Malayan Colleges Mindanao

SPENDING BEHAVIOR OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN

MALAYAN COLLEGES MINDANAO

Quantitative Research Proposal

Presented to the Faculty of the Senior High School Department
Malayan Colleges Mindanao- SHS

By:
Clarence MK Briones
Andrian Jay Dante
Denzel Jonathan Libre
Ruby Jane Onas
Ralph Saavedra
Emmanuel Salcedo

September 2019
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Spending behavior is the way a person utilizes their finances in order to

fulfill their wants and needs. Spending behavior includes different factors that affect

spending such as purchasing power and personal preferences. The study of

spending behavior enables marketers to understand how consumers feel, think,

and react to circumstances when purchasing a product (Wassana Suwanvijit,

2009). Academically speaking, students’ spending behaviors hold importance to

marketers as they continue to understand and develop proper market plans to

address their products and satisfy the needs of the students. Hence, spending

behavior is an important subject to understand.

Around the world, nearly all students of all levels have their allowances for

educational, personal, and other purposes. It is stated by (Messinger, 2018) that

every parent approaches their student’s financial responsibilities differently,

shaping the way they manage and spend their finances. The way students manage

their finances is directly proportional to the amount of allowance their parents give.

It was also proven that if a student receives less allowance for a week, he/she

knows that there is less to spend. This gives them a better sense of financial

awareness, establishing priorities for them to rationalize and spend their money

effectively. A good spending behavior is essential to having better finances

because it helps the students learn to save and spend their finances effectively.
 According to a Press Reader article by (Garcia, 2017), it is said that in the

Philippines, a vast majority of Filipino guardians are concerned regarding the

financial fate of their kids, particularly their capacity to save and manage their

finances, which may affect spending behavior. The ‘New generations Philippines

2017’ report depicted that 83% of Filipino parents expressed concerns about their

children’s future ability to save and manage their finances, and on the other hand,

76% of the respondents are concerned about their children’s ability to support a

family of their own. Allowance is regarded as the constant problem of middle-class

Filipino students, most of the senior students spend about 60% of their allowance

in transportation, books, and school supplies, but spend 40% on non-essential

goods and services such as entertainment, apparel, and travel and vacation.

According to the Standard and Poor’s Global Financial Literacy Survey in 2014, it

is shown that the Philippines is ranked 117 th out of 143 countries in terms of

financial literacy. The survey presents questions such as risk diversification,

inflation, numeracy, and compound interest. It was shown that only 25% of

Filipinos are financially literate.

In Davao City, the disaggregated information on the Family Income and

Expenditure Survey (FIES) was lately published by the Regional Statistical

Coordination Committee of the Regional Development Council 11, that families in

Davao City were the least impoverished town in the Davao region, to spend more

cash on food and home rental than any other household expenditure on personal

consumption. The committee was requested by the National Statistics Office

(NSO) for the special tabulation of FIES in Davao City which it was always lumped
as part of Davao del Sur in the Philippines Statistical system. FIES was the primary

source of income and expenditure data in the Philippines. It was conducted by the

nationwide survey of households by the NSO to collect and gather data on family

income and family expenditure and related information affecting income and

expenditure levels and patterns; Identify the sources of income and income

distribution, levels of living and spending patterns, and the degree of inequality

among families; providing benchmark and information to update weights in the

estimation of consumer price index (CPI); and provide inputs in the estimation of

the country’s poverty threshold and incidence. The data are vital to planning in the

evaluation of economic development and formulation of welfare-oriented policies.

Expenditures According to the dis-aggregated data, food comprised 44.5% of the

total family expenditures Davao City. The average annual family expenditure in the

city is P179, 099 or P155, 492 for the families in the lower class and P202,706 for

the families in the upper class (Deligero, 2011).

Statement of the Problem

This research aims to determine the spending behavior of the Senior High

School students in Malayan Colleges Mindanao. Specifically, this research will

answer the following questions:

1. What is the sociodemographic profile of the senior high school students in

Malayan Colleges Mindanao in terms of:

1.1. Age

1.2. Academic Strand

1.3. Sex
 1.4. Household Income

2. What is the spending behavior of the senior high school students in Malayan

Colleges Mindanao with regards to:

2.1. Basic necessities

2.2. Leisure activities

2.3. Miscellaneous

2.4. Problems encountered on spending practices

3. Is there a significant difference between the spending behavior of students and

their demographic profile?

Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable: Dependent Variable:

Demographic profile of the Spending Behavior of MCM

students: Students with regards to:
 Sex  Basic Necessities
 Academic Strand  Leisure Activities
 Age  Miscellanous
 Household Income  Problems Encountered
on Spending Practices

Fig. 1 Conceptual Framework of the Study

The assessed demographic profile as the independent variable will be the

sex, academic strand, age and household income of the Senior High School

students. This is directly connected to the dependent variable which is the

spending behavior of the students with regards to their basic necessities, leisure

activities, miscellaneous and problems encountered on spending practices. These

variables will be collectively analyzed for the determination of the spending

behavior of the Senior High School students in Malayan Colleges of Mindanao.

Theoretical Framework

This section discusses theories that supplement this study and aims to

further support the results and conclusion of this study. Furthermore, these

theories provide support and guide for the researchers to interpret the data to be

garnered from the data gathering procedure. The three theories that are utilized in

this study are the Social Cognitive Theory, Consumer Behavior Theory, and

Consumer Socialization Theory.

Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1978). This theory, postulated by

Albert Bandura in 1978, explains that people are driven by not the inner forces but

by the external factors. This theory talks about how individuals maintain behavior

considering the social environment in which they perform the practice. He

articulated human functioning in a triadic model in which personal factors,

environmental influences, and behavior continually interact and are

interconnected. He believed that the concept of observational learning and own

experiences are the factors that influence an individual's behavior, which means

that the environment causes behavior and behavior can also create an

environment.

In the context of this study, this theory can help in analyzing and interpreting

the significant difference on the responses when grouped according to the

demographic profile of the Senior High School students in terms of their sex, age,
strand and household income as the variables in determining their spending

behavior.

Consumer Behavior Theory (Kassarjian, 1982). This theory, proposed by

Harold Kassarjian in 1982, refers to the act of individuals who are directly involved

in buying and using goods and services. This includes decision-making, how often,

and under what conditions an individual obtains a product. It is the study of how

people decide to spend their money, given their preferences, demand for goods

and services, and financial constraints. Furthermore, this theory suggests general

consumer behavior types; namely habitual response, limited decision making,

extensive decision making, and impulsive buying.

Within the framework of this study, this theory considers a wide range of

factors influencing the buyer and his behavior towards the product or the service.

This theory can be of relevance in our study as it helps in the understanding of the

different spending behavior of the Senior High School students of Malayan

Colleges Mindanao in terms of their basic necessity, leisure activities,

miscellaneous behavior and problems encountered in spending practices.

Consumer Socialization Theory (Moschis & Smith, 1995). This theory,

postulated by George Moschis and Ruth Smith in 1995, talks about how individuals

develop consumption related cognitions and behaviors. It focuses on how

childhood and adolescent experiences affect their future consumer behavior. This

theory attempts to understand the socialization agents such as the family, peers,

gender, race, culture, and media that has an impact on adolescent’s spending

behavior. As throughout childhood and adolescence, children develop skills,

knowledge, and values that they will later use in making decisions on purchases.

The spending behavior is ruled by the way they have been socialized to act as

consumers and how social structural factors affect their decision-making process.

In the context of this study, this theory is pertinent in explaining how

fundamental social factors can affect an individual’s spending behavior and identify

the problems encountered by the respondents. With this, the researchers will be

able to adequately examine, give further insights and propose a plan of action to

improve the spending behavior of the Senior High School students in Malayan

Colleges Mindanao.

Significance of the Study

The results and outcomes of this study are beneficial to the following

stakeholders:

Students. Some students are very conscious of the money they spent to

have enough left to save. This study will provide recommendations for them to

spend their money wisely, thus improving their spending behavior.

School Facilities. Facilities such as cafeteria and bookstore will have a

better knowledge of the spending behavior of their consumers, which can also be

referred as consumer behavior. With the main objective as to satisfy the demands

of consumers, they can design the most suitable product and services that their

consumer needs. They also might generate the best method of promotion that will

be more effective in attracting consumers to buy their product.

 Future researchers. Through this study, researchers who pursue to

understand the spending behavior of students will have prior knowledge of the

results, which will help them in formulating better and more consolidated research.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This research aims to explore the spending behavior of MCM senior high

school students. This study, like any other studies, have limitations and

boundaries. These limitations and boundaries are essential to keeping this

research paper in the track of its objectives/goals. These factors give the scope

and limitation of this study, and provides an equitable effect on the outcome of this

study:

The number of respondents. As this study only consists of 150

respondents, it may not represent the aggregate condition in the setting of the

study, thus resulting in a reliability and accuracy concern. These 150 respondents

may have different spending behaviors than the rest of the population.

The timeframe. Recording, analyzing, and interpreting the experiences of

the participants take up much time that is compelling for us to accomplish in the

allotted time. With less time, we cannot achieve the complete and detailed

assessment of the data gathered from interviews.

Definition of Terms

These terms are commonly used in the research paper. They hold upmost

importance, considering that there are different meanings and uses of these terms

in the research paper. These terms are as follow:

 Spending Behavior. This is the behavior of different students pertaining to

their financial management. It includes the way students spend their money on

food, transportation, personal needs, and academic purposes.

Household Income. This refers to the shared allowances in the student’s

household, such as salaries from the student and/or his/her parents, and pensions.

Basic Necessity. This pertains to the necessities of the students in which

they tend to mostly spend money on. Personal needs such as clothings, hygienic

paraphernalia, entertainments, and safety are essential to the everyday needs of

the students.

Leisure Activities. This refers to the activities partaken by a person in order

to satisfy him/herself, such as a city tour, field trip, etc.

Miscellaneous. This refers to the finances spent in order to satisfy one’s

desire, such as purchasing what the person wants.

Spending Practices. This refers to the practices done in order to improve

one’s spending behavior, such as the conservation of finances and minimalistic

spending for essential paraphernalia and requirements.

 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter covers the review of related literatures and studies that aids in

the explanation of the results in this study. Different articles, journals, and other

educational and useful materials from different sources and authors are gathered

and analyzed to benefit this research paper. Specific subject matters such as the

different factors that affect spending behavior are mentioned to contribute to the

knowledge of the research paper. A considerable number of related literatures are

gathered to ensure the solidity and relevance of this research paper.

Spending Behavior

Spending habits are defined as habits that are inherited through influence

in terms of managing finances, such as how people tend to spend or save. There

are many major factors that affect the way people manage their finances. Some of

these factors include parents, culture, and religion, all of which contribute to the

way a person spends his or her finances. Some of these are parents, guardians,

and/or any other influential people. This is because people tend to view them as

role models, giving their mindsets the idea that the way parents spend should also

be the way they spend (Money Habitudes, 2018).

