Parents Influence Responsible Credit Use in Young Adults: Empirical Evidence from the United States, France, and Brazil

Abstract

From the start of adulthood, consumers are frequently faced with complex financial decisions, and the consequences of these decisions may be reflected throughout the rest of their lives. As access to credit has expanded among college students around the world, it is critical that we understand both universal and culture-specific processes. Although some work has examined credit card use in two cultures simultaneously, there is, to our knowledge, no research examining such use in three cultures on three continents and across both genders. This study analyzes credit card use behavior among 1458 young adults living either in Brazil, the United States, or France. A structural equations model is used to incorporate relationships between the latent variables. The model, which was validated by the study, examines how financial well-being is affected by the way in which the individual uses credit cards, which in its turn is affected by social comparison and by financial self-confidence, the latter being also impacted by the financial education received from the parents. In the comparison between groups we found evidence that men are more dependent on parental education than women.

Precedents of the compulsive use of a credit card: an analysis of university students' buying behavior

“…In a complementary way, the studies of Pirog and Roberts (2007) and Sidoti and Devasagayam (2010) suggest that the greater the materialism, the greater the misuse of credit cards. As compulsive buying behavior has grown (Santos et al. , 2021), we understand that our research has interesting implications for addressing compulsive credit card use.…”

“…This paper advances the literature because it presents evidence which point out that the use of credit cards should stimulate compulsive consumption by young people, especially women who do not have any income. This suggests that young women may be more prone to indebtedness (Vieira et al, 2014) and are more susceptible to compulsive buying behavior (Faber & O'Guinn, 1992), mainly due to excessive credit card use (Santos et al, 2021). In addition, by investigating how materialism can influence compulsive behavior, we will be able to understand how people who attach importance to acquiring and possessing material goods in their life are motivated to compulsively consume using a credit card.…”

“…The relevance of this study permeates the possibility of examining how university students behave in relation to credit cards and identifying which factors may trigger compulsive credit card use (Robb, Moody, & Abdel-Ghany, 2012). This is still little explored in the Brazilian context (Santos, Mendes-Da-Silva, Norvilitis, Protin, & Onusic, 2021). Furthermore, since the precedents of compulsive credit card use are known, this study may be useful to identify the characteristics present in compulsive shoppers, elucidate how personality factors influence the behavior of credit card users and how compulsive credit card use can be detrimental to an individual's financial well-being (Brüggen et al.…”

“…This suggests that young women may be more prone to indebtedness (Vieira et al. , 2014) and are more susceptible to compulsive buying behavior (Faber & O'Guinn, 1992), mainly due to excessive credit card use (Santos et al. , 2021).…”

Financial socialization, strength of social ties and investment literacy of investors in P2P lending platforms

“…Little is known about innovative nancial product-and service-related investor behavior and its determinants (Gao & Fok, 2015; Kovarova-Simecek & Aubram, 2018; Santos et al, 2022). Moreover, research on such investors' literacy is also quite scarce.…”