IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jconsa/v53y2019i4p1630-1673.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Does Consumers' Financial Vulnerability Relate to Positive and Negative Financial Outcomes? The Mediating Role of Individual Psychological Characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Arvid O. I. Hoffmann
  • Simon J. McNair

Abstract

Vulnerable consumers are at particular risk of financial detriment due to, for example, low financial literacy or numeracy, high debt, low income, or impactful changes in personal circumstances. We introduce a comprehensive and formative measure of financial vulnerability that integrates these risk factors and is grounded in definitions of vulnerability from financial regulation bodies and government agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Across three studies of US individuals, we assess the nomological validity of this measure of financial vulnerability through its relationship with positive and negative financial outcomes (e.g., savings levels, paying credit card balances in full each month, being in arrears) as well as relevant psychological characteristics (e.g., personal savings orientation [PSO], money management skills, financial self‐efficacy). Moreover, we examine whether and how these psychological characteristics mediate the relationship between financial vulnerability and financial outcomes. We conclude with an overview of implications for policy makers and business practitioners.

Suggested Citation

  • Arvid O. I. Hoffmann & Simon J. McNair, 2019. "How Does Consumers' Financial Vulnerability Relate to Positive and Negative Financial Outcomes? The Mediating Role of Individual Psychological Characteristics," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 1630-1673, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:53:y:2019:i:4:p:1630-1673
    DOI: 10.1111/joca.12233
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12233
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joca.12233?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Julia Rötzmeier-Keuper, 2020. "Consumer Vulnerability: Overview And Synthesis Of The Current State Of Knowledge And Future Service-Related Research Directions," Working Papers Dissertations 65, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    2. Wang-Ly, Nathan & Newell, Ben R., 2022. "Allowing early access to retirement savings: Lessons from Australia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 716-733.
    3. Gagandeep Kaur & Manjit Singh, 2024. "Pathways to Individual Financial Well-Being: Conceptual Framework and Future Research Agenda," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 13(1), pages 27-41, January.
    4. Raslan Alzuabi & Sarah Brown & Mark N. Harris & Karl Taylor, 2024. "Modelling the composition of household portfolios: A latent class approach," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(1), pages 243-275, February.
    5. Arvid O. I. Hoffmann & Daria Plotkina, 2021. "Let your past define your future? How recalling successful financial experiences can increase beliefs of self‐efficacy in financial planning," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 847-871, September.
    6. Julia Bayuk & Hyunjung Crystal Lee & Jooyoung Park & Serkan Saka & Debabrata Talukdar & Jayati Sinha, 2022. "Mindfully aware and open: Mitigating subjective and objective financial vulnerability via mindfulness practices," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 1284-1311, September.
    7. Riitsalu, Leonore & Uusberg, Andero, 2021. "To double, quadruple, or keep? Semi-automated service increases micro-investments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    8. Hoffmann, Arvid O.I. & Plotkina, Daria, 2020. "Why and when does financial information affect retirement planning intentions and which consumers are more likely to act on them?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 411-431.
    9. Elise Frølich Furrebøe & Ellen Katrine Nyhus, 2022. "Financial self‐efficacy, financial literacy, and gender: A review," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 743-765, June.
    10. Arvid O. I. Hoffmann & Leonora Risse, 2020. "Do good things come in pairs? How personality traits help explain individuals' simultaneous pursuit of a healthy lifestyle and financially responsible behavior," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 1082-1120, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:53:y:2019:i:4:p:1630-1673. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-0078 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.