Who has a cushion? The interactive effect of social exclusion and gender on fixed savings

• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Author: Lu Yang,Yuhuang Zheng,Rui Chen
• Date: 01 December 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12330

SPECIAL ISSUE

Who has a cushion? The interactive effect of

social exclusion and gender on fixed savings

Lu Yang

1

| Yuhuang Zheng

2

| Rui Chen

3

1

Department of Management, College of

Economics and Management, Nanjing

Agricultural University, Nanjing, China

2

Department of Marketing, School of

Economics and Management, Tsinghua

University, Beijing, China

3

Department of Marketing, School of

Management, Xiamen University,

Xiamen, China

Correspondence

Rui Chen, Department of Marketing,

School of Management, Xiamen

University, Xiamen, China.

Email: rc2015@xmu.edu.cn

Funding information

Fundamental Research Funds for the

Central Universities, Grant/Award

Number: 20720191058; National Natural

Science Foundation of China, Grant/

Award Numbers: 71602168, 72072148

Abstract

Saving behavior affects both personal welfare and

national economies. This study examined the effect of

social exclusion, a breakdown of social relationship, on

fixed savings, which is especially pertinent to Asians.

By considering the cushion hypothesis theory and the

gender disparity in social connectedness, this study

proposes that men and women display different fixed

savings behavior in response to social exclusion. In par-

ticular, social exclusion (vs. acceptance) decreases

men's fixed savings intention, as isolation stimulates

them to expect less social connectedness, which means

it is hard to get social support and, thus, heightens their

need for resource liquidity. In contrast, social exclusion

(vs. acceptance) does not affect women's fixed savings

intention because women do not anticipate less social

connectedness due to social exclusion. Three experi-

ments provide convergent support for this proposition

and verify the theoretical process of the expected social

connectedness, coupled with the need for resource

liquidity. The alternative explanations for self-efficacy,

power, control, and mood are also discussed.

KEYWORDS

fixed savings, gender difference, social exclusion

Savings play an important role in both personal well-being and national economic growth. They

improve households' living standards, act as a buffer against emergency expenses, increase

Received: 20 April 2019 Revised: 7 July 2020 Accepted: 21 August 2020

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12330

Copyright 2020 by The American Council on Consumer Interests

1398 J Consum Aff. 2021;55:1398–1415.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca

investments, and stimulate economic growth (Thornton, 2009). Research has found that various

factors affect saving behavior, including social and economic conditions (e.g., recession and

national culture) (Healy, 2009; Griskevicius et al., 2012), and information architecture

(e.g., time and goal framing) (Ülkümen and Cheema, 2011). Prior findings also suggest that

social relationships (e.g., social support networks) have a significant influence on saving (Falco

and Bulte, 2011), because social support is a reliable avenue through which to access the finan-

cial resource (Hsee and Weber, 1999).

This study adds to the literature by examining a novel factor in social relationships—the

breakdown of social connectedness, namely, social exclusion, which is defined as being alone,

isolated, or ostracized by others, either explicitly or implicitly (Williams et al., 2000). People

often encounter social exclusion in a high inequality context (e.g., Asian societies) due to the

huge and increasing gap between rich and poor, or rural and urban (Lachman and

Weaver, 1998), for example, workers from rural areas are often excluded by urban inhabitants

in China (Liu, 2019); for another example, lower income and lower strata Indonesians often

experienced social exclusion (Tadjoeddin, 2019). Furthermore, as social relationship is more

important for people from collectivistic culture like East Asians (e.g., Korea and Japan) than

individualistic European-Americans, Asians are more vulnerable and sensitive to social exclu-

sion (Garris et al., 2011; Sato et al., 2014).

As the cushion hypothesis claimed (Hsee and Weber, 1999), people with more social connect-

edness have a “cushion”which makes it easier to obtain financial support from others, whereas

people with less connectedness do not have a “cushion,”thus making it harder to obtain finan-

cial support. With social exclusion, the feeling of isolation and low social connectedness

(Williams et al., 2000) may cause people to consider savings decisions from an “individualistic”

perspective. However, it should be noted that men and women might respond to social exclu-

sion differently; as previous studies have demonstrated, in the face of threats, there is a disparity

between the genders' activation of expected social connectedness and social support (Barbee

et al., 1993; Benenson et al., 2011). This paper is thus devoted to examining the effect of social

exclusion on saving behavior, the mechanism, and the differences between men and women in

this regard.

In general, there are two types of savings accounts on the market, one is called fixed or long-

term savings, and the other is variable or short-term savings (Browne et al., 2003). The funda-

mental difference between them is about the liquidity, which is defined as the resource that can

be quickly reallocated at a low cost (Amihud and Mendelson, 1991). Specifically, the fixed sav-

ings are illiquid and cannot be redeemed before the contract years, namely, maturity (e.g., the

401[k]-retirement savings), while the holder of variable savings can withdraw the money at any

time, without a penalty (Browne et al., 2003; Sherraden et al., 2004; Howlett et al., 2008).

Throughout this paper, our primary focus was on fixed savings.

Using three experiments with various samples, we provide convergent evidence for the

effect of social exclusion on fixed saving behavior, demonstrate the underlying mechanism, and

rule out the alternative explanations. In doing so, this study contributes to the theories in con-

sumer literature. First, it enriches the literature on the impact of social relationships on fixed

savings by introducing a novel antecedent factor, namely, social exclusion. Second, it provides

insight into the differences in expected social connectedness displayed by men and women in

the face of a social threat. Our findings have unique implication for East Asian countries where

social relationship is important and affects saving (Hsee and Weber, 1999), but where the eco-

nomic and society reforms make many people feel social exclusion (Liu, 2019).

YANG ET AL.1399