Characterisation of Young People According to Their Financial Attitudes and Behaviours - A Survey on the Financial Behaviour and Attitudes of Students in Higher Education

Abstract

Financial markets and products are becoming increasingly complex. This trend goes hand in hand with an ever-deepening financial information gap. Researchers and marketers should get acquainted with behaviour, habits and attitudes of future’s consumers better. One of the key target groups in exploring this area includes secondary school and university students, as most of the financial education programmes address them. The aim of this study to find out young adults’ characteristics regarding their financial behaviour and attitudes. By segmenting and describing Hungarian undergraduates according to their financial attitudes, the present study sets out to contribute to the success of financial educational programmes, initiated by either the public sector (financial education) or the business sector, with the aim to enhance the level of financial literacy. Based on the database of 2070 respondents, using principal component analysis and K-means clustering, we found that the young people can be categorised into three groups: (1) conservatives, (2) rebels and (3) experienced. The distinct differences in the attitudes and experiences of the three groups suggest that their financial education should be based on different foundations, which is worth considering when developing the relevant curricula.