Digital Financial Literacy and Gen Z’s Consumption Behavior: Evidence from a Multi-Dimensional Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71204/73qjj079Keywords:
Digital Financial Literacy (DFL), Generation Z, Mobile Payments, Consumption Behavior, Digital Credit, Consumption Frequency, Financial AttitudesAbstract
In the age of digital finance, a phenomenon that has taken over most people’s lives, digital financial literacy (DFL) has become a crucial determinant of the spending habits of digitally native Generation Z so the present study discusses its multi-dimensional influence on the consumption behavior of Chinese college students. Using survey data from 211 participants, a multiple regression analysis is conducted to examine the effects of different DFL components on Generation Z students' spending patterns. The study incorporates consumption attitude as a mediating factor and explores heterogeneity by considering gender and monthly financial support as moderating variables. The findings reveal that digital payment literacy increases total consumption, whereas overall DFL proficiency reduces the frequency of transactions. Students with greater familiarity with digital credit engage in more frequent purchases, while those with stronger digital investment literacy exhibit better spending restraint compared to those with digital security literacy. Moreover, individuals with stronger financial traits make fewer purchasing decisions, regardless of their total expenditure. The moderating analysis reveals that the dampening effect of DFL on spending frequency is particularly significant among male students and those with lower financial dependence. These findings underscore the complex role of digital financial literacy in shaping youth consumption habits and highlight the importance of targeted financial education programs in the digital era. The study offers valuable implications for educators and policymakers aiming to foster responsible financial behavior among digitally native populations.
References
Agardi, I., & Alt, M. (2022). Do digital natives use mobile payment differently than digital immigrants? A comparative study between generation X and Z. Electronic Commerce Research, 24, 1463–1490.
Andriani, D., & Nugraha, N. (2018). Spending habits and financial literacy based on gender on employees. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering,
Awaluddin, S., Khair, A., Paula, E., Zainal, F., & Sutomo, D. (2025). The Impact of Financial Literacy and Digital Finance Applications on Household Consumption Patterns in the Digital Age: Evidence from Makassar. Jurnal Informasi dan Teknologi, 86–93.
Ayuningtyas, M. F., & Irawan, A. (2021). The influence of financial literacy on Bandung generation Z consumers impulsive buying behavior with self-control as mediating variable. Advanced International Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, 3(9), 155–171.
Bhoopathy, G., & Kanagaraj, P. (2023). The impact of digital payments on consumer spending habits. Tuijin Jishu/Journal of Propulsion Technology, 44(4), 5373–5380.
Borden, L. M., Lee, S.-A., Serido, J., & Collins, D. (2008). Changing college students’ financial knowledge, attitudes, and behavior through seminar participation. Journal of family and economic issues, 29, 23–40.
Efriyanto, S., & Anggun, L. (2025). The Influence of Financial Literacy and Cashless Payment on Consumptive Behavior of Generation Z in Jakarta. International Journal of Current Science Research and Review, 08(07), 1–13.
Fitri, N., Herawan, E., & Febianti, Y. N. (2022). The effects of consumer behavior and digital literacy on consumption patterns in students. Jurnal Inovasi Pendidikan Ekonomi (JIPE), 12(1), 85–93.
Furnham, A., & Fenton-O’Creevy, M. (2024). Money attitudes, budgeting and habits. Journal of Financial Management, Markets and Institutions, 12(02), 2450001.
Garai-Fodor, M., Varga, J., & Csiszárik-Kocsir, Á. (2022). Generation-specific perceptions of financial literacy and digital solutions. 2022 IEEE 20th Jubilee World Symposium on Applied Machine Intelligence and Informatics (SAMI).
Grohmann, A. (2018). Financial literacy and financial behavior: Evidence from the emerging Asian middle class. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 48, 129–143.
Gulati, T., Singla, A., & Saini, P. (2025). Digital Financial Literacy and Digital Finance Usage: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis. Journal of Informatics and Education Research, 5(1), 1-9.
Hollis, B., Angelina, N., & Tamara, D. (2024). Examining the effects of digital wallet use on consumers. ICCD,
James, H., & Agunsoye, A. (2023). The gendered construction of risk in asset accumulation for retirement. New political economy, 28(4), 574–591.
Julia, L., Linggam, P. S., Hibatullah, R., & Justianto, J. S. (2023). The impact of perceived risk and technology acceptance model on gen Z’s adoption of digital banking. Wseas transactions on computer research, 12, 1–18.
Koskelainen, T., Kalmi, P., Scornavacca, E., & Vartiainen, T. (2023). Financial literacy in the digital age—A research agenda. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 57(1), 507–528.
