A Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate Interventions Designed to Improve University Students' Subjective Financial Wellness in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The current article describes a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention tools designed to help people save more or spend less money by enhancing their capabilities, motivations, and opportunities. The participants included 177 students from an English University who were randomly allocated to either the Control, Savings-Tool, or Savings+Habit-Tools group. Participants provided with the intervention tool(s) for 4 weeks were more likely to experience improvements in both their financial satisfaction and subjective perceptions than those in the Control group not asked to use either tool. The tools did not significantly affect financial behaviors or objective financial wellness. The discussion examines limitations of the study and discusses avenues for future research such as including a longer follow-up period.

From Security to Freedom— The Meaning of Financial Well-being Changes with Age

“…There are several terms used, sometimes interchangeably with FWB: financial wellness , financial health , financial satisfaction , financial comfort , financial resilience (Nibud, 2018 ; Schmidtke et al, 2020 ; Sorgente & Lanz, 2017 ; Xiao & Porto, 2017 ). A recent policy document (UNSGSA, 2021 ) explicitly states FWB to be a synonym for financial health: “ Financial health – or wellbeing – is an emerging concept that addresses the financial side of individuals’ and families’ ability to thrive in society .” We will not review all concepts in the present study, as several reviews have been recently published (e.g., Kaur et al, 2021 ; Warmath, 2021 ).…”

“…The relation between financial behaviour and financial well-being can be bi-directional (Schmidtke et al, 2020 ). On the one hand, deliberate choices and prudent behaviour correlate positively with financial well-being (Hoffmann & Risse, 2020 ; Riitsalu & Murakas, 2019 ).…”

Current and Future Financial Well-Being in 16 Countries

“…Other related terms are “financial wellness,” “financial satisfaction,” “financial resilience,” and “financial comfort” (Nibud 2018; OECD 2019; Schmidtke et al 2020; Sorgente and Lanz 2017). Some even go as far as diagnosing “financial illnesses”—low financial security and high financial anxiety (Helander 2020).…”

Theoretical underpinnings of consumers’ financial capability research

“…The model consists of physical and psychological capabilities, social and physical opportunities, and reflective and automatic motivations, as behaviour determinants (Michie et al, 2014) As all three components of the model affect financial well-being, their interaction, together with behavioural interventions, is crucial for affecting financial behaviour (Schmidtke et al, 2020) Behavioural life cycle hypothesis Consumer behaviour is determined by self-control, mental accounting, and mental framing (Martin & Davari, 2018;Shefrin & Thaler, 1988) In addition to self-control, consumers must develop mental accounting abilities and efficient spending habits in order to achieve financial well-being Mindspace theory Consumers' behaviour is driven mostly automatically rather than deliberately, (Dolan et al, 2012) To achieve financial capability, consumers have to make an efficient decision while allocating incomes by account and making purchase decisions considering MINDSPACE Theory, mental accounting and mental framing…”