Consumer behaviour – Prosper Canada Learning Hub

Artificial intelligence and investor behaviour

Focus groups –Understanding Canadian investors

Overspending and Mental Health: Your Guide to Improving Your Financial Health

Social influencers and your finances

Just because someone has a lot of followers doesn’t mean their advice is right for you. Social media influencers are increasingly sharing information about investing. This can be done by ordinary people or by celebrities who have taken an interest in a specific product or investment. They are often called “finfluencers” — financial influencers whose media accounts are focused on money and investing. This article will outline some questions to ask yourself before you choose to invest.

Pilot study: Buy now, pay later services in Canada

A key component of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s (FCAC’s) mandate is to monitor and evaluate trends and emerging issues that may have an impact on consumers of financial products and services. Technological innovations in financial services and shifting consumer behaviours have resulted in a steady increase in retail e-commerce sales over the past several years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on how consumers make retail purchases. Retail e-commerce sales reached record levels during the pandemic. This has further contributed to the proliferation of buy now, pay later (BNPL) services in Canada.

101 solutions for inclusive wealth building

Having wealth, or a family’s assets minus their debts, is important not just for the rich— everyone needs wealth to thrive. Yet building the amount of wealth needed to thrive is a major challenge. Nearly 13 million U.S. households have negative net worth. Millions more are low wealth; they do not have the assets or liquidity needed to maintain financial stability and invest in themselves in the present, nor are they on track to accumulate the amount of wealth they will need to have financial security in retirement.
Together, these groups represent at least half of all U.S. households.

This report examines what it will take to create truly shared prosperity in the United States. It is focused on solutions that would grow the wealth of households in the bottom half of the wealth distribution, and it explores reparative approaches to building the wealth of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC).

Encouraging tax filing at virtual clinics

In 2020, The Behavioural Insights Team partnered with United Way and Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre to develop and test an email intervention to increase participation in tax filing clinics. An "active choice" email (sample email) significantly increased response rate and attendance to virtual clinics.

Make Change that Counts: National Financial Literacy Strategy 2021-2026

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s (FCAC’s) mandate is to protect Canadian financial consumers and strengthen financial literacy.

The National Strategy is a 5-year plan to create a more accessible, inclusive, and effective financial ecosystem that supports diverse Canadians in meaningful ways. The National Strategy is focused on how financial literacy stakeholders can reduce barriers, catalyze action, and work together, to collectively help Canadians build financial resilience.

Investing and The COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey of Canadian Investors

The Investor Office conducted this study to further our understanding of the experiences and behaviours of retail investors during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The study explored several topics including the financial preparedness, savings behaviour, financial situations, changing preference, and trading activity of retail investors. Key findings include that 32 per cent of investors have experienced a decline in their financial situation during the pandemic while 16 per cent have experienced an improvement. Half of investors have not done any trading during the pandemic, but of those who have been trading, 63 per cent have increased their holdings.

Tax Time: An opportunity to Start Small and Save Up

This paper provides a description of how having liquid savings contributes to people’s financial stability and resiliency, and the unique opportunity that tax time offers to begin saving for the short and longer term. Starting to save or continuing to save when receiving a tax refund may lead to longer term financial well-being.

This paper also provides a few examples of how Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs creatively used Bureau tools, resources and technical assistance to encourage savings as well as some of the results they reported. It provides insights from a subgroup of the programs in the cohort that collected additional information from consumers on their intent to save, the various types of accounts into which they saved, and the goals they were striving for by saving. Finally, this paper offers recommendations on some strategies that can be employed to increase people’s interest and commitment to saving during the tax preparation process.

Behavioural insights: key concepts, applications and regulatory considerations

There are numerous factors that influence the decisions that people make. Behavioural insights (BI) recognizes this and, through a combination of psychology, economic and more recently other behavioural research, examines how people are often neither deliberate nor rational in their decisions in the way that traditional models, strategies and policies assume.

Behavioural insights recognize how people actually behave versus traditional economic and market theory of people as rational actors. This report discusses how leading practitioners and regulators around the world are using behavioural insights to address issues in capital markets and improve outcomes for investors and market participants.

How to really build financial capability

Recent years have seen an explosion in interventions designed to improve financial outcomes of participants. Yet on-the-ground evidence suggests that not all financial education programs are equally successful at achieving this aim.

This paper examines the difference between interventions that work, and those than do not. It attempts to answer the question: “How do you actually build financial capability?” In doing so, we aim to help interested parties enhance the effectiveness of their programs and policies by providing them with evidence-based recommendations to drive positive outcomes in participants.

Human Insights Tools & Resources

Human insights are used when designing programs and improving services through understanding clients’ hidden preferences, environment factors and behaviors. The Human Insights Tools from Prosperity Now are intended to take you through the process of discovering opportunities for innovation from clients’ point of view, designing solutions to meet those needs, and testing your ideas to ensure they bring about the needed change.

