ZMET Research: Money and Savings
D2D partnered with professionals from Olson Zaltman Associates to conduct two research studies using the ZMET technique. With a sample of low-to-moderate income participants, these studies examined:
- Thoughts and feelings about money and savings;
- Thoughts and feelings about children’s financial needs for the future.
The two studies offered the opportunity to explore a few broad demographic characteristics posited to influence savings attitudes. In Study One, differences between males and female participants as well as parent and non-parent participants were examined. Building on this work, Study Two focused exclusively on female parents. The topical framework developed for Study One included the following:
- Study participants were asked to choose six to eight pictures that described their thoughts and feelings about money and savings.
- During the interview, participants were asked to:
- Imagine a character—a person or institution—that they would trust for advice about money. What type of person would they imagine?
- Imagine a character—again, a person or institution—that they would not trust for advice about money. What type of person would they imagine?
- Consider which of these characters they would be more likely to relate well to. With whom would they prefer to spend time?
A summary of the findings from this study can be found here. The topical framework developed for Study Two included the following:
- Study participants were asked to choose six to eight pictures that described their thoughts and feelings about their children’s financial needs for the future.
- During the interview, participants were asked to:
- Imagine a character or person who saves money. What type of person would they imagine?
- Imagine a character or person who does not save money. What type of person would they imagine?
- Consider which of these characters they would relate to more easily. With whom would they prefer to spend time?
A summary of the findings from this study can be found here.