According to (Zafar, 2018), there are three categorizations to people in

terms of spending behaviors. They are categorized into minimalists or people who

tend to spend less, consumers or people who tend to spend as fast as they can,

and investors or those who mostly spend their money on investments. According
to (Bona, 2018), developing positive financial habits at a formative age will

significantly benefit their education as well as their financially-dependent future.

Financial management is also essential as it provides a smarter way of spending

your finances. Proper financial management as well as a well-maintained spending

behavior is important as it holds great benefits in this fast-paced world.

According to Sekar and Gowri (2015), the spending behavior is known to

be influenced by financial attitude, which refers to the opinion of an individual about

the proposed financial planning and the belief on the inclination towards saving

money. The actions taken by each individual aside from the influence of external

factors is the reflection of the individual financial well-being as stated by Robb et

al. (2012).

Spending Behavior and Age

Age is an important demographic factor that has a significant influence on

an individual's spending behavior. As people grow, many psychological changes

take place. Consequently, spending behavior will change, as well. Older adults,

who perceive their time as more limited, place greater emphasis on emotionally

meaningful goals rather than knowledge-related goals (Mohammad & Drolet,

2019). It reveals that buyers of this age group are very fast in deciding what to

purchase as they become unwilling to evaluate hundreds of brands and gain

knowledge about each product. In line with this, younger ones choose their

purchases by which attracts the eye, as appearance is a significant factor for the

buyers of this age (Bansal, 2015). Whereas, the teenage group contemplates

taking opinions from peers because this is the age when the financial plan is
limited. The adult people, however, prefer being brand loyal and choose brands

out of their preferences. It implies that age affects the preferences, wisdom,

experience, and spending capabilities of people, thus also affects spending habits.

As people grow, their needs change. Buying patterns also come to similar

changes. Consumers make their adjustments and decision-making process based

on the previous experiences of the same type. Age brings changes to people's

lifestyle and behavior. With it, their needs, personal values, and preferences of

brands and products also change (Pratap, 2017). A young man's choices are

different from the elderly since age influences one’s preferences. Whereas, an

older person considers appropriate options more and values necessities. They

examine information about an option and deliberates if it is sufficient, relevant and

acceptable. Older adults tend to rely more on cognitive biases to make effective

decisions quickly (Carpenter & Yoon, 2011).

In general, the younger generation is more optimistic and has less

experience in coping with life in financial shortage situations. Wherein, the older

generation has a more negative experience as they have gone through a specific

crisis in different periods. Students might not feel the impact of the crisis since they

do not earn their own money (Bayraktaroglu & Alimen, 2011). Instead, they are

financially supported by their parents, who can either influence or restrict their

spending. As per the older people, they look for more informative promotional

activities; they are more likely to reduce spending in order to make some savings

and be financially ready during a crisis (Urbonavičius & Pikturnienė, 2010).

 According to Cussen (2019), most of the Millennials or the generation Y

wants to have the same clothes, bags, shoes, cars and technological gadgets as

their friends. Moreover, studies show that young people define, being financially

stable means paying all bills. As stated by Yoon and Cole (2010), older adults

appear to be interested in using new technologies. As they encounter these

evolving modern technologies, they may be vulnerable to fraudulent marketing

practices. However, studies show that older consumers tend to have more

excellent persuasion knowledge than younger adults from their experience. These

imply that they are well-informed of the tactics and methods of resisting persuasion

attempts.

Spending Behavior and Sex

The process of decision making is one of the most complex mechanisms of

human thinking. According to Iakshmi, Niharika and Lahari (2017), gender is the

primary factor out of all the other factors that affect consumer purchasing behavior.

When gender differs, the perception of consuming the product is different as well.

Men and women tend to have different choices while shopping because of the

difference in their upbringing and socialization.

Additionally, they have stated that women are more internally focused

whereas men ought to be externally focused. As men do not like the process of

shopping but love having something bought. Opposed to women who love

shopping and interaction more than men, they also feel pride in their ability to get

the best product for the best prices.

 The median of the female full-time workers’ annual income is 41,977 USD,

while 52,146 USD for males (United States Census Bureau, 2018). It is also found

that the presence of the opposing gender directly affects the spending behavior of

an individual. While females still receive only about 82 percent of what males do

in the current job marketplace doing the same work, their impact on money today

is undeniable. Women can affect males to save more, spend less, and even borrow

less. While more females are affected by sales and feel forced to spend cash on

them than males are, statistics are undeniable: females earn and encourage males

to save more than they have ever made before.

While females tend not to be gambling on debt, they tend to bear more debt

than males do. That is because females spend most of their money shopping for

things rather than investing it as males do. Aside from shopping, women tend to

spend cash on beauty products, dating opportunities, and maintaining their shape.

This means they do not pay off their credit cards as quickly as men do, but the

debt they take on is much less risky because many of their expenditures are

tangible items (Gaille, 2017).

There are striking differences in spending habits between genders.

According to a report released in the Financial Planning Journal, 23.7% of females

and only 4.5% of males agreed they could not withstand a sale. Nearly twice as

many females as males agreed to purchase unplanned products and purchase

unnecessarily. Statistics indicate that females are more likely to spend on an

impulse that may result from pressure from society or other impacts (East, 2013).
 Most of the products made these days have a specific gender type, some

have masculine features, and some have feminine features to them. According to

Bakshi (N.D.), women tend to be more subjective and intuitive, they value

emotional connect and relations, and they look at purchase as a long term

decision. Contrary to men who tend to gather information through heuristics in

judgment and decision making. They are more analytical and logical in terms of

buying products, they based it on immediate needs, quality and efficiency.

