ONLINE LEARNING AND FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING: A PILOT STUDY

Geralyn Miller
Lawrence A. Kuznar
Maneesh Sharma
Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne
ABSTRACT
The fundamental purpose of this study is to understand the utilization of financial education tools and resources by American families by employing an ethnographic methodology. An ethnographic approach was used in which subjects were visited where they conducted their online financial information seeking (mostly their homes). As well, semi-structured interviews were conducted concerning their financial behavior, their financial information needs, and how they used online sources to meet those information needs.

The study emphasized what subjects said about their financial experiences and information seeking, and made minimum assumptions about what would matter, providing a ground-up view of the realities of online financial information use among middle class Americans. Six middle income families ($35,000 – $100,000), ranging from young professionals to retirees were interviewed. Our findings show that although online sources of financial information were used and found to be useful, there was clear theme of concern over internet security. This concern was more acute for older subjects than younger subjects. The study also showed that subject use more than online resources, they also made use of friends and family resources.