positions, that is, have a higher hypothetical savings rate (Study 2) or a higher self‐reported savings rate (Study 3), when there is a fit between their preferences for financial strategies predicted by their money‐views (e.g., direct or indirect) and by their self‐views (e.g., independent or interdependent). This research contributes to existing knowledge on the psychology of money as well as consumer financial behaviour. Practically, the results offer valuable guidance in the development of more effective personal finance management.

The current research sheds new light on how individuals can best use the consideration of future outcomes as a self-control strategy to enhance their likelihood of goal attainment. Across three studies, the authors find that the effectiveness of positively versus negatively valenced outcome elaboration is dependent upon the construal level at which the potential outcomes are considered. This research demonstrates that positive outcome elaboration is more effective when it is abstract, whereas negative outcome elaboration is more effective when it is concrete. Moreover, the authors explore the process underlying these effects and demonstrate that the increased effectiveness of matching the outcomes' valence and construal level is due to outcome elaboration fluency, as increased ease of generating outcomes that are positive and abstract or negative and concrete promotes more effective self-control.Keywords elaboration on potential outcomes, positive and negative outcomes, abstract and concrete construal, self-control, processing fluency

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Over the past few years, academics have undertaken initiatives to bridge the gap between theory and practice in the ever-growing field of business analytics, including implementing real-life student projects in all shapes and forms. Every year since 2015, Manhattan College has invited student teams from across North America and elsewhere in the world to its campus in order to participate in an intercollegiate business analytics competition (BAC@MC). This well-received event and the objectives behind it are described in this article. The program is shown to serve as an effective experiential learning adventure for the undergraduate students as it hones their data analytic skills in the context of an engaging real-world business problem. The roles various stakeholders play in this high-impact practice are highlighted. Furthermore, an example of a recent competition question is presented (along with a summary of the analytical approaches attempted) by the student teams. Descriptive visualizations, regression, and cluster algorithms implemented using python, R, Excel, or Tableau are among the typical analyses utilized by participating students. As witnessed by the students, faculty advisors, and the industry practitioners who attended the event, competitions such as BAC@MC can be rewarding, community-building, and transformative experiences for undergraduate students who will soon become tomorrow's business analysts.