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Abstract
This study aimed to assess U.S. consumer intention to save, store, and account for the coins received as change from a cash transaction. Using a behavioral economics framework and applying Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (1985), this research provides a template to capture, observe, and analyze consumer perceptions about and behavior towards loose change or other similar byproduct decisions. Following procedures prescribed by Icek Ajzen (2006) and (2013), a questionnaire was developed for the critical constructs used to predict consumer intention to covet loose change. A sample population (n= 490) of adults residing in the United States participated in the study.
The study examined behavioral beliefs and attitudes towards the targeted behavior, normative beliefs and the resultant subjective norm, control beliefs, and the ensuing perceptions about control. These core concepts combine to form consumer intention to covet loose change, a byproduct decision of a prior choice to pay with cash. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the analytical power of the research model’s constructs for predicting the target intention to covet.
The statistically supported results indicate that consumers’ intention towards loose change is dictated by an underlying belief system of transient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs. Together or in any combination, these fundamental beliefs determine post-purchase intention towards the coins received as change, fortifying the predictive power of the Theory of Planned Behavior (1985). The intention (I) to covet loose change (R2 = .67, p2= .19, p2 = .30, p2 = .04, p<.05).
The implications of this study will benefit consumers, researchers, and policymakers alike as the societal flow towards cashless payments intensifies.