According to a new poll, women are more financially responsible than men

as women are more likely to set a budget and stick to it while men spend more

money on impulse purchases (Bailey, 2019). In terms of money management,

females are seen as better in overseeing their financial status, but they are more

likely to consider themselves as impulsive buyer although they save more than

men. Moreover, the average male learners spent less than their female counterpart

(Ali & Anika, 2017).

Studies have shown that there are numerous physical differences between

male and female brains. According to Scientific American (2013), males are more

likely to excel at motor skills, while women may be better at integrating analysis

and intuitive thinking. In the context of shopping, these means that men’s motives

for shopping appear to be more utilitarian which means consumption of items

which are necessary for survival, while women tend to be hedonic in shopping

which relates to emotion of experiencing happiness after satisfying needs (Gungor,

2015)
Spending Behavior and Academic Strand

The manner in which students manage their money can also be based on

their academic strand into which they get different knowledge. In STI College

Malolos, Bulacan, more than half of the ABM students tend to overspend their

allowance. Most of the ABM students cited their expenses for transportation, food,

and school-related expenses as their primary saving priority. It was also difficult for

ABM students to save for their needs. Both self-satisfaction and educational

concerns are the primary focus of ABM students in expenditure and saving (Longa,

Quijano, & Vergara, 2017).

Spending Behavior and Household Income

Household income has long been used as an indicator of children’s material

well-being. Students are in a unique situation because they have restricted

incomes and different household incomes as to which they get their allowance the

most. For many parents, it has been a challenge as to how much allowance should

they give to their children. According to a computation by philstar (2014), parents

could spend anywhere between P25,000 and P30,000 a month for the allowance

of their offspring.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (2016), the average annual

family income of Filipino families approximates to P267,000 and estimated at

P22,000 monthly. The wealthy generally have the capacity to buy more consumer

goods than those with lower incomes, and those products are of higher quality. In

the type of goods purchased, there is also a distinction. The upper class who have
high amount of household income, tends to be the primary buyers of fine jewelry,

often shopping at exclusive retailers. In contrast, the lower class is much more

concerned with just getting through and are more focused on the basic necessities

(lumenlearning, 2012).

According to Cardwell (N.D.), parental spending behavior can affect how

their children spend their money. As parents of different backgrounds differ in their

decisions about allocating resources to invest in their children. As stated by

Ordinario (2019), the household poverty status of the Philippines, according to the

latest data of Philippine Statistics Authority has worsened in 17 provinces and

cities but it also has caused the overall rate of family income and expenditure to

improve. The average student’s expenditure is higher than their income.

Furthermore, the highest proportion of student revenue was spent on food and

then by rent and entertainments. Stationery was accounted for the smallest student

revenue ratio (Ali & Anika, 2017).

To identify the timetable of consumption, the distinction between revenue

and consumption is used. When revenue increases, disposable income increases,

and more products are purchased by customers. This results to an increase in

major purchases and non-essential goods consumption. Increasing consumer

spending is not a directly correlated with revenue. A percentage may be spent on

disposable income for every additional dollar earned. In fact, low-income regions

may see more in spending at distinct moments than in actual revenue (Leonard,

2018).
Related Studies

The following studies share a commonality with the context of this study.

These studies will also serve as the benchmark of this study in terms of its results,

similarities and differences, and the focal points of the study.

A study entitled ‘Student Budgeting and Spending Behaviors: A

comparative study’ conducted by Matthew Stollak (2011) aims to discuss how

college students manage their money base in different manner and factors. This

study stated that first-year students were much more likely to spend all their dollars

quickly than juniors and seniors. This could be due to lack of awareness of their

budget or not planning appropriately. Women were much better planners and

budgeters than males. Similarly, students became better budgeters and planners

as they matured.

This study discussed the difference between men and women, and

freshmen and seniors in terms of their spending behavior and budgeting habits. In

comparison to the context of the study, the researchers aim to describe the

Malayan Colleges Mindanao (MCM) senior high school students as to how they

spend their money in terms of food, personal needs, academic purposes and

transportation every day. This study is relevant to the context of the study since it

also aims to identify the influence of sex on the spending behavior of students.

Another study entitled ‘Exploring the factors influencing credit card

spending behavior among Malaysians’ conducted by Wendy Ming-Yen Teoh,

Siong-Choy Chong, and Shi Mid Yong in the 6th of September 2013 discusses
factors that affect loan cardholders’ spending behavior in Malaysia. In particular,

variables such as demographic factors, policies of banks, and attitudes toward

cash of credit card holders are examined.

Occupancy, qualifications to apply for credit card, and management of

income, in contrast, is the expenses are not significantly related to credit card

spending behavior among Malaysians. The findings show that age, earnings, and

marital status are significantly correlated with the conduct of spending behavior of

credit cardholders. The same goes to two of the three items identified under banks’

policies or benefits given and payment policies, and attitudes toward money or the

willingness to pay and awareness of the total debt owed. Emerging market

economies or even developed countries where the use of credit cards is a common

occurrence could use the outcomes as a guide (Teoh, Chong, & Yong, 2013).

The research has talked about the credit cards that are frequently used by

Malaysians, which has similarities to this study which is spending behavior of

senior high school students. The results and findings of the aforementioned study

may be found useful in supporting the data of this research. It may help in

explaining the spending behavior of the respondents of this study, thus having a

more profound and consolidated conclusion.

