factors affecting personal financial management...

Proceedings of the Second Asia-Pacific Conference on Global Business, Economics, Finance and Social Sciences (AP15Vietnam Conference) ISBN: 978-1-63415-833-6

Danang-Vietnam, 10-12 July, 2015 Paper ID: VL532

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Factors Affecting Personal Financial Management Behaviors:

Evidence from Vietnam

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mien,

University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

E-mail: [email protected]

Tran Phuong Thao,

University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

E-mail: [email protected]

___________________________________________________________________________

Abstract

This study investigates factors affecting personal financial management behaviors by

examining the relationships among four factors including personal financial attitude,

financial knowledge, locus of control and financial management behaviors. The research

model is examined by using a survey approach on the youth in Vietnam. In the paper,

Cronbach’s alpha, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to

test measurement scale while the structural equation modeling is used for measuring the

relationships. The findings suggest that, all three key factors have direct effects on financial

management behaviors, in which they explained 62.1% of the variance of financial

management behaviors of respondents. Financial attitude and financial knowledge

significantly positive relate to financial management behaviors. Besides, the person who has

more external locus of control leads worse financial management behaviors. In addition, the

results do not support for the indirect effect of financial knowledge on financial management

behavior through locus of control and the moderated role of financial knowledge on the

relationship between financial attitude and financial management behavior. These findings

could be useful references for related organizations as well as financial institutes that are

interested in developing personal financial management in a context of emerging economies

like Vietnam.

___________________________________________________________________________

Keywords: financial management behavior, financial attitude, financial knowledge, locus of

control

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



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1. Introduction

In recent years, financial management practices of youth have received the increasing

attention of a wide range of organizations, such as government agencies, community

organizations, college and universities, etc. The youth are growing up in a culture of debt

facilitated by expensive lifestyles and easy credit (Dugas, 2001). However, young adults often

begin their college careers without ever having been solely responsible for their own personal

finance (Borden et al., 2008). It was also pointed out that the young generation rarely

practiced basic financial skills, such as budgeting, developing a regular savings plan or

planning for long term requirements (Birari and Patil, 2014). They also may be unprepared to

effectively manage the psychological costs associated with high debt; for example, increased

levels of stress and decreased levels of psychological wellbeing (Norvilitis and Santa, 2002).

Known as an emerging economy, the Vietnam’s yearly per capita income has been

estimated to reach USD1.960, which is ranked at the 166 position in the world (Vietnamnet,

2013). The rate of saving on income in Vietnam is 13 to 14 percent, which is rather low

compared to other East Asian countries. Moreover, according to the survey of Department of

Education and Training, Save the Children, one third of Vietnamese students questioned

thought the amounts were less than they needed for their daily expenditure (Vietnamnet,

2012). The survey also revealed that the most allowances were spent on clothing, cosmetics,

cinema tickets and on eating in salubrious restaurants as a way of showing how well off they

were. This situation proves that the young do not have abilities to plan for their spending in

meeting their day-to-day financial obligations. These poor financial behaviors will have

consequential, detrimental, and negative effect on their lives at home and work.

In the literature, there are many studies investigating the relationship between personal

financial management behavior and personal characteristics such as financial knowledge

(Ibrahim and Alqaydi, 2013; Robb and Sharpe, 2009), financial attitude (Dowling et al., 2009;

Shime et al., 2009) and locus of control (Falahati and Paim, 2012; Britt et al., 2013).

However, such studies in the Vietnamese context is limited, particularly studies towards

young people (Le et al., 2009). Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the

relationship among financial knowledge, financial attitudes, and locus of control in explaining

personal financial management behavior among the youth in Vietnam.

The paper covers 5 sections. Section 2 is a review of related literature. Section 3 shows

methodology. Section 4 indicates results and discussion. The final section is conclusions and

recommendations.



