Money Attitudes Research Articles

Financial Stress, Attitudes toward Money, and Scores on a Dream Inventory

During stock market losses in 2009 and high unemployment, ratings on the KJP Dream Inventory were correlated with factors of the Money Attitude Scale and items on the Contemporary Financial Stress Inventory for 71 graduate students in Counseling Psychology and Education. Correlations were significant for Retention on the Money Attitude Scale with Dissociative Avoidance (-.31), Dreams of falling (.26), Risk-taking in dreams (.24), and Dreaming of being chased (.28). Also, ratings for the Money Attitude Scale of Distrust correlated with Discontentedness in dreams (.33) and Dreams of being chased (.26), Repetitive trauma (.33), Nightmares (.30), and Recurring nightmares (.35). Concern about retention in graduate school due to finances correlated with recalled frequencies of nightmares (.27) and dreams of flying (.25).

How financial attitudes and practices influence the impulsive buying behavior of college and university students

Impulsive buying behavior has been the subject of a large amount of empirical research, but little research exists that actually examines the significant predictors of impulsive buying behaviors in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of adolescents towards credit and money and the personal financial planning practices they follow, and to examine how these attitudes and practices influenced their impulsive buying behavior. Data were collected from 906 adolescent Taiwanese college and university students. A logistic regression model was used to identify which students were more likely and which were less likely to make impulsive purchases. The significant predictors were the following 8 variables: gender, age, having taken a course in personal finance, use of money as a reward, family of origin, affective credit attitude, cognitive credit attitude, behavioral credit attitude, and money attitude.

Money, money, money – how do attitudes toward money impact vanity and materialism? – the case of young Chinese consumers

PurposeChina is undergoing a radical change as the forces of industrialization and modernization transform its society. Money is taking on an increasingly important role, particularly among young Chinese, as the Western ideals of individualism and hedonism thrive. The goal of this research is to understand attitudes towards money in China and how these attitudes affect elements of consumer behavior such as materialism and vanity.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a well‐accepted scale (with several dimensions) to explore attitudes towards money. Research questions examine how the dimensions of attitudes towards money affect materialism and achievement vanity. The sample comprises 127 young Chinese consumers. Statistical results based on confirmatory factor analysis as well as path analysis are reported.FindingsThe findings clearly show that attitudes towards money in China are not monolithic; instead there are variations among young Chinese. Materialism is affected by the power‐prestige and anxiety dimensions, but unaffected by the distrust dimension of money attitudes. Achievement vanity is affected by the power‐prestige dimension of money attitudes.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could examine other developing countries and other generational consumer segments. Another future research topic is to develop a comprehensive model of money attitudes, materialism, vanity, compulsive buying, and their possible antecedents or moderators.Practical implicationsThese findings offer insight into the mindset of young Chinese. Beliefs that money permits one to attain not only status and possessions, but also power and control over others are contributing to increased materialism and expressions of vanity among young Chinese. For marketers, the results imply that positioning products based on the possession of money and the use of this money to indulge hedonism may resonate well with young Chinese consumers. However, some of the relationships we found may cause concern to ethicists and consumer watchdogs because of the associated problems of compulsive buying and other problems which are prevalent in consumer societies.Originality/valueSo far, no study has examined whether money attitudes drive materialism and achievement vanity, especially among younger consumers in developing countries such as China.

Money Attitudes in Workforce of Karachi

This research was carried out with 150 working people of Karachi in order to investigate their attitudes towards money. The questionnaire was given to respondents from different organizations. Both blue collar and white collar workers were included. The data were analyzed by using explanatory variables, including gender, age, marital status, education and income. Findings indicate that the populations' money attitudes were linked to selected demographics such as education, gender and income. Also findings support the previous researches on the topic which prove that money attitudes such as power and prestige are correlated with distrust and anxiety. The results of this study are applicable to human resource, finance and marketing professionals alike. This would enable professionals in these areas to target their activities better with a substantial reduction in costs.