The study entitled ‘An Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Spending and

Saving Habits of College Students’ conducted by Samantha Villanueva (2017)

shed light to the characteristics and personal attitudes towards spending and

saving behavior among students of different class year, ethnicities, and gender. In

the implementation of the study, they have specifically chosen individuals from
various ethnicities as respondents for greater applicability with a diversified student

body representation. The study highlights the impact of cultural norms that

inevitably influences the spending behavior, based on different social norms

across the globe. It involves investigating spending and saving behaviors among

college students, taking into account their demographic profile in terms of class

year, gender, and ethnicity in one model and with use of the Permanent Income

Hypothesis and Hyperbolic Discounting Theories in a separate model.

The study revealed that Whites, Blacks or African American, and Asians all

spend more than the Other ethnicity group, with Asians having the highest amount

of spending. It shows that concerning ethnicities in school, African-American

students are 30.5% more likely to save compared to the other races. In terms of

demographics, it is also proven that African-American people are 34.1% more

likely to save compared to the other ethnicities. Conclusively, ethnic background

is a strong determinant of certain spending habits. In terms of class years, it is

proven that the juniors or first years are 25.5% more likely to save compared to the

other class years. Concerning gender, it is proven that on average, females in the

sample population’s data set spend 4.1% less than their male counterparts.

Moreover, females, in terms of planning for future spending, were more likely to

plan for spending. This implies that females employ more saving mechanisms,

which included planning spending financial plan (Villanueva, 2017).

The aforementioned study has shown similarities to the context of this

study, considering the demographic profile of students in determining to save and

spending behavior. While the target audience of this study is mainly composed of
senior high school students, Villanueva’s thesis’ target audience is mainly

composed of college students. Later on, the results gathered by Villanueva may

validate the claim that demographic factors have a significant impact on spending

habits of an individual.

In the study of Benjamin Timmermans, Monique van Maare, and Eva

Zinger-Mityok in 2018 entitled ‘The Effect of Warnings on Irresponsible Online

Purchase Behavior’, it is stated that Consumers take financially irresponsible

decisions when they buy products that they cannot afford. They pose that online

buying, in particular, has a low associated "pain of paying" and therefore carries a

higher risk of irresponsible spending. The study is about the effectiveness of

warning during online payments and triggering responsible decision making.

The growth of online shopping poses further challenges to manage our

finances well. Warnings at the time of payment are effective in reducing

irresponsible purchases. Warnings highlighting a severe consequence are most

active, reducing the purchase ratio by 39 percentage points, or 78%. People who

consider themselves to be less financially capable appear less affected by the

warnings. The most effective warnings are associated with a more pronounced

negative emotional response (Timmermans, Maare, & Zinger-Mityok, 2018).

There are many variables that relate Benjamin Timmermans, Monique van

Maare & Eva Zinger-Mityok’s research in this study. One of the similarities is the

need to monitor the respondents’ spending behavior. Also, they are using a

standardized questionnaire to get the outcome from the respondents. In contrast,

the aforementioned study is an experimental type of research, which was different

from the methodology of this research. The context of this study follows the

descriptive approach and can use the results from the aforementioned study to

further support the findings of the research.

The study entitled ‘Social class is a myth or reality in buying behavior’

conducted by Marya Iftikhar, M. Farooq Hussain, Zulfiqar Ali Kahn, and Saqib Iiyas

(2013) investigates the meaning of social class and its relationship with conduct

purchasing customers. The relationship between status, education, employment,

and earnings is examined, which in turn has an impact on the social class and

depicts the spending behavior of consumers.

As a result of this study, social class is proven to affect the spending habits

of the consumers. Individual purchase choices are directly influenced by the social

class to which they belong. Social class dimensions such as income, status,

employment and completion of education have a direct effect on how a person

spends his money. The higher a person's earnings are, the greater his ability to

spend additional money on comfort and luxury goods in order to raise his living

standards. The social class supports the behaviors that people adopt when buying.

Marketers target their audience depending on their social class and purchasing

behavior of that particular class (Iftikhar, Hussain, Kahn, & Iiyas, 2013).

The aforementioned study discussed the relationship between social class

and spending behavior, which this study also aims to explore. While the

aforementioned study focuses on a single demographic profile, this study will

explore other demographic profiles such as age, sex, and ethnicity. With the results

and findings of the aforementioned study, the proponents of this research can
further support the data collected in this study. With the explorations made form

this study combined with further analysis, this is a significant contribution to the

research topic in terms of relating the amount of finances a person has to his/her

spending amount.

Another research that can be related to this study is entitled “College

Student Financial Behavior: an Empirical Study on the Mediating Effect of Attitude

Toward Money” and was conducted by Nurdian Susilowati, Lyna Latifah and

Jariyah on 2017. This research aimed to identify the effects of financial literacy and

financial confidence on financial behavior. As for the results, this research found

that financial literacy and perceived financial confidence has a direct effect on

financial behavior. The higher the level of knowledge of students, the more they

improve their financial behavior. They are confident that they can create the best

financial investments. In addition, their scheduled investments in the future are

anticipated to gain enormous income and thus determine their financial behavior.

This research has a similarity to the context of the study in which students

are considered as the respondents. While this study focuses on financial literacy,

it can support in interpreting the data gathered in the survey, particularly the

spending behavior with regards to problems encountered on spending practices.

