scholarly journals Financial Sophistication and Credit Card Behaviors Revision

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (No. 1 Oct 2016) ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Robb Cliff ◽  
Patryk Babiarz

The present study explored consumers’ use of credit cards with an emphasis of the role that financial knowledge plays in behavior. Both objective and subjective measures of subjective financial knowledge were included in predictive models of seven unique credit card behaviors. Behaviors explored included comparing cards during the acquisition phase, paying off cards in full, revolving a balance, making minimum payments, paying late payment fees, paying over the limit fees, and taking cash advances. Results indicated that financial knowledge was a useful predictor of behavior, though different knowledge types were more or less effective as predictors depending on the behavior analyzed. An additional series of analyses was conducted controlling for emergency saving ownership. Implications are discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Yao ◽  
Xiangyi Meng

Credit cards have become a common method of payment for college students in China. It is important that they form good credit card usage behaviors and build a good credit history early in their financial life. Using data collected from 10 universities in China, results of this study found that being financially dependent on their parents is negatively associated with Chinese college students’ ability to pay their credit card bills. The study also found that students with a high level of financial knowledge were less likely to take cash advances on their credit card. Implications for financial educators and parents as well as policymakers were provided.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Atlas ◽  
Jialing Lu ◽  
P. Dorin Micu ◽  
Nilton Porto

This article investigates associations between confidence about financial knowledge and two outcome variables, financial behaviors and financial satisfaction. On one hand, subjective financial knowledge (confidence) is necessary to make proactive decisions, yet overconfidence has been associated with a range of negative financial behaviors and outcomes. Both types of objective and subjective knowledge may be related to critical financial behaviors and choices such as credit card usage which in turn may be associated with financial satisfaction, an important component of consumer well-being. This article analyzes data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study to examine how financial knowledge confidence relates to credit card behaviors and financial satisfaction. We use mediation and floodlight analyses to uncover relevant relationships between variables of interest. We find evidence that confidence is associated with healthy credit card use that contributes to financial satisfaction. We also observe strong interactions with knowledge to find that confidence is more strongly associated with credit card use and overall financial satisfaction as knowledge increases. Findings from this study can help financial educators and advisors to deliver the right mix of financial knowledge to better financial choices and behaviors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Min Lee ◽  
Narang Park ◽  
Wookjae Heo

This study examined the factors associated with consumers’ decisions to use payday loans. Using a sample of 24,201 respondents from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships among the variables. The results indicated that payday loan use was associated with a series of consumers’ socio-psychological factors, including financial knowledge, perceived credit score, credit-card payment problems, and having emergency funds. The findings suggested that, to improve borrowing decisions and industry practices, discussions about consumers’ payday loan use and its underlying repayment problems should encompass policy intervention and institutional attention, rather than focusing on behavioral modification at the individual level alone.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaimy Johana Johan ◽  
Lennora Putit

Many past researches have been carried out in an attempt to continuously understand individuals‟ consumption behaviour. This study was conducted to investigate key factors influencing consumers‟ potential acceptance of halal (or permissible) financial credit card services. Specifically, it anticipated the influence of attitude, social influences and perceived control on consumers‟ behavioural intention to accept such services. In addition, factors such as religiosity and product knowledge were also postulated to affect consumers‟ attitude towards the act of using halal credit cards for any retail or business transactions. Using non-probability sampling approach, a total of 500 survey questionnaires was distributed to targeted respondents in a developing nation but only 220 usable feedbacks were received for subsequent data analysis. Regression results revealed that religiosity and product knowledge significantly influence consumers‟ attitude toward using halal credit card services.  Attitude in turn, subsequently has a significant impact on consumers‟ intention to accept halal financial credit card services. Several theoretical and managerial contributions were observed in this study.   


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Banker ◽  
Derek Dunfield ◽  
Alex Huang ◽  
Drazen Prelec

AbstractCredit cards have often been blamed for consumer overspending and for the growth in household debt. Indeed, laboratory studies of purchase behavior have shown that credit cards can facilitate spending in ways that are difficult to justify on purely financial grounds. However, the psychological mechanisms behind this spending facilitation effect remain conjectural. A leading hypothesis is that credit cards reduce the pain of payment and so ‘release the brakes’ that hold expenditures in check. Alternatively, credit cards could provide a ‘step on the gas,’ increasing motivation to spend. Here we present the first evidence of differences in brain activation in the presence of real credit and cash purchase opportunities. In an fMRI shopping task, participants purchased items tailored to their interests, either by using a personal credit card or their own cash. Credit card purchases were associated with strong activation in the striatum, which coincided with onset of the credit card cue and was not related to product price. In contrast, reward network activation weakly predicted cash purchases, and only among relatively cheaper items. The presence of reward network activation differences highlights the potential neural impact of novel payment instruments in stimulating spending—these fundamental reward mechanisms could be exploited by new payment methods as we transition to a purely cashless society.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Hilchey ◽  
Matthew Osborne ◽  
Dilip Soman

