FINANCIAL AWARENESS AS A CONDITION FOR RATIONAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Abstract

The article discusses the influence of financial awareness level of the population of individual municipalities of St. Petersburg city and their irrational motives on the rational choice of goods. It is assumed that awareness of basic economic categories and understanding of market laws determine the individuals’ competent use of the available funds. It is emphasized that the level of financial awareness of the population is quite low. The concept of rational and irrational consumer behavior is determined, modern theoretical concepts of rational economic behavior and their specific features are also considered. The author specifies that the choice of an item and the decision to purchase it depend not only on economic factors, but also by non-economic ones the consumer’s preferences, their habits, fashion and others. Based on this, the assumption is made on the interdependence of the financial awareness level, the subjective reasons and the rationality of the choice of goods. A hypothesis is provided of the impact of financial illiteracy, including the inability to rationally assess income and costs, and the individual’s irrational economic actions on their economic security. The following describes the purpose, methods and techniques of empirical research of the given factors and their transformations influenced by the consumer financial awareness. The sample included 100 people living in Petergof town, “Sosnovaya Polyana” and “Admiralty District” municipalities in St. Petersburg, 45% were men. The impact of such variables as: a) financial awareness level and b) irrational consumption indicator is assessed. The research findings demonstrate that the consumers’ financial awareness level affects the rationality of the choice of goods, as well as the strategy of saving and accumulation. The results obtained actualize the need to improve the financial awareness of the population of municipalities in terms of consumer behavior, including in the context of the developing digital (internet) economy of the Russian regions.