Reveal Marketing Research study on the evolution of Romanians’ attitudes towards savings and investments. A third of Romanians would continue to save cash money „under the mattress’”
- 2 out of 3 Romanians experience difficulties in putting money aside for hard times. So, at the moment a third of Romanians fail to save and another third believe they will save less than before.
- If they managed to save money, 3 out of 10 Romanians would choose to keep their money under the mattress.
- 50% of Romanians intend to limit more and more the use of cash in their daily lives.
Reveal Marketing Research conducted a nationally representative study among urban residents, to find out the main attitudes of Romanians towards saving and investing in the current context which is characterized by lack of predictability and by the foreshadowing of a potential economic crisis.
In the current socio-economic context, marked by price increases and inflation, saving becomes a desideratum or requires more effort on the side of Romanians
If we refer to the current saving habits, it could be observed that 3 out of 10 Romanians fail to save money, especially people between 45 and 55 years (41%) and those with low incomes (38%).
In this respect, another third of Romanians believe that they will save less than before, being put in the situation of paying more attention to planning monthly budgets in order to save money. This perspective is more common for middle-income people (36%).
On the other hand, in 2022, young Romanians aged 18-24 have become more responsible when it comes to managing personal finances. In their case it can be noticed the highest percentage of those who believe that they will save more in the future (14%) compared to the total sample (8%).
If they manage to put money aside, half of Romanians would prefer to use the savings accounts offered by banks
Like last year, 51% of Romanians claim that if they managed to save 500 RON on a quarterly basis, they would prefer to save them in a bank account (deposit or savings account). In the case of people aged 18-35 and of those over 55, the percentage of those who prefer this saving strategy is significantly higher, recording scores of 54% and 59% respectively.
If for people over 55, the proportion of those who prefer to save by keeping their money in the bank remains similar compared to the previous year, in the case of young people up to 35 years the perception has changed significantly. In 2022, there is an increase of 21 percent (from 33% to 54%) regarding young people’s preference for putting their savings in a bank account.
28% of Romanians said they would prefer the traditional method of saving, which means keeping money under the mattress. 36% of low-income people opted for this option.
Investing the savings in order to protect and/ or multiply the money is becoming an increasingly attractive perspective for high-income Romanians.
The level of interest in stock market investments increases significantly in 2022 compared to 2021. If last year only 4% of Romanians were interested in investing in the stock market through a broker, now the share of those interested has reached 11%. This financial behavior is rather present in case of high-income people, 25% of them mentioned that they would prefer to invest their savings rather than saving money.
Romanians intend to limit the use of cash more and more
The traditional alternative of managing personal finances through cash seems to be on a continuous declining path and this general trend can be also observed in the case of Romanians’ preferences. Therefore, half of the Romanians in the urban area state that they will use less and less cash in their daily lives, preferring the comfort and flexibility offered by the use of the card or online banking.
The share of those who say that they will use less cash in the future is higher for people over the age of 45 (55%), middle-income people (57%) and significantly higher for those with high-incomes (66%).
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About Reveal Marketing Research
Reveal Marketing Research is a full-service market research company, specialized in market research, sociological studies, customer insight, business strategy, market development. With expertise in over 20 industries, Reveal Marketing Research believes that market research is the basis for the right decisions and brand positioning. Qualitative and quantitative solutions have been helping companies in Romania and Europe for 13 years.
Methodology: The Reveal Marketing Research study was conducted online between 20-26.04.2022, on a representative sample for the universe of people aged 18+, from urban areas. The sample size was 1005 respondents, and the maximum sampling error is +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence level.
*** The data belongs to the market research company Reveal Marketing Research and is used to put in context the future business studies for the company’s clients.