Music preferences and young people's attitudes towards spending and saving

Abstract

We aimed to find patterns among young people's music preferences in relation to their attitudes towards saving or spending money. Previous research found that certain music genres (e.g. rap and dance) are associated with impulsive behaviour and a pleasure-seeking lifestyle. Other music genres (e.g. classical and oldies) are associated with more adult-approved lifestyles, such as doing well in school. Our hypotheses predicted that those who regularly listened to ‘adult-approved’ music would be likely to save money. In contrast, youths who listened to ‘anti-authority’ music were expected to be more likely to spend their money impulsively. Using data collected from 178 individuals aged 14–24 through self-report surveys, principal component analysis was used to group music genres that measure the same underlying preference. Then regression analysis was applied to examine the relationship between music preferences and attitudes towards saving or spending money. Results revealed that participants who listened to hip-hop, rap, rhythm and blues, dance, house, electronic, industrial, techno and trance (many are anti-authority types of music) reported a tendency to spend money. Those who favoured classical, opera, musicals, big band, world music, oldies, contemporary rock and alternative music (many are adult-approved types of music) were more likely to save money.

Keywords:

• music
• leisure
• consumption

Acknowledgements

This study was partially supported by a research grant from Athabasca University. The authors wish to thank Graeme Ash, Ian Brittain, Geoff Cassidy, Lindzey Eakins, Stephen Horton and Johanna Kutney for their research assistance. Appreciation also goes to John Watson, who reviewed an earlier version of this paper. Craig Atkinson, Alex Duggan and Matt Reed have made valuable suggestions. The authors are responsible for all remaining errors and/or oversights.