Kurniawan, B., Wahyuni, S., & Valentina, T. (2019). The influence of digital payments on public spending patterns. Journal of Physics: Conference Series,
Leclerc, K. (2012). Influential factors contributing to college student spending habits and credit card debt. Perspectives, 4(1), 20.
Lind, T., Ahmed, A., Skagerlund, K., Strömbäck, C., Västfjäll, D., & Tinghög, G. (2020). Competence, confidence, and gender: The role of objective and subjective financial knowledge in household finance. Journal of family and economic issues, 41, 626–638.
Liu, L., & Zhang, H. (2021). Financial literacy, self-efficacy and risky credit behavior among college students: Evidence from online consumer credit. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 32, 100569.
Lusardi, A. (2015). Financial literacy: Do people know the ABCs of finance? Public understanding of science, 24(3), 260–271.
Lyons, A. C., & Kass-Hanna, J. (2021). A multidimensional approach to defining and measuring financial literacy in the digital age. In The Routledge handbook of financial literacy (pp. 61–76). Routledge.
Ma, W., Zheng, H., & Vatsa, P. (2024). China’s experience with mobile payments highlights the pros and cons of a cashless society. https://digitalsocietypress.com/2023/03/30/chinas-experience-with-mobile-payments-highlights-the-pros-and-cons-of-a-cashless-society/
Morewedge, C. K., Holtzman, L., & Epley, N. (2007). Unfixed resources: Perceived costs, consumption, and the accessible account effect. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(4), 459–467.
Morgan, P. J., Huang, B., & Trinh, L. Q. (2019). The need to promote digital financial literacy for the digital age. IN THE DIGITAL AGE.
Nano, D. (2015). The interrelationship between financial attitude, financial behavior and financial knowledge. https://doi.org/10.33107/IJBTE.2015.4.1.09
Normawati, R., & Santoso, E. (2023). Digital Financial Literacy pada Milenial: Pendekatan Knowledge, Attitude dan Behavior (KAB Model). Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Manajemen, Bisnis dan Akuntansi (JIMMBA), 5, 2023. https://doi.org/10.32639/jimmba.v5i1.253
Qomariyah, A., Qibtiyah, G. A., & Bemby, F. A. W. (2022). Financial Literacy, Impulsive Buying Behavior, and the Z-Gen. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 11, 164–178.
Rubin, J. D., Chen, K., & Tung, A. (2024). Generation Z’s Challenges to Financial Independence: Adolescents’ and Early Emerging Adults’ Perspectives on Their Financial Futures. Journal of Adolescent Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584241256572.
Rudeloff, M., Brahm, T., & Pumptow, M. (2019). Does gender matter for the use of learning opportunities? Potential explanation for the gender gap in financial literacy. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, 18(3), 128–142.
Sarial‑Abi, G., Ulqinaku, A., Viglia, G., & Das, G. (2021). The effect of financial scarcity on discretionary spending, borrowing, and investing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 51, 1214–124.
Shah, M. U. D., Khan, I. U., & Khan, N. U. (2024). The role of digital payments in overspending behavior: a mental accounting perspective. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 20 (10), 4031–4053.
Spohn, D. (2024). Financial Resilience and Innovation among Generation Z in the Face of Economic Adversity. European Journal of Management, Economics and Business, 1(3), 39–51.
Temel Eginli, A., & Isik, S. (2020). Generational differences in digital age a research on technology experiences of generations. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 9(2), 3150–3154.
Vatsa, P., Ma, W., & Zheng, H. (2023). Mobile payment adoption in China: Do demographic and socioeconomic factors matter? Managerial and Decision Economics, 45, 1428–1434.
Wann, C. (2016). The impact of teaching financial literacy to college students. Wann, Christi R.,(2017), The impact of teaching financial literacy to college students, Journal of Economics and Finance Education, 16(2), 98–109.
Wilson, B. (2021). Generation Z: Born for the storm. Simon and Schuster.
Yadav, M., & Banerji, P. (2024). Systematic literature review on digital financial literacy. SN Business & Economics, 4(11), 142.
Yang, J., Wu, Y., & Huang, B. (2023). Digital finance and financial literacy: Evidence from Chinese households. Journal of Banking & Finance, 156, 107005.
Yang, Z., Wang, Y., & Hwang, J. (2020). Generation Z in China: implications for global brands. In The new generation Z in Asia: Dynamics, differences, digitalisation (pp. 23–37). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Zou, J., & Fu, X. (2024). Factors affecting behavioral intention to use internet consumer credit services: Case of young adults in China. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 16, 100532.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ling Chen (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles published in this journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors retain copyright of their work, and readers are free to copy, share, adapt, and build upon the material for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as appropriate attribution is given.
How to Cite
