Savings Versus Debt: The Effects of Survey Question Order on Consumers’ Reported Financial Priorities

Survey after survey indicates that building savings and reducing debt are among the top financial goals for many Americans. However, because of limited resources and inherent trade-offs, achieving these two goals can be challenging and often requires prioritizing one goal over the other. We conduct two survey experiments with national samples of U.S. adults to understand how individuals balance saving and paying off debt, while taking into account survey context and question effects that might influence self-reports of behaviors. Both studies find a significant question order effect, in which respondents provide different answers about their preferred financial choice depending on the placement of questions within the survey. Specifically, when asked how to allocate their discretionary income between savings and debt payments, respondents generally indicate a greater preference for savings; however, when asked about their personal financial values before the allocation question, they are more willing to allocate a larger portion toward debt payments. These findings highlight the importance of considering survey context and question content when interpreting survey responses about personal finances.