Determinants of Universiti Kuala Lumpur Students’ Spending Habits: A Conceptual Paper

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a big challenge to the world economy. The pandemic has forced governments to implement lockdowns whether partly or in full, and eventually impact the economy of the countries. During the predicament periods, the researchers have observed factories shut down, manufacturing slowed down, offices working virtually, millions of people losing their jobs, and countries experiencing financial crises apart from the loss of lives due to COVID-19. Recently, the Department of Statistics Malaysia announced an increase in the consumer price index by 3.4 per cent in June 2022. As a result, many Malaysians are affected financially due to increased consumer prices, particularly students, knowing that life and current financial needs at universities are challenging. Poor financial ability can lead to debt and overspending, which is the main cause of this condition. Given that university students are the country’s future leaders, the researchers decided to focus on this group of people. Hence, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework concerning whether inflation, the Pandemic COVID-19, financial literacy, and other factors: gender, family background, academic course, and financial aid have a significant impact on spending habits among students at the University of Kuala Lumpur. The quantitative analysis will be conducted by distributing questionnaires to the respondents using a random sampling technique.