Abstract Regulators require lenders to display a subset of credit card features in summary tables before customers finalize a credit card choice. Some jurisdictions require some features to be displayed more prominently than others to help ensure that consumers are made aware of them. This approach could lead to untoward effects on choice, such that relevant but nonprominent product features do not factor in as significantly. To test this possibility, we instructed a random sample of 1615 adults to choose between two hypothetical credit cards whose features were shown side by side in tables. The sample was instructed to select the card that would result in the lowest financial charges, given a hypothetical scenario. Critically, we randomly varied whether the annual interest rates and fees were made visually salient by making one, both, or neither brighter than other features. The findings show that even among credit-savvy individuals, choice tends strongly toward the product that outperforms the other on a salient feature. As a result, we encourage regulators to consider not only whether a key feature should be made more salient, but also the guidelines regarding when a key feature should be displayed prominently during credit card acquisition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinan Liu ◽  
Apostolos Serletis

Abstract We reexamine the effects of the variability of money growth on output, raised by Mascaro and Meltzer (1983), in the era of the increasing use of alternative payments, such as credit cards. Using a bivariate VARMA, GARCH-in-Mean, asymmetric BEKK model, we find that the volatility of the credit card-augmented Divisia M4 monetary aggregate has a statistically significant negative impact on output from 2006:7 to 2019:3. However, there is no effect of the traditional Divisia M4 growth volatility on real economic activity. We conclude that the balance sheet targeting monetary policies after the financial crisis in 2007–2009 should pay more attention on the broad credit card-augmented Divisia M4 aggregate to address economic and financial stability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 368-383
Author(s):  
King Yin Wong ◽  
Michael Lynn

Purpose The extant literature has mixed results regarding the credit card cue effect. Some showed that credit card cues stimulate spending, whereas others were unable to replicate the findings or found that cues discourage consumer spending. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how consumers’ sensitivity to the pain of payment affects their mental associations about credit cards and how the differences in credit card associations moderate the credit card cue effect on spending, providing a possible explanation for the mixed results in the literature. Furthermore, this paper examines the role of consumers’ perceived financial well-being, measured by their perceptions of current and future wealth and their sense of financial security, in mediating this moderation effect. Design/methodology/approach An experimental study was conducted with a sample of 337 participants to test the hypothesized model. Findings After being shown credit card cues, spendthrift participants had more spending-related thoughts and less debt-related thoughts, perceived themselves as having better financial well-being and consequently spent more than tightwad participants. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the direct link between an exposure to credit card cues and perceived financial well-being, and one of the few to show evidence of the moderating effect of consumers’ sensitivity to the pain of payment on spending when credit card cues are present. This study suggests that marketers may use credit card cues to promote consumer spending, whereas consumers, especially spendthrifts, should be aware of how credit card cues may inflate their perceived financial well-being and stimulate them to spend more.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Cakarnis ◽  
Steve Peter D'Alessandro

Purpose – This paper investigates the determinants of credit card use and misuse by student and young professionals. Critical to the research is the impact of materialism and knowledge on selection of the appropriate credit card. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses survey research and partial least squares to investigate credit card behaviors of students versus young professionals. Findings – In a comparative study of young professionals and students, it was found that consumer knowledge, as expected, leads to better consumer selection of credit cards. Materialism was also found to increase the motivation for more optimal consumer outcomes. For more experienced consumers, such as young professionals, it was found that despite them being more knowledgeable, they were more likely to select a credit card based on impulse. Originality/value – This paper examines how materialism may in fact encourage some consumers to make better decisions because they are more motivated to develop better knowledge. It also shows how better credit card selection may inhibit impulse purchasing.


2000 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 643-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Beth Pinto ◽  
Diane H. Parente ◽  
Todd S. Palmer

Much has been written in the popular press on credit card use and spending patterns of American college students. The proliferation of credit cards and their ease of acquisition ensure that students today have more opportunities for making more credit purchases than any other generation of college students. Little is known about the relationship between students' attitudes towards materialism and their use of credit cards. A study was conducted at three college campuses in the northeastern part of the United States where a total of 1,022 students were surveyed. Students' attitudes toward use of credit and their credit card balances were evaluated relative to their scores on Richins and Dawson's Materialism Scale (1992). Our findings suggest no significant difference between those individuals scoring high versus low on the Materialism Scale in terms of the number of credit cards owned and the average balance owed. Individuals high on materialism, however, significantly differed in terms of their uses for credit cards and their general attitude toward their use.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document