Motivation for emergency and retirement saving: an examination of Regulatory Focus Theory

摘要

Can Regulatory Focus Theory be used to better understand consumers' saving attitudes and behaviours? The theory posits that prevention- and promotion-oriented personality traits may influence financial decision making. Using secondary and experimental survey data, two research questions were examined: (1) Are promotion- and prevention-related saving goals, in combination with promotion- and prevention-oriented personality traits, related to attitudes towards saving behaviour? (2) To what extent does the match between these goals and traits affect actual saving behaviour? Findings confirmed that promotion-oriented consumers were less likely to save for prevention goals, while the opposite was true for prevention-oriented individuals. Further, consumers' saving goal and personality trait-based regulatory focus were found to influence cognitive attitudes towards saving. The discussion focuses on how these findings and theoretical perspectives may predict and influence consumers' financial decision making.