A study to determine investment tool purchase and consumption expenditure behaviors of financial consumers in Turkey during economic stability and crisis

The main purpose of this study is to determine the behavior of financial consumers in Turkey in economic crisis and stability environments and the factors driving these behaviors. In the study, the answer to the question of whether social benefit or individual benefit is at the forefront of investment tool selection was sought. In addition, determining the tendency of consumers to consumption expenditure in an economic crisis environment is among the other objectives of the study. Mixed research method is preferred in order to achieve the specified objectives. Within the framework of this method, a scenario that reflects the economic crisis environment has been created. With the help of the scenario, qualitative research was carried out on financial consumers to determine the behavior of purchasing investment tools in an economic crisis environment. The results obtained from the qualitative research were firstly compared with the developments in the currency crisis in Turkey in 2018, which was the inspiration for the study, and similarities were revealed. In addition, at this stage, it was determined that the choice of investment tool was collected in three dimensions: risk, trust and benefit. In the light of the opinions taken in order to carry the research to quantitative research, statements were formed to represent these dimensions and the second stage, quantitative dimension, was introduced. Data from all regions of the country was obtained with the help of the electronic survey form created. Within the framework of the data obtained, validity and reliability analysis of the scales was carried out first. Subsequent hypotheses were tested by various methods (Non-parametric Tests, Variance Analysis, Structural Equation Modeling). In the environment of economic stability, it has been determined that the most preferred investment tools of financial consumers are gold, foreign currency, real estate and private pension, respectively. It has been concluded that investment tool purchasing behaviors differ in the environment of economic stability due to various demographic factors. It has been revealed that investment tool purchasing behaviors differ in the economic crisis environment due to various demographic factors and that the level of religiosity has an impact on investment vehicle purchasing behavior, especially in the dimension of risk, trust and benefit. As the level of religiosity increased, it was determined that financial consumers took less risk in the choice of investment tools, and in the benefit dimension, the preference for investment tools for social benefit increased. As the income level increases, the preference for investment tools for the individual benefit can be considered as an important result of the study. Consumption expenditure behaviors are collected in four dimensions: saving, avoiding luxury consumption, turning to discounted products and credit card usage. In terms of various demographic factors, consumption expenditure behaviors in these four dimensions were found to differ. In addition, it was found that the tendency to save as the level of religiosity increased, and the level of credit card use decreased. As age progressed, it was concluded that consumers tended to save more in the environment of economic crisis, avoid luxury consumption and use credit cards. As income levels increased, consumers tended to save less and avoid lower levels of luxury consumption in the midst of an economic crisis.