Tools and resources are presented for each of the discover, design, and test phases.

Financial Health Index: 2019 Findings and 3-Year Trends Report

This report explores consumer financial health, wellness/ stress and resilience for Canadians across a range of financial health indicators, demographics and all provinces excluding Quebec. This report provides topline results from the 2019 Financial Health Index study and three-year trends from 2017 to 2019.

Consumer Perspectives on Fintech

This brief raises consumer perspectives on financial technology (fintech), and offers guidance for fintech developers on how to best serve low- to moderate-income clients.

Money Circle toolkit

Financial decisions are influenced by our own personal feelings and attitudes around money, and by the feelings, attitudes, and actions by our family and friends. This CFPB toolkit offers financial education practitioners three tools (Money Choices, Money Styles, and Money Network), each with a brief, interactive exercise, to initiate conversations about the feelings and personal relationships that shape financial choices.

Managing spending: Ideas for financial educators

As financial educators know, making day-to-day decisions on spending money is one of the biggest challenges consumers face in keeping their financial lives in order. Many people find it difficult to manage their household finances on a daily basis, let alone over the long term.

This brief from the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection identifies a few ideas to explore causes of over-spending and ideas to help prevent it.

Consumer Insights on Managing Spending

The CFPB conducted research on consumer challenges in tracking spending and keeping to a budget. The research found that consumers aspire to manage their spending but for many reasons, many consumers spend more than intended and sometimes have\ difficulty in staying within their budgets. In addition, we found that although most people would like to use budgets and plans, they often don’t use them to guide spending decisions in the moment.

Budgeting and tracking spending are often considered to be overwhelming or too much of a hassle, and even those consumers who have a budget generally do not benchmark their spending to their budget frequently or regularly.

Canadian Millenial Social Values Study

A major national survey conducted in 2016 reveals a bold portrait of Canada’s Millennials (those born between 1980 and 1995), that for the first time presents the social values of this generation, and the distinct segments that help make sense of the different and often contradictory stereotypes that so frequently are applied to today’s young adults.

Key findings from the survey explore Millennials' relationship with money, education, work and career interests, voting turnout, and engagement with social justice.

Building consumer financial health: The role of financial institutions and FinTech

In this video presentation Rob Levy from the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) examines the role of financial institutions in building consumer financial health.

This presentation was given at the Prosper Canada Policy Research Symposium on March 9, 2018.

Read the slide deck that accompanies this presentation.

Pour lire les diapositives de la présentation, cliquez ici.

View the full video playlist of all presentations from this symposium.

The Impact of Credit Counseling on Consumer Outcomes: Evidence from a National Demonstration Program

Handout 9-12: Consumerism resources

This is the resources handout for Module 9: Consumerism, from the Prosper Canada Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

2017 Financially Underserved Market Size Study

CFSI presents their 2017 Financially Underserved Market Size Study that illustrates the growing opportunity to address the needs of financially underserved consumers and identifies significant trends driving marketplace evolution and growth.

Handout 9-13: Consumerism glossary

This handout is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Glossary of terms relating to consumerism.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Handout 9-8: Dealing with consumer problems

This handout is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Examples of how to deal with consumer problems.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Handout 9-7: Common frauds and scams

This handout is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Common consumer frauds and scams to look out for.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Handout 9-5: Cell phone information

This handout is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Information about cell phone plans and what is involved when you purchase one.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Handout 9-3: Smart shopping tips

This handout is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Smart shopping tips.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Handout 9-2: Advertising techniques and sales tactics

This handout is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Explanation of different advertising and sales techniques.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Activity sheet 9-11: Consumerism goal setting

This activity sheet is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Setting goals related to consumerism.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Activity sheet 9-10: Rate your financial knowledge, part 2

This activity sheet is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Use this quiz to rate your financial knowledge.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Activity sheet 9-9: Complaint letter

This activity sheet is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. A template for writing a consumer complaint letter.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Activity sheet 9-6: Cell phone checklist

This activity sheet is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. A checklist of questions to answer when you are getting a cell phone.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Activity sheet 9-4: Find the better deal

This activity sheet is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Figure out which item is the better deal by calculating the unit cost.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Activity sheet 9-1: Consumer quiz

This activity sheet is from Module 9 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. What kind of consumer are you? Take the quiz.

To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.

Insights to impact: Behavioural science

Do States Benefit From Restricting Safety-Net Eligibility Based on Wealth?

This brief examines the findings of three studies—one from The Pew Charitable Trusts and two commissioned by Pew with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation—that looked at the effect of asset limits on family finances and state and program costs and obligations.