PIGGYVEST'S SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISEMENTS ON FINANCIAL LITERACY AND MONEY MANAGEMENT SKILLS OF BABCOCK UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES

Abstract Lack of financial knowledge and skills among youths amidst the current state of Nigeria’s economic recession and hike in interest rate around the globe poses a significant barrier to the economic growth and development of the nation. This study sought to investigate how PiggyVest social media advertisements on financial literacy influence the money management skills of Babcock University undergraduates. The study is hinged on the Theory of Planned Behavior and the media dependency theory. This study adopted a quantitative and qualitative research design. Four hundred and eight respondents (408) were elected through the multi-staged sampling technique. Data gotten from PiggyVest YouTube data base was analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. The findings of the study revealed that exposure to PiggyVest’s social media advertisements on financial literacy has a positive and significant influence money management skills of undergraduates (R2= 0.429, β= 0.655, t = 17.451, p<0.05). Additionally, the findings showed that the financial attitude of Babcock University undergraduates was positively and significantly influenced by PiggyVest’s social media advertisements on financial literacy(R2= 0.010, β= 0.100, t = 2.018, p<0.05). Social media can be seen as a great and useful tool for increasing financial literacy and promoting good money management skills among youths. Therefore, financial Institutions, government and schools should make use of social media when trying to effectively reach and educate young people about societal matters especially the financial sector. Keywords: Financial Attitude, Financial Knowledge, Financial Literacy, Money Management.