Consumer finance/household finance: the definition and scope

PurposeThe purpose of this literature review paper is to define consumer finance, describe the scope of consumer finance and discuss its future research directions.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, consumer finance is used as a synonym of household finance. Consumers refer to individuals and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:China finance review international 2021-01, Vol.11 (1), p.1-25
Main Authors: Xiao, Jing Jian, Tao, Chunsheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bank technology
Behavior
Behavioral economics
Borrowing
Consumer behavior
Consumers
Consumption
Economists
Financial institutions
Financial services
Handbooks
Households
Mobile commerce
Pareto optimum
Researchers
Science
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Summary:PurposeThe purpose of this literature review paper is to define consumer finance, describe the scope of consumer finance and discuss its future research directions.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, consumer finance is used as a synonym of household finance. Consumers refer to individuals and families. After defining the term “consumer finance,” we conducted a critical review of consumer finance as an interdisciplinary research field in terms of money managing, insuring, borrowing and saving/investing. Future research directions are also discussed.FindingsThis paper discusses similarities and differences among several terms such as consumer finance, household finance, personal finance, family finance and behavioral finance. The paper also reviewed key studies on consumer financial behavior around four key financial functions, namely, money management, insurance, loan and saving/investment and several nontraditional topics such as fintech and financial capability/literacy. The paper also introduced several datasets of consumer finance commonly used in the United States and China.Originality/valueThis paper clarified several similar terms related to consumer finance and sorted out the diverse literature of consumer finance in multiple disciplines such as economics, finance and consumer science, which provide a foundation for generating more fruitful research in consumer finance in the future.
ISSN:2044-1398
2044-1401
DOI:10.1108/CFRI-04-2020-0032