The study entitled “Spending behavior of Management Students” conducted

by Christine Faith Nichole B. Abawag, John Rex S. Ancheta, Ivy Joy B. Domingo,

Genebib A. Rabina, Aaron Denver N. Saclote, Gale Myka M. Taguinod in the

University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao City, Cagayan discussed the topic of

spending behavior among students, specifically the management students. The

study stated that the challenges of college students is the difficulty to control the

way they spend. The level of the perceived problem on the spending of items is

still not absolutely figured out stated in this paper. Therefore, the researchers of

this study are focused in determining the spending behavior of college students,

particularly the management students of the University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao.

The researchers of this study concluded that the monthly allowance of the students

is spend mostly on food followed by academic purposes and personal needs, and

the least is for transportation purposes. They are tight in spending in terms of

personal needs and academic purposes while loose in spending on food and

transportation according to the researchers (Abawag, et al. 2019). The paper

stated that the spending behavior of the students is not solely affected by their

course as there are other factors that contribute to the differences of the way they

spend which includes the demographic profiles of the students (Abawag, et al.

2019).

The aforementioned study discussed the relationship between spending

behavior and the respected population sample, which are the business

management students of University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao City, which this

study also aims to explore. While the aforementioned study focuses on a single

demographic profile, this study will explore other demographic profiles such as

age, sex, and ethnicity. With the results and findings of the aforementioned study,

the proponents of this research can further support the data collected in this study.

Therefore, the contribution of this study is significant to the topic of this research
paper in order to inherit further and better understandings pertaining to the

spending behavior of senior high school students in Malayan Colleges Mindanao.

 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The study employed the descriptive statistics which summarizes the

variable statistically. It is a quantitative approach describing the main features of a

collection of data. Also, quantitative approach is especially useful for addressing a

specific question regarding a phenomenon. It uses deductive logic, statistical and

structured method that is perceived to be unbiased and scientific.

Relatively, the approach is relevant in this study because it seeks to

describe trends in attitudes, opinions, and behaviors in a large population of

individuals. McCue (2015), explained that descriptive statistics is the process of

categorizing and describing information in the essence of data mining. Since this

study wants to determine the spending behavior of the senior high school students

of Malayan Colleges Mindanao, the descriptive statistics design is the most

suitable to use.

Research Locale

The researchers conducted the study in the Malayan Colleges Mindanao

(MCM). It is located at Gen. Douglas MacArthur Highway, Talomo, Davao City,

8000 Davao del Sur. Specifically, the research will be focused on the senior high

school department of this institution.

Research Respondents

The total respondents of this study will be 150 Malayan Colleges Mindanao

Senior Highschool Students. This will represent the total enrollees for S.Y. 2019-

2020, for the 1st semester at Malayan Colleges Mindanao. The population includes

the students in different academic strands, STEM, ABM, ICT, and HUMMS

students. Moreover, stratified random sampling technique will be utilized in

selecting the respondents, considering the academic strands to be the strata.

Research Instrument

A survey will be employed in this study. The survey questionnaire is adapted

from another research which is validated by several professionals. The

researchers will be handing out the survey questionnaires to gather and collect

data that will be interpreted and analyzed further in this study. It is divided into
three parts. The first part will be designed to determine the demographic profile of

the respondent, such as name, sex, age, household income, and academic strand.

The second part will be used to establish the respondent’s monthly or weekly

allowance and what percentage of it is spent on basic necessities, leisure activities,

and miscellaneous. The last part is made to identify the problems encountered on

spending practices.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will gather data from the Malayan Colleges Mindanao

community at Davao City. The researchers will first submit a permission letter to

the principal to ask for the approval to conduct the study. A permission letter will

also be given to the students for their approval of participation.

The respondents will then be gathered and will be given a survey

questionnaire which includes items concerning the four main topics namely,

Spending behavior with regards to basic necessity, leisure activities,

miscellaneous behavior, and problems encountered on spending practices. On

the process of the first meeting with the respondents, the researchers will give a

thorough summary about the study and then discuss the significance of their

participation and answers to the questionnaire. They will then be oriented that their

participation is voluntary and will be given assurance that they will remain

anonymous throughout the study. After collecting all the data, it will be statistically

organized and interpreted according to the domains of this study.

 The survey-questionnaire will be the basis for the researchers to know the

spending behavior of the Senior High School students in Malayan Colleges

Mindanao. The answers of the respondents will be collected and subjected to data

interpretation through statistical treatment and shall be expanded through research

knowledge and from other literatures.

Data Analysis

The researchers will use percentage frequency distribution and mean in

analyzing the data. To be more precise, descriptive statistics like the percentage

of observations that exist each data points. It is mainly a useful method for

expressing the frequency in determining the number of respondents and be used

in knowing the standard range of their monthly allowances and the total percentage

is spent for necessities, leisure activities, and miscellaneous. Mean is used to

determine the average data of the students, such as their weekly allowance and

how much they spent over the week. The gathered data will be displayed as tables

or as bar graphs or pie chart.

 QUESTIONNAIRE
SPENDING BEHAVIOR

SECTION A – Demographic Information

Direction: Please fill out the following and tick the boxes that correspond to your answers.

Name (optional):
Age:
Sex:
 FEMALE
 MALE
Academic Strand:
 STEM
 HUMMS
 ABM
 GAS
How much is your monthly allowance?

What is the range of your monthly household income?

 Between P19,000 to P38,000
 Between P38,000 to P67,000
 Between P67,000 to P115,000

SECTION B - Daily Expenses

Direction: Please indicate the amount of money which describes your daily or monthly
spending the most.