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2. Literature Review

2.1 Personal Financial Management Behavior

Financial management behavior is considered one of the key concepts on the financial

discipline. Many definitions are given with regarding to this concept, for example, Horne and

Wachowicz (2002) propose financial management behavior as the determination, acquisition,

allocation, and utilization of financial resources, usually with an overall goal in mind while

Weston and Brigham (1981) describe financial management behavior as an area of financial

decision-making, harmonizing individual motives and enterprise goals. Joo (2008) indicates

that effective financial management behavior should improve financial well-being positively

and failure to manage personal finances can lead to serious long term, negative social and

societal consequences. Thus, financial management is mainly concerned with the effective

funds management.

Failure in managing an individual’s finance can lead serious long-term consequences not

only for that person but also for enterprise, society (Ismail et al., 2011). Hence, personal

financial management behavior has received an increasing concern of researchers in recent

years. In the study by Deacon and Firebaugh (1988), personal financial management is

defined as the set of behaviors performed regarding the planning, implementing, and

evaluating involved in the areas of cash, credit, investments, insurance and retirement and

estate planning. Xiao and Dew (2011) take into account the personal financial management

with regard to cash flow, credit, saving and investing management. There are many studies in

Vietnam before which examining only one dimension of financial management behavior such

as credit card (Nguyen and Lai, 2013; Vuong and Nguyen, 2013) or saving (Gries and Ha,

2014). However, measuring many different domains of financial management behavior is

important because each domain has a serious role (Xiao and Dew, 2011). This study expands

on the studies before in finding out factors affecting on financial management behavior in

general.

The conceptual model of this study is supported by two foundational theories including

the family resources management model and the theory of planned behavior. The family

resource management model, as given by Deacon and Firebauge (1988), shows that decision

process includes connected sequences started by inputs and continued by throughput, output

and the feedback linking back to the inputs. Parrotta and Johnson (1996) modified that model

by defining financial knowledge as the input, financial attitude and financial management

behavior as two subsystems of the throughput. This is called financial management

conceptual framework to investigate effects of financial knowledge and financial attitude on

financial management behavior. In addition, the theory of planned behavior of Ajzen (2002)

concludes perceived control over performance of a behavior, which may be perceived by



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some as being similar to locus of control, can account for a considerable variance in actions.

In summary, combining the financial resource management model and the theory of planned

behavior gives a general view on the relationship between financial behavior and financial

attitude, financial knowledge, locus of control.

2.2 Hypothesis Development on Personal Financial Management Behaviors

In the literature, several factors are used to examine their relationships with regard to the

personal financial management behaviors; however, three critical factors are discussed in

many recent studies including financial attitude, personal financial attitude, financial

knowledge, locus of control (Dowling et al., 2009; Ibrahim and Alqaydi, 2013; Shime et al.,

2009; Britt et al., 2013). As such, this paper suggests several hypotheses on these

relationships given as follows:

Financial Attitude and Personal Financial Management Behaviors

Financial attitude can be considered as the psychological tendency expressed when

evaluating recommended financial management practices with some degree of agreement or

disagreement (Parrotta and Johnson, 1998). A number of researches have concluded that

financial attitudes play an important role in determining a person’s financial behavior (Davis

and Schumm, 1987; Shih and Ke, 2014). Financial attitudes shape the way people spend,

save, hoard, and waste money (Furnham, 1984). Thus, one hypothesis is suggested as follow:

Hypothesis 1 (H1): There is a positive relationship between financial attitudes and

personal financial management behavior.

Financial Knowledge and Personal Financial Management Behaviors

The term financial knowledge is defined as sufficient knowledge about facts on personal

finance and is the key to personal financial management behaviors (Garman and Forgue,

2006). The importance of financial literacy is obvious as it is typically used as an input to a

model that determines the need for financial education and explained variations in behavior

and financial outcomes such as savings, investment, and credit behavior (Idris et al., 2013).

The relationship of these two variables is conclusive, with all studies find that having

financial knowledge does influence individuals to behave in a more financially responsible

ways (Robb and Woodyard, 2011; Zakaria et al., 2012). The consumers who are financially

knowledgeable are more likely to behave in financially responsible way (Hogarth and Hilgert,

2002). Therefore, this study suggests a following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2 (H2): There is a positive relationship between financial knowledge and

personal financial management behavior.

