The role of financial education in adolescent consumers’ financial knowledge enhancement

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this paper was to challenge the purpose of financial education in the context of financial literacy of adolescents, and to test the efficiency of the developed high-school study book and program “My money, my future”. Also, the purpose was to identify the predictors of financial knowledge before conducting the workshop, as well as the characteristics of adolescents with best performances on the financial knowledge test. Design/Methodology/Approach – The data was collected from a purposive sample of teenagers who participated in “My money, my future” program from October 2016 to February 2018 and the questionnaire employed was a three-part tool. Findings and implications – Financial interventions contribute to young people’s financial knowledge. Interest, previous financial education and ownership of a bank account were found to be valid and reliable predictors of higher levels of knowledge among teen-agers. Furthermore, most high school students in the sample reported they had already engaged in saving behaviour, and more than half of them claimed to have bank accounts. Financial knowledge after the workshop was significant compared to their knowledge before the workshop. Greater knowledge before the workshop led to significantly higher levels of knowledge afterwards. Differences in the levels of financial knowledge were also tested with respect to gender. Limitations – The sample only includes high-school students and the research was conducted exclusively on the territory of the Republic of Croatia. Originality – The paper emphasized the importance of financial education programs in increasing the level of financial literacy and efficiency of future financial decision making among adolescents.