Research methodology
Determination of customer financial literacy in the “old” and “new” member countries of EU is an extremely complex process, which, on the one hand, results from a specific character of the category, and, on the other hand, from complexity of the financial situation on particular markets, and prospects of research conducted on an international scale.
The organization of direct research into customer financial literacy was mainly concerned with precise definition of research goals and scopes, especially the subject and place of the research.
Highly literate customers prefer to use financial publications [but] low-literacy investors tend to rely more on advice from family, friends, and personal advisers.
The following study was designed to assess financial literacy of individual customers in selected European countries, and to examine the relationship between financial literacy and influence of factors affecting the financial decision-making process. Consequently, hypotheses were made to answer the following questions:
Q1. Is the financial literacy of EU customers within the acceptable level?
Q2. What are the most influential factors that affect the financial decisions made by the EU customer? It was assumed that answering the first question could help explore the level of financial literacy of EU customers.
Additionally, finding an answer to the second question would make it possible to find out factors which are the main determinants of the decision-making process of EU customers on the financial services market. Based on the stated purpose of the study and on the research questions, the following hypotheses were formulated:
H1. The EU customers’ financial knowledge is well below the needed level.
H2. There is a significant difference between the levels of financial literacy of EU customers based on their gender.
H3. There is a significant difference between the levels of financial literacy of EU customers based on their age.
H4. There is a significant difference between the levels of financial literacy of EU customers based on their financial situation.
H5. There is a significant difference between the levels of financial literacy of EU customers based on their employment status.
H6. There is a significant difference between the levels of financial literacy of EU customers based on their workplace activity.
H7. There is a significant difference between the levels of financial literacy of EU customers based on their education level.
H8. There is a positive significant relationship between financial literacy and financial decisions of EU customers.