Financial Knowledge, Financial Attitudes and Personal Financial Management Behavior

Through research in psychology literature, it has been suggested that the magnitude of the

attitude–behavior relation may be moderated not by attitude accessibility but by other



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correlated factors such as certainty, amount of knowledge, or the attitude’s temporal stability

(Eagly and Chaiken, 1993). Parrotta and Johnson (1998) find a positive relationship between

financial attitudes and financial behaviors. Similarly, Joo and Grable (2004) find that, people

with stronger perceptions and positive financial attitudes tend to more successful in financial

management. Therefore, the relationship between financial knowledge, financial attitudes and

personal financial management behavior is suggested in this study as follows:

Hypothesis 3 (H3): Financial knowledge moderates the relationship between financial

attitudes and financial management.

External Locus of Control and Personal Financial Management Behavior

The term locus of control construct is best conceptualized as a person’s perception of

their place in the world (Rotter, 1966). According to Hellrigel et al. (2010), locus of control

refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events which affect

them. Locus of control had two dimensions: internal control and external control. Those with

an internal locus of control are apt to be goal driven and often than not. External control

referred to events such as luck, chance, and fate as being under the control of powerful others

(Hoffman et al., 2000).

Dessart and Kuylen (1986) found that people who were more external in their orientation

were more likely to experience financial difficulties. Tokunaga (1993) reports that the more

external the orientation, the more likely were people to use consumer credit unsuccessfully.

Perry and Morris (2005) conclude that how people feel about money depends on how they

feel about their lives. Locus of control has also been to discriminate between those who save

and those who do not, in which savers being internal in orientation than non-savers (Lunt and

Livingstone, 1992). From the previous research, the following locus of control hypothesis is

proposed in this study:

Hypothesis 4 (H4): There is a negative relationship between external locus of control

and personal financial management behavior.

Financial Knowledge, Locus of Control and Financial Management Behavior

Hayes (2006) states that, financial education may be of little value if personal

responsibility is not included. Perry and Morris (2005) argue that individuals may not take

full advantage of their knowledge or financial resources unless they feel that they control their

own destiny. In the research explaining financial behavior for Koreans living in the United

States, Grable et al. (2009) find that locus of control mediate the effect of financial knowledge

on responsible financial management behavior. The study by Zakaria et al. (2012) finds

evidence support for a mediating role of a locus of control on the relationship between

financial knowledge and personal financial management behavior. As such, this study

proposes a following hypothesis:



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Hypothesis 5 (H5): The relationship between financial knowledge and personal financial

management behavior is mediated by locus of control.

2.3 Conceptual Model

Based on the above studies, a conceptual model is proposed. Details about the conceptual

model and its hypotheses as follows:

H1(+)

H3

H2(+)

H5 H4 (-)

Figure 1: A Conceptual Model

3. Methodology

3.1 Research Design

In the paper, two phases of study were undertaken in this research: a pilot study and a

main survey. The pilot’s purpose was to modify and refine the measures. The main survey

was used to test the measurement and structural models. In addition, four constructs were

examined including personal financial management behavior (FB), financial attitude (FA),

financial knowledge (FK), and locus of control (LC). Only FB was second-order constructs,

while FA, FK, and LC were first-order constructs.

The measurements of constructs are based on prior studies. Specifically, personal

financial management behavior was adopted from Xiao and Dew (2011). It includes 12 items,

measured participants’ financial management behaviors in three domains: cash management,

savings and investment, and credit management. Sixteen items of Rajna et al. (2011) are used

to measure attitude toward finance. Financial knowledge was measured following Perry and

Morris (2005), which measured based on individual’s self-assessment of knowledge about

financial matters. Finally, locus of control was measured by 7 items, adopted from Rotter

(1966). Five-point Likert-type scale was used for all items in this study. Details can be seen

in the Appendix.

