To spend or to save? The role of time perspective in the saving behavior of children
ISSN: 1747-3616
Article publication date: 11 April 2022
Issue publication date: 19 October 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to focus on the possibility of promoting saving behaviors in children by activating a future time perspective (TP) in their thinking.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental study of 8- to 11-year-old children (N = 212) was conducted in which future and present hedonistic TPs were induced.
Findings
The results suggest that inducing a future TP can modify children’s financial behavior, making them more inclined to save their money. However, the induction of a present hedonistic TP had no significant effect on children’s financial decisions.
Originality/value
This study improves current theoretical knowledge concerning the effectiveness of psychological interventions in fostering saving behaviors in children and answers the question posed of how the economically desirable behavior of saving may be enhanced in children. Thus, inducing a future TP in children by showing them the benefits of focusing on the future might constitute a useful means of strengthening children’s saving abilities.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The current project was supported by the resources of the Polish National Science Centre, grant number. DEC-2013/11/B/HS6/01163. The funding source had no involvement in the study’s design, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication.
Citation
Trzcińska, A., Sekścińska, K. and Maison, D. (2022), "To spend or to save? The role of time perspective in the saving behavior of children", Young Consumers, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 497-511. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-11-2021-1421
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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