Managing money and retirement planning: Academics’ perspectives

This paper examines money attitudes and associated retirement issues of academics in higher education in Malaysia. Systematic random sampling was used in selecting the target respondents. A questionnaire was personally administered on 458 academics in 16 universities in Malaysia. The survey found that academics exhibited positive attitudes toward money, and income appears to be the prime motivator. Consistent with the findings of prior studies, position, age and educational levels were strong indicators of an academic's annual income. The survey found that female academics and those from public universities had more positive attitudes towards retirement. In retirement planning, the respondents considered the availability of other income after retirement the most important factor, while payment for children's education was the key potential conflict area. The findings provide important insights for the top management of higher education of the necessity of pre-retirement counseling and assistance to ease the passage to retirement for academics.

The influence of money attitudes on young Chinese consumers' compulsive buying

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how young Chinese consumers' money attitudes influence their compulsive buying behavior.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 303 undergraduate students from Tianjin and Ningbo (two major cities in coastal China) answered a self‐administered questionnaire.FindingsMoney attitudes were found to significantly affect young Chinese consumers' compulsive buying behaviour. Specifically, the Retention‐Time dimension significantly affected both male and female consumers' compulsive buying. However, the Power‐Prestige dimension only affected male consumers' compulsive buying. Finally, the Quality dimension had a greater impact on male than on female consumers' compulsive buying.Research limitations/implicationsThe data were collected in two major cities in the coastal region of China. Given the differences between coastal and inland China, caution must be taken when generalizing the research results to young consumers from inland China.Practical implicationsThe discussion of the relationships between young Chinese consumers' money attitudes and their compulsive buying will help marketers and policy makers to better understand these consumers' spending behaviour. Thus, marketers can identify new market opportunities and form marketing strategies to target young consumers in China. On the other hand, policy makers can also form more effective education strategies to help young consumers to spend wisely.Originality/valueDifferent from previous research in money attitudes and compulsive behaviour, the research provides an in‐depth overview of how male and female young Chinese consumers perceive money and how their beliefs about money affect their spending.

The consumer loan default predicting model – An application of DEA–DA and neural network

In this paper we construct the consumer loan default predicting model through conducting the empirical analysis on the customers of unsecured consumer loan from a certain financial institution in Taiwan, and adopt the borrower’s demographic variables and money attitude as the real-timeaneous discriminant information. Furthermore, we construct respectively through four predicting methods, such as DA, LR, NN and DEA–DA, to compare the suitability of these four mentioned methods. The results show that DEA–DA and NN are possessed better predicting capability and they are the optimal predicting model that this study longing for. In addition, this study showed that the default loan predicting model will be possessed higher level of predicting capability after added money attitude.

Understanding compulsive buying tendencies among young Australians

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate money attitudes and credit card usage, between compulsive and non‐compulsive buyers, of young Australians. It also serves to validate the money attitude scale (MAS) using an Australian sample.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a mall intercept method in a major shopping complex in Perth, Western Australia. A self‐administered questionnaire was distributed and recorded a response rate of 18 per cent.FindingsCompulsive buyers are more likely to perceive money as a source of power and prestige. They are also more frequent users of credit cards and are more likely to bargain hunt. There are no differences between compulsive and non‐compulsive buyers for the dimensions of time retention, distrust, and anxiety of the MAS.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has only captured young adult Australians and should not be generalized across other demographics and national consumers. Studies on compulsive behaviour of online shopping and a comparison between fashion and non‐fashion related variables could also be explored.Practical implicationsFirms should consider using advertising campaigns that portray images of status and prestige in order to appeal to young adults. They could utilize aggressive in‐store promotion and selling techniques and highlight the discount or best buy slogans. For the credit card companies and banks, word‐of‐mouth through family and friends are better promotional tools to attract users. Marketers and policy makers are recommended to incorporate consumer education programs for young adults to build skills to counter financial problems.Originality/valueThis is the first Australian study that examined money attitudes, credit card usage and compulsive behaviour. Further the MAS scale is validated with the addition of the “bargain hunting” variable.