Legend (Daily): [1 = less than PHP 50], [2 = PHP 50 – PHP100], [3 = PHP 101 – PHP
150], [4 = PHP 151 – PHP 300], [5 = more than PHP 300]

Legend (Monthly): [1 = less than PHP 500], [2 = PHP 500 – PHP1000],

[3 = PHP 1001 – PHP 1500], [4 = PHP1501– PHP 3000],
[5 = more than PHP 3000]

A. Spending Behavior with Regards to Basic

1 2 3 4 5
Necessity
1. Food and Beverages (Daily)
2. Clothing and Accessories (Monthly)
3. School-related Expenses (Daily)
 4. Housing, Rent or Bills (Monthly)
B. Spending Behavior with Regards to Leisure
1 2 3 4 5
Activities
1. Travel and Tours (Monthly)
2. Movies (Monthly)
3. Picnic and Outing (Monthly)
C. Spending Behavior with Regards to 1 2 3 4 5
Miscellaneous
1. Fare and Transportation (Daily)
2. Utilities (Monthly)
3. Gadgets (Monthly)
4. Alcohol (Monthly)
5. Vices (Monthly)

SECTION C

Direction: Please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with experiencing the
following problems by putting a check mark below the number that corresponds to your
answer.

(5 - Strongly Agree, 4 - Agree, 3 - Neutral, 2 - Disagree, 1 - Strongly Disagree)

Problems Encountered on Spending Practices 1 2 3 4 5

1. Misallocation of money
2. Overspending
3. Usually use credit cards to pay my expenses
4. Inflation
5. In deep debt
6. Discontent with the amount of money I was
spending
 REFERENCES

Abawag, C. F., Ancheta, J. R., Domingo, I. J., Rabina, G. A., Saclote, A. D., & Taguinod, G. M. (2019,
April). Spending Behavior of Management Students. Retrieved from Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/38979306/Spending_Behavior_of_Management_Students

Anonas, A. B. (2015, June 29). Filipino millennials bare reasons, ways of spending. Retrieved from
Business Mirror: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2015/06/29/filipino-millennials-bare-
reasons-ways-of-spending/

Bailey, G. (2019, May 23). Woman better with money than men, study claims. Retrieved from
Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/money/money-men-women-financial-
responsibility-gender-budgeting-spending-habits-a8926671.html

Bakshi, S. (2015, July 16). Impact of Gender on Consumer Purchase Behavior. Retrieved from
Academia.eu:
https://www.academia.edu/7953578/impact_of_gender_on_consumer_purchase_beha
vior

Bansal, Y. (2015, April 30). Influence of Age on Buyer Behaviour. Retrieved from Academike:
https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/influence-of-age-on-buyer-behaviour/

Bayraktaroglu, G., & Alimen, N. (2011). Consumption Adjustments of Turkish Consumers During
The Global Financial Crisis. Ege Academic Review. Ege Academic Review, 11(2), 193-204.
Retrieved from http://dergipark.org.tr/eab/issue/39889/473476

Bona, J. T. (2017). Spending Behavior Among College Students. Science International, 749-753.

Caldwell, M. (N.D.). Do Your Parents Influence Your Spending Habits?. Retrieved from
https://www.families.com/do-your-parents-influence-your-spending-habits

Canlas, M. (2014). The breakdown of students' allowance. Retrieved from The Philippine Star
https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/campus/2014/05/26/1327597/breakdown-
students-allowance

Carpenter, S. M., & Yoon, C. (2011). Aging and consumer decision making. Annals of the New York
Academy of Sciences. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3799963/

Cussen, M. P. (2019, June 25). Money Habits of the Millenials. Retrieved from Investopedia:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/021914/money-habits-
millennials.asp

Deligero, G. G. (2011). Davao City families spend more money on food, housing rental. Retrieved
from Edge Davao: https://edgedavao.net/the-economy/2011/11/03/davao-city-families-
spend-more-money-on-food-housing-
rental/?fbclid=IwAR1vnRjG0MTrux2Q_M5MaS0oImsNE_PGF1FBMGS6gK8HC-
PUzZn3DX9lauc
East, T. (2013, September 14). Men vs. Women: Debt and Spending. Retrieved from CESI Financial
Blog: https://www.cesisolutions.org/2013/09/men-vs-women-debt-and-spending/

eMarketer. (2017, January 13). Who's the Boss? Teens Influence Household Spending Worldwide.
Retrieved from eMarketer: https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Whos-Boss-Teens-
Influence-Household-Spending-Worldwide/1015039

Fah, B. C., Foon, Y. S., & Osman, S. (2011, June). An exploratory study of the relationships between
advertising appeals, spending tendency, perceived social status and materialism on
perfume purchasing behavior. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(10).
Retrieved from International Journal of Business and Social Science.

