Household Characteristics and Saving Motives: Application of Multinomial Logistic Regression to Examine Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory

The main objective of this study was to examine the likelihood of household savings in relation to their characteristics, and analyze whether households move to upper level in hierarchy of saving motives as described in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory. This research used primary data by using a questionnaire with six categories of saving motives—daily expenses, emergency motives, major purchases, retirement, children, and investment. Multinomial logistic regression was used to test the relationship between household characteristics and saving motives. The results indicate that households with different characteristics save for different motives, and a change in household characteristics causes movement in the hierarchy of saving motives. Lower income households save for lower level needs i.e. daily expenses, while high income households save for higher needs such as investment. Savings for children was reported as the most important saving motive and existed in almost all income groups. Results have implications for policy makers and professional in behavioral finance.