Factors affecting attitudes toward private labels and promoted brands

This work examines whether promoted brands and private labels attract different or similar consumers through psychographics and store image that drive purchase attitudes for these brands. The results using regression analysis demonstrate that these attitudes are driven by differences in psychographics and store image. Attitude toward promoted brands is characterised by positive store image, smart shopper self-perception, need for affiliation, and money attitude regarding power-prestige and anxiety. Private label attitude is characterised by more positive store image, and money attitude regarding retention and distrust. Noticeably, the conclusion of Ailawadi et al. (2001) regarding the indirect effect of demographics on the feasibility of using store brands and national brand promotions via psychographics appears weak, since we conclude that the impacts of demographics on the two types of purchase attitudes are weakly funneled through psychographics.

The role of time preference and credit card usage in compulsive buying behaviour

AbstractCollege students represent a lucrative market for businesses selling a wide array of goods and services, including credit. One area of concern regarding credit debt is its association with compulsive buying behaviour. This study analysed compulsive buying behaviour within an economic framework using a college student sample. Data were collected from 7342 students enrolled in a major Midwestern university. Regression analysis revealed that income, rate of time preference, money attitudes, credit card usage and gender were significantly related to compulsive buying. This study provides useful information for developing, or revising, university policies regarding financial education and counselling, as well as curriculum considerations.

Ghanaian attitudes towards money in consumer culture

AbstractThe globalization of American‐style consumer culture has invited transformations in attitudes towards money in many societies around the world, rich and poor. However, the majority of research in this area has focused on affluent countries. Towards redress, I report on a study that examined the psychometric properties of Yamauchi and Templer's (1982) money attitude scale (MAS) using a sample drawn from Ghana, West Africa. The findings suggest that although the MAS needs to be reconfigured for effective use in Ghana, Ghanaians have attitudes towards money that are similar in most respects to what has been observed in wealthier countries, which suggests the global reach of consumer culture. Limitations and future research are proposed.

Religiousness, Love of Money, and Ethical Attitudes of Malaysian Evangelical Christians in Business

Recent research suggests there may be a link between religiousness and business ethics. This study seeks to add to the understanding of the relationship through a questionnaire survey on Malaysian Christians in business. The questionnaire taps into three different constructs. The religiousness construct is reflected in the level of participation in various common religious activities. The love of money construct is captured through the Love of Money Scale as used in Luna-Arocas and Tang [Journal of Business Ethics 50 (2004) 329]. Response to 25 business vignettes taken from Conroy and Emerson [Journal of Business Ethics 50 (2004) 383] would surface ethical attitudes. A convenience sample of 300 was drawn from three large churches in the Kuala Lumpur area each with a congregation exceeding 1000 together with some representation from the smaller churches. The study finds some differences in the ethical attitudes of Malaysian Christians in business with different levels of religiousness. The study also finds that those longer in the faith are less accepting of unethical behavior. As such it can be concluded that there are ethical attitude differences between Christians in business with different levels of religiousness. This lends support to the claim of a positive relationship between religion and business ethics. The more significant finding is that even within a somewhat homogenous religious group there are different love of money profiles resulting in significant differences in ethical attitudes. This suggests that moderating money attitudes can contribute towards stronger ethical attitudes.

Money obsession, social adjustment, and economic risk perception

The present study aimed at investigating whether individual views on the importance of money are differentially linked to social adjustment as well as to economic risk perception. The analysis was based on 212 respondents who filled out questionnaires containing items measuring money attitudes, psychological constructs of social adaptation, economic risk perception and monetary behavior. Results suggested that money obsession was linked to a lower degree of social adjustment. They further showed that a high importance attached to money was to a significant degree explained by the perception of running a higher risk of economic loss.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXECUTIVE PERSONAL FINANCE SCALE

There is accumulating evidence that prefrontal systems play an important role in management of personal finances, based on studies using clinical populations, functional neuroimaging, and both subjective and objective neuropsychological measures. This study developed the Executive Personal Finance Scale (EPFS) as a specific self-rating measure of executive aspects of personal money management. The resulting 20-item scale had good reliability and showed four factors: impulse control, organization, planning, and motivational drive. Validity was evidenced by correlations with income, credit card debt, and investments. The EPFS also showed logical correlations with compulsive buying and money attitudes. Second-order factor analysis of the EPFS and other scales revealed two higher-order factors of personal finance: cognitive (e.g., planning, organizing) and emotional (e.g., anxiety, impulse-spending, prestige). The EPFS shows good psychometric properties, is easy to use, and will make a convenient complement to other research methodologies exploring the neural basis of personal finance management.

