Young Consumer’s Irrational Motives of Retail Borrowing

The purpose of the research is to investigate young customers’ irrational motives for retail borrowing. In addition, the intention to retail borrowing has also been examined. A convenience sampling method was employed. Self-administered and online survey questionnaires were distributed among 236 university students in Western Australia. The return yielded 171 usable questionnaires, the data from which were analyzed using SPSS 22. The findings support the influence of anomia, thrill-seeking, and status consumption on the attitude toward retail borrowing. In addition, a strong positive relationship between attitude toward retail borrowing and retail borrowing intention has been found. Previous studies have mainly focused on the rational motives of retail borrowing in the UK and USA. This study incorporates the irrational motives into the construct from Australian perspective.