A paper-based questionnaire was developed to collect data to validate the constructs. This

questionnaire was firstly developed in English, and was translated into Vietnamese later

because English is not well understood by all respondents in Vietnam. It was divided into two

parts. The first part of the survey included questions regarding demographic of the

Financial Attitudes

Financial Knowledge

External

Locus of Control

Personal Financial Management

Behavior



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respondents. The second part contained questionnaire items that measure four constructs in

the proposed model.

3.2 Sampling

For the pilot test, the initial data was a sample of 64 respondents collected from the

population of the youth from 19 to 30 years old. All are living in HCM City. After conducting

the pilot test, the survey via questionnaire with 39 items is completed.

According to Hair et al. (2010), the sample should be 100 or greater and the minimum

sample should have a desired ratio of five observations per item. Hence, the minimum sample

size needed for testing overall model was 195. Data were collected using convenience sample

method with a structured questionnaire. The study population comprised of the youth who

studying or working in Ho Chi Minh City and from 19 to 30 years old. For the study, 400

questionnaires were distributed directly to respondents. After the collection, 307

questionnaires are suitable. The accepted responses must not have more than 30 percents

missing value and all answers were not at the same value.

3.3 Research Method

The first step in analyzing the data collected is test of reliability by Cronbach’s anpha.

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to test

validity of measurement scales. The structural equation model (SEM) had been used as the

main method for analyzing the research model to test the hypotheses.

To test the moderating effects of knowledge on the relationship between financial attitude

and financial management behavior, the multi-group analysis in SEM was conducted. The

indirect effect of financial knowledge toward to financial management behavior through locus

of control was also tested by using Sobel’s test (Sobel, 1982). In addition, for the moderating

effect of the financial knowledge, the multiple group analysis is used. Both the SPSS and

AMOS package are used to analyze the data.

4. Data Analysis and Results

4.1 Respondents’ Characteristics

Total 307 questionnaires were gathered from the respondents from 19 to 30 years old.

Initial analysis of data indicated that gender was represented with 57.3% of respondents were

female and 39.4% were male. Age ranged between 19 to 30 years old, with 26.1% of the

respondents between 19 and 22 years old, 34.2% of respondents between 23 and 26 years old,

and 39.7% from 27 to 30 years old. The academic attainment of the respondents was relative

high, only 21.8% of respondents’ education level under bachelor. 86.1% of the respondents

have the income less than 10 million VND per month. This easily to understand in which the

respondents of this study are the young who are undergraduates or just start their career. In



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summary, respondents are widely diverse by different gender, age, education level, and

career.

4.2 Results on the Relationship between Factors

4.2.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) Results

After run Cronbach’s alpha to test validity of variables in the pilot test, although financial

attitude variable also had the acceptable Cronbach’s alpha, the item – total correlation values

of almost items were very low. It could be explained that financial attitudes might be a higher

– order constructs. So, in the main survey, EFA was first run to refine the financial attitude

variable. It was modified with four constructs: attitude toward daily financial behavior

(FA_FB), attitude toward saving plan (FA_SP), attitude toward financial management

(FA_FM) and attitude toward future financial ability (FA_FF).

Cronbach’s alpha was used to examine reliability of all scales in the main survey. The

results indicated that, almost scales (except credit management and attitude toward saving

plan) satisfied the requirement of reliability. Three items had low corrected item-total

correlation and the Cronbach’s alpha if these items deleted increased significantly. So, these

items were deleted from the measurement scale. All Cronbach’s alpha is higher than 0.6.

After testing Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, all measures (including financial attitude)

were continued to be analyzed by EFA. The KMO value (0.813) is greater than 0.5 which

mean the data set is likely to factor well. In addition, Bartlett’s test showed the significant

value is very small, which indicating that the correlation matrix is significant different from

an identity matrix. As result, both acceptances for diagnostic tests confirm that the data are

suitable for factor analysis. There were 9 factors which had the eigenvalues more than 1. The

extraction sum of squared loading showed that with 9 factors were extracted; it could explain

64.612% of the information contained in the original variables.

