Skip to main content
Log in

Euro Stories: The Irish Experience of Currency Change

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Consumer Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of an interview study carried out in the Republic of Ireland approximately 1 year after the introduction of the euro in January 2002 and also compares the Irish experience to that of the other initial Eurozone countries. The new currency seems to have been rather more positively received in Ireland than elsewhere. Irish adults had a generally more positive attitude towards the new currency and seemed to have adapted to it rather well. Nevertheless, they shared some common experiences and problems with citizens of other countries, such as the perception that the introduction of the euro raised inflation more than it actually did, confusion of notes and coins and the use of coping strategies involving price conversion to the former currency. The implications of the Irish experience for policy are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahrendt, D. (1999). European public opinion on the single currency. European Commission Directorate General X/A2 - public opinion analysis. Brussels: European Commission Directorate General.

  • Aucremanne, L., Collin, M., & Dhyne, E. (2005). Is there a discrepancy between measured and perceived inflation in the euro area since the euro cash changeover? http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/54/49/35011554.pdf. (2/7/2007).

  • Bruce, V., Howarth, C. I., Clark-Carter, D., Dodds, A. G., & Heyes, A. D. (1983). All change for the pound: human performance tests with different versions of the proposed U.K. one pound coin. Ergonomics, 26, 215–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgoyne, C. B., Routh, D. A., & Ellis, A. (1999). The transition to the euro: perspectives from economic psychology. Journal of Consumer Policy, 22, 91–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Missier, F., Bonini, N., & Ranyard, R. (2007). The euro illusion in consumers’ price estimation: an Italian-Irish comparison in the third year of the euro. Journal of Consumer Policy, (this issue).

  • European Commission (2002a). Flash EB 121.4. Euro attitudes – Euro zone. Retrieved 18th November 2007 from http://ec.europa.eu./public_opinion/flash/fl121_4_in_en.pdf.

  • European Commission (2002b). Flash EB 139. The euro, one year later. http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/flash_arch_en.htm. (Jan. 7, 2004).

  • European Commission (2003). Flash EB 153. The euro, two years later. http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/flash_arch_en.htm. (Dec. 20, 2003).

  • European Commission (2004). Flash EB 165. The euro, 3 years later. http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/flash_arch_en.htm. (May 25, 2006).

  • European Commission (2005). Flash EB 175. The euro, 4 years after the introduction of the banknotes and coins. http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/flash_arch_en.htm. (May 25, 2006).

  • Forfás (2002). Comparative consumer prices in the Eurozone & consumer price inflation in the changeover period. Retrieved 18th November 2007 from http://www.forfas.ie/publications/cc-pricing-eurozone/PWC-Forfas.pdf.

  • Gamble, A. (2007). The euro illusion: Illusion or fact? Journal of Consumer Policy, (this issue).

  • Gamble, A., Gärling, T., Charlton, J., & Ranyard, R. (2002). Euro illusion: Psychological insights into price evaluations with a unitary currency. European Psychologist, 7, 302–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helleiner, E. (1998). National currencies and national identity. American Behavioral Scientist, 41, 1409–1436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henwood, K. L. (1996). Qualitative inquiry: Perspectives, methods and psychology. In J. T. E. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of qualitative research methods for psychology and the social sciences (pp. 25–40). Leicester: British Psychological Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann, E., Kirchler, E., & Kamleitner, B. (2007). Consumer adaptation strategies: From Austrian shilling to the euro. Journal of Consumer Policy, (this issue).

  • Irish Independent (2002). The great Euro ripoff. Saturday January 19th. http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent. (Dec. 20, 2003).

  • Kühberger, A., & Keul, A. (2003). Quick and slow transition to the Euro in Austria. Presentation at the Workshop of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology “Euro Currency and Symbol,” Vienna, Austria.

  • Lambkin, M. (2001). Attitudes towards European Monetary Union in Ireland. In A. Müller-Peters, R. Pepermans, G. Kiell, & M. Farhangmehr (Eds.), The psychology of European Monetary Union: A cross-national study of public opinion towards the euro (pp. 285–298). Santiago de Compostela: Compostela Group of Universities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemaire, P. (2007). The impact of the euro changeover on between-currency conversions. Journal of Consumer Policy, (this issue).

  • Lemaire, P., & Lecacheur, M. (2001). Older and younger adults’ strategy use and execution in currency conversion tasks: Insights from French franc to euro and euro to French franc conversions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 7, 195–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marques, J. F. (2007). The euro changeover and numerical intuition for prices in the old and new currencies. Journal of Consumer Policy, (this issue).

  • Marques, J. F., & Dehaene, S. (2004). Developing intuition for prices in euros: Rescaling or relearning prices? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 10, 148–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meier-Pesti, K., & Kirchler, E. (2003). Attitudes towards the euro by national identity and relative national status. Journal of Economic Psychology, 24, 293–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pepermans, R., Burgoyne, C. B., & Müller-Peters, A. (1998). European integration, psychology and the euro. Journal of Economic Psychology (Special Issue), 19, 657–796.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranyard, R., Burgoyne, C. B., Saldanha, G., & Routh, D. A. (2005). A qualitative study of adaptation to the euro in the republic of Ireland: I. Attitudes, the “euro illusion” and the perception of prices. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 15, 95–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranyard, R., Routh, D. A., Burgoyne, C. B., & Saldanha, G. (2007). A qualitative study of adaptation to the Euro in the Republic of Ireland: II. Errors, strategies and making sense of the new currency. European Psychologist, 12, 139–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Routh, D. A., & Burgoyne, C. B. (1989). Absent-mindedness with money: Its incidence, classification, and correlates. In T. Tyszka & P. Gasparski (Eds.), Homo Oeconomicus: Facts and presumptions (vol. II, pp. 619–633). Warsaw: Polish Academy of Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Routh, D. A., & Burgoyne, C. B. (1990). Further development of the Absent-Mindedness with Money Questionnaire (AWMQ): Aspects of construct validity. In S. E. G. Lea, P. Webley, & B. M. Young (Eds.), Applied economic psychology in the 1990s (vol. I, pp. 487–500). Exeter: Washington Singer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shafir, E., Diamond, P., & Tversky, A. (1997). Money illusion. Quarterly Journal of Economics, CXII(2), 341–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traut-Mattausch, E., Schulz-Hardt, S., Greitemeyer, T., & Frey, D. (2007). Illusory price increases after the euro changeover in Germany: An expectancy-consistent bias. Journal of Consumer Policy, (this issue).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rob Ranyard.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ranyard, R. Euro Stories: The Irish Experience of Currency Change. J Consum Policy 30, 313–322 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-007-9050-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-007-9050-5

Keywords

Navigation