Gaille, B. (2017, May 25). 25 Incredible Statistics on Men and Women Spending Habits. Retrieved
from BrandonGaille: https://brandongaille.com/23-incredible-statistics-on-and-women-
spending-habits/

Iftikhar, M., Hussain, M. F., Kahn, Z. A., & Iiyas, S. (2013). Social class is a myth or reality in buying
behavior . African Journal of Business Management, 7(9), 713-718.
doi:10.5897/AJBM11.1239

lakshmi, V. V., Niharika, D. A., & Lahari, G. (2017, August). Impact of Gender on Consumer
Purchase Behavior. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 19(8). Retrieved from
http://iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol19-issue8/Version-5/E1908053336.pdf

Leonard, K. (2018, November 26). The Relationship Between Income & Expenditure. Retrieved
from Chron: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/relationship-between-income-
expenditure-35014.html

Lewis, T. (2013, December 2). How men's Brains are Wired Differently than Woman's. Retrieved
from Scientificamerican: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-mens-brains-
are-wired-differently-than-women/

Longa, I. V., Quijano, C. A., & Vergara, E. (2017, March). A Qualitative Study of Spending Behavior
of ABM Students in STI College. Retrieved from Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/31890676/A_Qualitative_Study_of_Spending_Behavior_of_
ABM_Students_in_STI_College_Malolos_Bulacan_The_Problem_and_its_Background

Longa, I. V., Quijano, C. A., & Vergara, E. (2017, March). A Qualitative Study of Spending Behavior
of ABM Students in STI College Malolos, Bulacan The Problem and its Background.
Retrieved from Academia:
https://www.academia.edu/31890676/A_Qualitative_Study_of_Spending_Behavior_of_
ABM_Students_in_STI_College_Malolos_Bulacan_The_Problem_and_its_Background

lumenlearning. (2012). Social Influences on the Consumer Decision Process. Retrieved from
lumenlearning: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-
marketing/chapter/social-influences-on-the-consumer-decision-process/

Mohammad, A. P., & Drolet, A. (2019, April). The influence of age and time horizon perspective
on consumer behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 94-97. Retrieved from
ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X18300757
Money Habitudes. (2018). Understanding and Changing Spending Habits. Retrieved from Money
Habitudes: https://www.moneyhabitudes.com/understanding-and-changing-spending-
habits/

Nandanan, P., & Fernandez, S. P. (2017, July). A Study on the Gender Differences in the Spending
Attitude and Behavior of IT Professionals in Urban Bangalore. Retrieved from
International Journal of Business and Management Invention :
https://www.ijbmi.org/papers/Vol(6)7/Version-3/H0607035559.pdf

Ordinario, C. (2019). Poverty rate down to 21% on higher income–Neda. Retrieved from
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/04/11/poverty-rate-down-to-21-on-higher-
income-neda/

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2016). Average Family Income in 2015 is Estimated at 22 Thousand
Pesos Monthly (Results from the 2015 Family Income and Expenditure Survey). Retrieved
from https://psa.gov.ph/content/average-family-income-2015-estimated-22-thousand-
pesos-monthly-results-2015-family-income

Pratap, A. (2017, July 19). Effect of Demographic Factors on Consumer Behavior: Age, Sex, Income
and Education. Retrieved from notesmatic: https://notesmatic.com/2017/07/effect-of-
demographic-factors-on-consumer-behavior-age-sex-income-and-education/

Robb, C. A., Babiarz, P., Woodyard, A. (2012). The demand for financial professionals' advice: The
role of financial knowledge, satisfaction, and confidence. Retrieved from Financial
Services review https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~carobb/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FSR-
2012.pdf

Sekar, M., Gowri, M. (2015). A Study on Financial Literacy and its Determinants among Gen Y
Employees in Coimbatore City. Retrieved from https://docplayer.net/34519006-A-study-
on-financial-literacy-and-its-determinants-among-gen-y-employees-in-coimbatore-
city.html
Susilowati, N., Latifah, L., & Jariyah. (2017, August 8). College Student Financial Behavior: An
Empirical Study on the Mediating Effect of Attitude Toward Money. Advanced Science
Letters, 23(8), 7468-7472. doi:10.1166/asl.2017.9500

Teoh, W. M.‐Y., Chong, S.‐C., & Yong, S. M. (2013, September 6). Exploring the factors influencing
credit card spending behavior among Malaysians. Retrieved from
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJBM-04-2013-0037/full/html

Timmermans, B., Maare, M. v., & Zinger-Mityok, E. (2018, April). The Effect of Warnings on
Irresponsible Online Purchase Behavior. Retrieved from thinkforwardinitiative:
https://www.thinkforwardinitiative.com/research/the-effect-of-warnings-on-
irresponsible-online-purchase-behaviour

UK Essays. (2018, November). Literature Review 2.0 Spending Behavior. Retrieved from ukessays:
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/cultural-studies/marketers-are-facing-great-
competition-cultural-studies-essay.php?vref=1
United States Census Bureau. (2018, September 12). Income and Poverty in the United States:
2017. Retrieved from United States Census Bureau:
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-263.html

Urbonavičius, S., & Pikturnienė, I. (2010). Consumers in the face of economic crisis: evidence from
two generations in Lithuania. Ekonomika ir vadyba, 15. Retrieved from
https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2010~1367178123347/

Valkeneers, G., & Vanhoomissen, T. (2012). Generations living their own life: The differences in
lifestyle and consumer behaviour between busters and baby boomers. Journal of
Customer Behaviour, 53-68. doi:10.1362/147539212X13286273975274

Villanueva, S. (2017). An Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Spending and Saving Habits of
College Students . Retrieved from Economics Student Theses and Capstone Projects:
http://creativematter.skidmore.edu/econ_studt_schol/36

Yoon, C., & Cole, C. (2010). Aging and Consumer Behavior. Handbook of Consumer Psychology.
doi:10.1016/B0-12-370870-2/00040-8

Zoovu. (2015, October 29). Women vs. men - Gender Differences in Purchase Decision Making.
Retrieved from Zoovu: https://zoovu.com/blog/women-vs-men-gender-differences-in-
purchase-decision-making/