Journal of Consumer Affairs最新文献

Using data from the 2015 China Household Financial Survey (CHFS) this paper examines the effect of culture on the gender gap in financial literacy. We exploit geographical differences in culture in China, comparing outcomes between rural and urban areas and between areas in the east and west (Shanghai and Chongqing). Using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition we show that, nationally, the gender gap in financial literacy is entirely the product of differences in the way men and women acquire financial literacy. It is a result consistent with cultural effects. When considering just women in Shanghai and Chongqing we observe a raw financial literacy differential of 13% (favoring Shanghai). This gap is also the product of differences in the way financial literacy is acquired. It provides additional evidence as to the importance of culture when it comes to understanding financial literacy.

Family savings is crucial to long-term wellbeing for all members in a household, particularly in a Chinese context where costs of living increasingly shift from government to individuals. Savings are typically examined as a balance of financial behaviors and spending preferences; however, this study highlights how savings in a family context is also a function of relationship status. Drawing on intra-household bargaining models, we analyze data from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies to examine the extent to which men's and women's relative power in the household explain variation in savings levels across families. Our findings indicate that women's greater bargaining positions (e.g., income and assets) correspond with greater savings for the family. However, such bargaining power constitutes a net negative for family savings when women have both greater relational power and higher spending preferences. We suggest that family savings can and should be understood as an outcome of dynamic bargaining conditions in addition to income factors.

Consumer vulnerability is gaining increasing attention from researchers and practitioners as a social phenomenon in modern consumption-driven societies. In an attempt to conduct a comprehensive review using credible published research materials on the topic, this study applies a big data analytics approach to analyze scholarly research with a pool of 859 articles covering the last 25 years of post-modern marketing practices that have been a precursor to market-driven vulnerability. This paper identifies the most influential articles, as well as the top contributing journals and authors, along with their affiliations. In addition, this study reveals four major themes of research in consumer vulnerability, namely marketing, fraud and consumers, consumer vulnerability and well-being, ethics and vulnerable consumers, and consumption, disability and gender. These integrative perspectives will serve as a critical starting point to encourage focused theme-based exploration in the field.

Consumers increasingly use online pharmacies. However, illicit online pharmacies endanger consumer welfare with unapproved and counterfeit drugs. By linking Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning letter content with observations of the 1108 websites cited in those letters, we identify factors associated with FDA-requested compliance and active/inactive website status. One in five online pharmacies failed to comply with FDA recommendations. Findings support the cost/benefit, social norm, and instrumental theories of compliance. Compliance declines with cost (e.g., when the FDA requests changes to more drug categories). Organized crime's social norms encourage law breaking; thus, illicit pharmacies comply less than other online pharmacies. Instrumental theory suggests perceived severity and certainty of penalties influences compliance. In support, when political will and attention focused on the opioid crisis, the FDA cited primarily opioid-related violations and these opioid-related letters increased compliance and website closures. Finally, we recommend improved consumer protection efforts to address internet pharmaceutical distribution challenges.

When developing products and services for base of the economic pyramid (BoP) consumers, it has been widely assumed that organizations must set extremely low prices that are dependent on substantial product acceptance and economies of scale. However, such pricing is often not feasible. Growing evidence suggests that more moderate price levels are needed for organizations to viably serve the needs of low-income consumers. However, price sensitivity is less understood in low-income contexts. To promote the success of social enterprises through fresh insight, we reexamine the extremely low-price BoP assumption by investigating product acceptance among low-income consumers using two experiments in Latin America. Results reveal that a belief in one's capabilities to make effective consumption decisions, consumer self-confidence, helps explain the acceptance of moderately-priced products. Discussion highlights directions for stimulating acceptance of socially beneficial products in low-income contexts.

Digital innovations are transforming financial services and resulting changes in consumer behavior and personal money management. Diffusion of pervasive digital technologies offers individuals quick and easy access to various digital services bringing opportunities and challenges into their personal money management. The study aimed to explore how digitalization affects individuals' financial literacy and financial capability. As a result, we identified three main themes in the intersection of finance and digitalization: Fintech, Financial behavior in digital environments, and Behavioral interventions. We propose directions for measuring digital financial literacy, updates to the financial literacy curriculum, and developments of digital learning tools. Further, we highlight collaboration between the public and private sectors to create a fairer and more inclusive economic landscape. Our study contributes to existing research by proposing a framework for digital financial literacy and financial capability and a research agenda for future studies.

This study investigates the associations of adolescents' financial socialization factors—financial education in school and families—with financial confidence (i.e., confidence in using financial and digital financial services). In addition, we examine how financial socialization factors indirectly relate to financial literacy skills through financial confidence and the role of demographic factors (adolescent gender, grade level, parental education, family wealth) on financial socialization, financial confidence, and financial literacy scores. We used data on the 4328 Finnish 15-year-olds participating in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). We measured financial literacy by cognitive test items and assessed financial socialization and financial confidence by adolescent questionnaires. First, the results showed that financial education in school positively predicted adolescents' confidence in using financial and digital financial services. Second, financial education at schools and in families indirectly predicted students' financial literacy through confidence in using digital financial services. Third, older adolescents were more exposed to financial education at school and in families, whereas adolescents from wealthier families and girls (vs. boys) were exposed to a more frequent discussion of financial matters with parents at home. Furthermore, the boys were more confident in using financial services than the girls, although the financial literacy score did not differ by gender; older adolescents were more confident in using financial services and achieved better financial literacy than younger ones. Finally, higher parental education in the family related to higher financial literacy but not to higher financial confidence, whereas family wealth was related to higher financial confidence but not financial literacy.

Mindsets brought to the marketplace by consumers determine the decisions they make and, ultimately, their well-being. Mindsets based on a comprehensive set of mindfulness skills can provide a broader lens to understanding life's varied situations to make better choices. Considering research on mindfulness and Buddhist psychology, this study introduced an expanded mindful mindset comprising nine mindfulness skills: awareness, compassion for others, self-compassion, curiosity, energy, gratitude, inner calm, focus, and discernment. A national online survey, along with structural equation modeling, was conducted to examine differences in the narrower and expanded mindful mindsets and the relative contribution of the nine mindfulness skills to address stress and life satisfaction. The study found that a different set of mindfulness skills was required for life satisfaction and stress-reduction. Energy had the greatest impact on life satisfaction, and self-compassion had the greatest impact on stress reduction. Finally, the implications of an expanded mindful mindset were discussed.

Using survey data from 730 undergraduates in Vietnam, we find that learning motivation and its components, especially self-efficacy, finance learning value, and achievement goals, significantly correlate with students' financial literacy performance. In addition, these correlations are moderated by student characteristics, among which academic seniority, university type, parents' education, and extra math study during high school matter the most. Our results raise significant implications to policymakers, researchers, and educators that include understanding the role of motivation and incorporating it in financial literacy education and intervention programs and considering the moderation roles that individuals' characteristics play in the motivation-financial literacy link. We encourage more research in these areas.