4.2.2 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) Results

The distribution of variables showed that, all of them had skewness value within (-0.860

to 0.462). The kurtosis value was within (-1.061 to 0.693). The data might exhibit slight

deviations from normal; however, the absolute values were less than 3.0 for skewness and

10.0 for kurtosis. Measurement model can be estimated using maximum likelihood method

evaluate the measurement variables of each construct (Kline, 1998).

Financial behavior was comprised of three components: cash management, credit

management and saving. The CFA result indicated that the measurement model of financial

behavior received an acceptable fit of data: 2(32) 51.623 (p-value = 0.015 < 0.05),

CMIN/df = 1.613, CFI = .965 and RMSE = .045. In addition, all factor loading is of this

model had value higher than .4 and significant. Hence, the scale had convergent validity. The

composite reliability of cash management, credit management and saving management in turn



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were .674, .602 and .759, which satisfied reliability standardize. In general, this model fitted

well and had unidimensionality.

The CFA result indicated that the measurement model of financial attitude received an

acceptable fit of data: 2(59) 169.584 (p-value = .000), CFI exceeded .9; RMSEA value

was .078 lower than .08. The factor loadings for all items ranged from .520 to .930 and be

significant. The composite reliability of attitude toward financial management, attitude

toward daily financial behavior, attitude toward saving plan and attitude toward future

financial ability in turn were .793, .781, .654 and .806, which satisfied the condition greater

than .6. These findings indicated that the scale measuring the components of financial attitude

were unidimensional. CFA results showed that, the correlation of each pair of have value

ranging from .05 to .45, which significant less than 1, indicating discriminant validity.

A saturated model was needed to generate in order to test discriminant validity for all

constructs of research model. The Chi-square value of the model was 939.477, chi-square

normalized by degree of freedom (2/df) was 1.868 less than 3, and RMSEA value was 0,053.

All of the factor loadings for the items were higher than .5 which means these scale had

convergent validity. However, the TLI and CFI of the model correspond with .847 and .863.

In order to test the discriminant validity, the correlations between the variables need to be

considered. SEM analysis result presented that relationships between constructs in research

model were different 1.00. All of the p-values were very small, so the null hypotheses were

rejected. Thus, four constructs in this study had discriminant validity.

Table 1: Relationships between Constructs

Relationship R se(r) 1 - | r | Critial value p-value

LC

FA -.47 .0505 .53 10.5036 .000

FB FK .563 .0472 .437 9.2496 .000

FK LC -.16 .0564 .84 14.8858 .000

FB LC -.37 .0531 .63 11.8623 .000

FB FA .803 .0341 .197 5.7822 .000

FK FA .555 .0476 .445 9.3578 .000

4.3 Results on Hypothesis Testing

The hypotheses H1, H2, H4, and H5 can be tested through the structural model. The

standardized coefficient showed that, financial attitude had the strongest effect on personal

financial management behavior. The chi-square divided by degree of freedom was 1.952 less

than 3, the RMSEA value equaled to .056 less than .08. However, the CFI and TLI indices

were still greater than .8, so the model was able to accept. Figure 2 shows the results of the

structural model, including the paths and standardized regression estimations.



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Table 2 was the summary of the results of the hypotheses test. The result showed that

regression estimator of relationship between financial attitude and financial behavior was

1.106. That means a more positive in financial attitude, the more responsible in financial

behavior. Thus, this hypothesis was supported. This estimate had p-value = .000 (see in Table

2). Simultaneously, impact of financial attitude was confirmed significantly to financial

behavior.

Figure 2: SEM Results

Regression coefficient of financial knowledge was .348 with the standard error equals

.082. The coefficient was greater than 0, which means an increase in financial knowledge

would lead an increase in responsibility of personal financial management behavior. Financial

knowledge had a significant direct impact on personal financial management behavior (p-

value = .000 was lower than .05). Besides that, financial knowledge had an indirect impact on

financial management behavior through locus of control. The coefficient represented for this

relationship was -.133. Total effect of financial knowledge was .37.

