New study reveals students and their relationship with money

• Millennials go green – 81 percent of South African student respondents indicated that it matters if a retail store has a green policy in place
• Only 11 percent indicated they would utilize online shopping, with over 80 percent of the respondents indicating that they prefer to shop in malls
• 60 percent of the students indicated that they belong to a loyalty program.

Johannesburg, 23 January 2017 – Student Brands today launched a new research poll to better understand South African students and their relationship with money.

According to Daryl Bartkunsky, CEO of Student Brands, a leader in student marketing and communication, “South African students have savvy perspectives when it comes to their money and how they spend it”.

According to the Student Brands ‘Students and Their Money’ Poll 2017, transactions in the student space are primarily driven by cash, with 94 percent of transactions either taking place via cash or debit card. With 62 percent of the base holding accounts with financial institutions there is room to provide credit based on the scores that are held with the credit bureaus for these individuals.

The research also found that students exhibit different loyalty behavior based on how they access funds for spending sprees.

Store Account holders are more driven by the personality of the brand, while cash spenders and Debit cardholders are more concerned with affordability of their purchase whereas Credit Card holders have more focus on the quality of the products for the money they spend.

Overall students are less concerned of the level of service that they receive and are more concerned about either how to make their money stretch further how to get more for what they spend.

Proudly South African – While 81 percent of the respondents indicated that they would try to purchase Proudly South African, only 28 percent of them said that they would only purchase South African goods.

Store account holders buck the trend in terms of being proudly South African with 60 percent of the respondents saying that they would look for locally produced goods. Debit card holders tend to be swayed more by price than where the goods are made.

Retailer Loyalty – Students are split 50/50 as to whether loyalty to a specific retailer provides them with better bang for their buck rather than hunting for the best price.

Where do they shop – Over 80 percent of the respondents indicated that they preferred to shop in malls, while only percent 11 percent indicating that they would utilize online shopping.

Students and Rewards Programmes – Only 37 percent of students said that they did not know what rewards programs entailed or that they did not below to a rewards program, over 60 percent of the students indicated that they belonged to a loyalty program and were actively redeeming points earned on their purchases.

Student budgets –  Living on student budget isn’t an easy ride.  Over 90 percent of the respondents indicated that they had their own source of income and were responsible for making their own purchases, students indicated that they were spending on average R 3000 per month on goods and services. Taking the average student population of 940,000 this indicates that they contribute R33 billion to the local economy per annum.

Millennials go Green – 81 percent of the respondents indicated that it mattered to them if store they were shopping from had a green policy in place and were taking active measures to manage their carbon footprint or impact on the environment. Students are aware that they will be responsible for cleaning up problems that have been created for them by their forefathers. They are inclined to support a retailer that is aware of this and taking active steps to make a difference to their future.