Moderation Effect of Lifestyle on the Relationship between Financial Knowledge and Attitude on Financial Management Behavior among Young Adults

Young adults have been characterized as significantly reliant on the internet and gadgets. They spend much time online and on social media. Many are also stereotyped as having extravagant lifestyles and wasting money. These phenomena imply how they behave in financial management. Financial knowledge and attitude development shape young adults’ behavior toward money. This study aimed to examine the roles of young adults' lifestyles in moderating the relationship between financial knowledge and attitude and their management behavior toward money. This study involved 400 young adults in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, selected using purposive sampling. Moderating regression analysis with a structural equation model was employed to analyze the data. The results showed that lifestyle significantly moderates the effect of financial knowledge and attitude on financial management behavior. Lifestyle strengthens those relationships. Furthermore, financial knowledge, attitude, and lifestyle positively and significantly affect young adults’ management behavior toward money. This study concludes that young adults must make prudent and smart financial decisions based on their financial knowledge, attitudes, and lifestyles to attain financial well-being. This finding implies that financial knowledge should become compulsory literacy for students to deal with the trending consumerism lifestyle to build their management behavior.