Hypothesis 4 assumed that, external locus of control had the negative direct effect on

personal financial management behavior. The coefficient was -.133 less than 0, which means

the hypothesis 4 was supported. The null hypotheses that this coefficient equals 0, or locus of

control hadn’t effect on personal financial management behavior, was rejected (p-value =

.045).

Table 2: Result of Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis Path Results Conclusion

Coefficient Se c.r p_value

H1 FA FB 1.106 .212 5.211 .000 Support

H2 FK FB .348 .082 4.240 .000 Support

H4 LC FB -.133 .067 -2.004 .045 Support

H5 FK LC -.147 .085 -1.735 .083 Not support



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Although the effect of financial knowledge on locus of control has insignificant statistic

at the significant level .05, this study kept using the Sobel test to examine again whether locus

of control was a mediator of the relationship between financial knowledge and personal

financial management behavior. The results show that the null hypothesis the indirect effect

of financial knowledge on financial management behavior through locus of control is zero

was 1.100 with the p-value was quite high (p-value = .2712). It means that the hypothesis 5

didn’t support.

4.4 Results on the Moderating Effects of Financial Knowledge

To examine the moderating effect of financial knowledge, the multiple group analysis is

applied. Accordingly, two groups of financial knowledge were created. Specifically, high and

low financial knowledge group were defined via the median split (3.0) on the knowledge

scores calculated as the average of the five items of financial knowledge. High financial

knowledge group included respondents had average score higher than 3. On the contrary, low

financial knowledge group included respondents had average score lower than 3.

From the previous part, financial knowledge didn’t have the indirect effect on personal

financial management behavior through locus of control, so, this relationship was removed

from the full model. Two structural models were test: the variance model and the partial

invariance model. In each model, the direct effect of financial knowledge and locus of control

were controlled by imposing equality constraints across subgroups.

The result for multi-group of general non-restricted model of high financial knowledge

and low financial knowledge exhibited that, 2 = 1818.881, p-value = .000, 2/df = 1.756,

RMSE = .054. The result of partial invariance model showed that, 2 = 1819.179, p-value =

.000, 2/df = 1.754, RMSE = .054. The estimation of both variance and partial invariance

models of two financial knowledge groups, fit the data.

Regarding the relationships between the financial attitudes and financial behavior, with

one degree of freedom, the restricted model exhibits a non-significant chi-square difference at

p-value = .59. In other words, financial knowledge does not moderate the relationship

between financial attitudes and financial management.

Table 3: The different between Variance and Partial Invariant Model

Comparative model 2 Df p-value CMIN/df CFI RMSE

Variance 1818.881 1036 .000 1.756 .69 .054

Partial invariance 1819.179 1037 .000 1.754 .69 .053

.298 1 .585 .002 .00 .001

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

This study investigates the relationships among financial attitudes, financial knowledge,

locus of control and personal financial management behaviors in the sample of 307



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Vietnamese young people. Support for the hypothesis indicates that financial attitudes,

financial knowledge and locus of control play important roles in explaining financial

management behavior (explain 62.1 percent of variance of financial management behavior).

Financial attitude and financial knowledge were significantly positive related to financial

management behavior. External locus of control had negative effect on financial management

behavior. This study also shows that financial attitude, not financial knowledge or self-

control, has a substantial influence on practices in financial management. Similar results had

also found in some studies such as Parrotta and Johnson (1998) and Joo et al., (2003). These

findings might be a key point for educational initiatives to be more aware of the financial

attitude role in financial behavior of the young when providing training programs. For the

government agencies, especially the Communist Youth Union at universities, the Labor

Union at companies, it is advised to organize more financial seminars which aim to remind

the young of the importance of responsible financial management behavior. Students,

employees must be taught to take responsibility for their actions. These finding also give

implications for parents who have children are in college-age. The results give the parents the

way to forecast their children financial management tendencies based on their locus of

control, knowledge, and attitude. Thereby, they can grasp opportunely financial problems of

their children and monitor their college-age children’s financial management behavior.

