Culture, Self-Control, and Consumer Financial Behavior

Culture has a profound effect on how we orient ourselves to others and in turn may shape our ability to self-regulate impulsive behavior. In terms of financial behavior, culture may play a role in our decisions leading us to engage not only in more prudent financial savings behavior but also giving us confidence to take on higher levels of investing risk. Data were collected from 534 participants from ethnic groups in the U.S. on their attitudes and behaviors when making financial choices. Using a partial least squares analysis, the study found that participants from ethnicities with higher collectivist tendencies had higher levels of self-control which lead to higher levels of savings behavior and financial risk behavior versus other ethnicities.

Citation:

Dante Pirouz (2009) ,"Culture, Self-Control, and Consumer Financial Behavior", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 908-909.