Imagined interactions, family money management patterns and coalitions, and attitudes toward money and credit

This study explores the imagined interactions college students have with their parents about money and credit, their attitudes toward credit and money, the ways they say their parents deal with financial decisions, and the communication coalitions regarding finances they perceive existing within their family. Students’ imagined interaction pleasantness is greatest when parents jointly form a plan for paying off credit card debt and lowest when parents argue. When family coalitions exist, students report more frequent imagined interactions. Imagined interaction frequency and pleasantness are related to credit and money attitudes.

Some Personality Correlates of Using eBay

The use of eBay by 102 American undergraduate students was not associated with competitiveness, locus of control scores, or money attitude scores.

Money Attitudes and Emotional Intelligence

As the notion of money tends to be imbued with salient emotions, it is plausible that emotional intelligence (EI) has a bearing on the efficacy to cope with emotion‐eliciting issues involving money. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent to which money attitudes relate to EI. The study included a sample of 212 respondents who filled out a questionnaire with items of the Money Attitude Scale (MAS) developed by Yamauchi and Templer (1982). The questionnaire further contained a test of EI performance consisting of judging emotions in facial expressions, and of self‐report measures considered to be subscales of EI. Results suggested that high levels of EI imply a less pronounced orientation toward money and a greater sense of economic self‐efficacy. Furthermore, money orientation seemed to be linked to worse adjustment of work vs. family/leisure time.

Money Attitude Typology and Stock Investment

This study identifies segments of individual investors based on their money attitudes (attitude toward financial security, attitude toward stock investing, obsession with money, perceived immorality of the stock market, attitude toward gambling, interest in financial matters, attitude toward saving, frankness about finances). A cluster analysis of data from a representative mail survey conducted in Switzerland (N = 1,569) yielded four main segments of individual investors we term safe players, open books, money dummies, and risk-seekers. This typology has forecast value for behavior: Each type differed with regard to having investment portfolios, buying and selling securities, risk tolerance for maximization of capital, response to price fluctuations, and willingness to make environmentally and socially responsible investments.

Personality Factors, Money Attitudes, Financial Knowledge, and Credit‐Card Debt in College Students1

The issue of credit‐card debt among college students has received increasing attention. This study explored factors hypothesized to be causes and effects of credit‐card debt in 448 students on five college campuses. Students reported an average of $1,035 (SD=$1,849) in debt, including students without credit cards or credit‐card debt. Lack of financial knowledge, age, number of credit cards, delay of gratification, and attitudes toward credit‐card use were related to debt. Sensation seeking, materialism, the Student Attitude Toward Debt scale, gender, and grade point average were not unique predictors of debt. Students reporting greater debt reported greater stress and decreased financial well being. Results highlight the need for comprehensive financial literacy education among college students.

Indicators of personal financial debt using a multi-disciplinary behavioral model

Financial indebtedness has risen quite significantly during the 1990s and early 2000s. This research effort developed a multi-disciplinary model of consumer indebtedness used for early identification of US Air Force enlisted members most at risk for developing indebtedness. A survey was designed and administered to first term enlisted Air Force personnel. A multi-faceted behavioral model of indebtedness was specified including demographic characteristics, institutional characteristics of the military, economic and financial information, situational information about the events occurring in an individuals life, and psychological personality traits with respect to money attitudes, beliefs and behavior. The product of the analysis was a model of consumer indebtedness using personal unsecured debt versus no debt. The estimated logit model exhibited strong predictive capabilities, as well as high percentages for sensitivity and selectivity of prediction. In addition, likelihood ratio tests strongly supported the thesis that indebtedness was a multi-faceted behavior which is comprised of demographic/institutional, financial, economic, psychological, and situational aspects, each critically important to the overall explanation of indebtedness behavior.