MARKET ANALYSIS OF STUDENT’S ATTITUDES ABOUT CREDIT CARDS

The attitudes of students to the use of credit cards is a complex subject, one that when measured needs to combine both demographic and attitudinal data to provide a complete picture of the topic. For this specific research project, fifty students, 25 of which were men and 25 women, were interviewed, and their responses entered into SPSS Version 14 and analyzed using frequency distributions and cross-tabulations. The result is a report that provides a fascinating glimpse into the attitudes of students with regard to credit cards. Highlights from the report include the following: • The marketing messages from credit card companies are being very effective in pushing emergency uses of credit cards as the rationalization for giving one to a student away at school. What follows however is spending on many other items apart from those that would be considered necessary for an emergency. • Women, in general, understand credit and know the interest rates of their credit cards with much greater frequency than men. • The need to feel in control and the need to have their egos gratified are two of the strongest reasons why students continue to accumulate credit cards. The higher the balance for graduate students the greater the feeling of control. • Tracking expenses online is split between those students with 3 cards and those with 7 or more. • 14 % of students in the sample have a credit card due to their parents ’ thinking they need one for emergencies, yet have their parents paying a monthly bill at the same time. • The majority of students feel that credit cards are Ok to be used for meeting daily living expenses and making ends meet