The effects of financial socialization and financial literacy on saving behaviour of young working adults with self-efficacy as moderator : a study in main cities of Sabah, Malaysia

The uptrend of Malaysian household debt is proven based on statistics of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from Bank Negara Malaysia. The statistics shows that Malaysian GOP have Increased from 57% in 2002 to 87.9% in 2014. Malaysia Department Insolvency have released the statistics of bankruptcy Malaysian based on age in 2012 and the results shows young working adults ages between 35 to 44 years old score the highest marks with 7164 persons. The main purpose of this study is to examine the possible determinants that encourage saving behaviour among young working adults in Malaysia especially In Sabah. Theory of Social learning Theory and Life Cycle Theory were used as the foundation of this study. Through a survey method, 385 questionnaires were distributed physically to Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau and Lahad Datu. This study used Partial least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) version 2.0 for hypothesis testing. Findings of this study that obtained by using Smart PLS software found that parents influence, peers influence, mass media influence and financial literacy has significant positive relationship with saving behaviours of young working adults. This study also found out that self-efficacy does not have moderate effects on the relationship between these study determinants [parents influence, peers influence, mass media influence and financial literacy] and saving behaviours. The findings have theoretical and managerial implications and suggestion for future studies also been provided in order to overcome the limitations of current study