Through the structural model and the Sobel test, locus of control mediated role on the

relationship between financial knowledge and financial behavior was rejected. Furthermore,

the hypothesis that financial knowledge moderates the relationship between financial attitude

and financial behavior was not supported in this study. This result did not concur to several

studies that confirmed that the attitude – behavior moderated by financial knowledge (Baron

and Kenny, 1986; Joo and Grable, 2004). It can be explained that financial knowledge in this

study measured by self-evaluation of the respondents and it may be bias of their actual

financial knowledge. This can be seen a limitation of this study and needed updating in future

research.

Measurement scales in this research are adapted from previous research and are used to

measure in Vietnam. Our findings support and validate of financial management behavior

scale suggested by Xiao (2011). Besides that, financial attitude scale suggested by Rajna

(2011) was use, but it need to modified a lot to be suitable with data of Vietnam. From the

initial scale, financial attitude becomes multiple-dimension variables with four constructs:

attitude toward daily financial behavior, attitude toward saving plan, attitude toward financial

management and attitude toward future financial ability. This result can be a good reference

for future research related to personal financial management behavior.



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Appendix

Sources of Questionnaire Items

Construct Measure items Reference

Personal

financial

management

behavior (FB)

FB1

FB2

FB3

FB4

FB5

FB6*

FB7*

FB8

FB9

FB10

FB11

FB12

Cash management

Comparison shopped when purchasing a product or service

Paid all your bills on time

Kept a written or electronic record of your monthly expenses

Stayed within your budget or spending plan

Credit Management

Paid off credit card balance in full each month

Maxed out the limit on one or more credit cards

Made only minimum payments on a loan

Saving and Investment

Began or maintained an emergency savings fund

Saved money from every paycheck

Saved for a long-term goal such as a car, education, home

Contributed money to a retirement account

Bought bonds, stocks, or mutual funds

Xiao and

Dew

(2011)

http://tuoitre.vn/tin/kinh-te/20130719/nhieu-chu-the-tin-dung-xu-no/559864.html#ad-image-0

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/

http://m.english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/education/17565/how-vietnamese-students-spend-money-.html

http://m.english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/education/17565/how-vietnamese-students-spend-money-.html



16

Financial

Knowledge

(FB)

FK1

FK2

FK3

FK4

FK5

I know about interest rates charged by bank, borrowing rates

charged by financial institution.

I know about credit ratings done by companies and why it is done.

I know about managing personal finance

I know how to invest my money in buying shares on the stock

market

I clearly understand the balance on my bank statement

Perry and

Morris

(2005)

Financial

Attitude (FA)

FA1

FA2

FA3

FA4

FA5*

FA6*

FA7

FA8*

FA9*

FA10

FA11

FA12

FA13*

FA14

FA15

FA16

It is important for me to develop a regular pattern of saving and

stick to it.

I should have written financial goals that help me determine

priorities in spending.

A written budget is absolutely essential for successful financial

management.

Each individual should be responsible for his or her own financial

wellbeing.

Keeping records of financial matters is too time-consuming

Saving is not important.

As long as I meet monthly payments, there is no need to worry

about the length of time it will take me to pay off outstanding

debts.

It does not matter how much I save as long as I do save

I should really concentrate present when managing my finances

Financial planning for retirement is not necessary for assuring

one's security during old age.

It is essential to plan for the possible disability of my wage.

Making sure my property is insured against reasonable risks is

necessary for successful financial management.

Planning is an unnecessary distraction when families are trying to

get by today

Planning for spending money is essential to successfully

managing my life

Planning for the future is the best way of getting ahead

Thinking about where I will be financially in 5 or 10 years in the

future is essential for financial success

Rajna et

al. (2011)

Locus of

control (LC)

LC1

LC2

LC3*

LC4*

LC5*

LC6

LC7

There is really no way I can solve some of my problems

I am being pushed around in my life

I can change the important things in my life by myself

I can do anything I set my mind on

What happens to me in the future depends on me

I’m helpless in dealing with the problems of life

I have little control over the things that happen to me

Rotter

(1966)

* Item needs to be reversed

factors affecting personal financial management...

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