Toward Sustainable Financial Behavior: The Role of Financial Socialization and FinTech in Enhancing Green Financial Literacy
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Research Model, Research Questions, and Hypotheses
2.1. Financial Socialization, Financial Literacy, and FinTech Use
2.2. FinTech Usage and Green Financial Literacy
2.3. The Mediating Role of FinTech Use
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Research Design
3.2. Population and Sample
3.3. Data Collection Process
3.4. Measurement Tools
3.5. Data Analysis Method
4. Findings
4.1. Sociodemographic Findings
4.2. Measurement Model Assessment
4.3. Model Fit Values
4.4. Structural Model Results
5. Conclusions and Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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| Variable | Category | Frequency | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | 197 | 36.6 |
| Female | 342 | 63.4 | |
| Age | 18–30 | 419 | 77.7 |
| 31–42 | 72 | 13.4 | |
| 43–55 | 42 | 7.8 | |
| 56 and above | 6 | 1.1 | |
| Education | Primary | 34 | 6.3 |
| High School | 100 | 18.6 | |
| Associate’s Degree/Bachelor’s Degree | 359 | 66.6 | |
| Graduate | 46 | 8.5 | |
| Income ($) | 600–900 | 366 | 67.9 |
| 901–1200 | 71 | 13.2 | |
| 1201–1500 | 54 | 10.0 | |
| 1500 and above | 48 | 8.9 |
| Construct | Items | Loadings | CR | AVE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Awareness (FINFARK) | Q5–Q8 | 0.80–0.86 | 0.90 | 0.69 |
| Financial Experience (FINDEN) | Q9–Q12 | 0.78–0.87 | 0.91 | 0.71 |
| Financial Skill (FINBEC) | Q13–Q16 | 0.74–0.86 | 0.88 | 0.66 |
| Risk Perception (RISKAL) | Q17–Q19 | 0.75–0.81 | 0.83 | 0.62 |
| Financial Socialization (FINSOS) | Q24–Q29 | 0.66–0.86 | 0.91 | 0.62 |
| FinTech Usage (FINTEKK) | Q20–Q23 | 0.71–0.83 | 0.87 | 0.63 |
| Green Financial Literacy (YESFIN) | Q30–Q33 | 0.84–0.88 | 0.92 | 0.74 |
| Fit Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| χ2 (User Model) | 12.90 |
| Degrees of Freedom (df) | 3 |
| p | 0.002 |
| χ2 (Baseline Model) | 1311.00 |
| Degrees of Freedom (df) | 11 |
| p | <0.001 |
| SRMR | 0.011 |
| RMSEA | 0.078 |
| RMSEA 95% (Lower–Upper) | (0.038–0.124) |
| RMSEA p-close | 0.113 |
| CFI | 0.991 |
| TLI/NNFI | 0.966 |
| RNI | 0.991 |
| NFI | 0.989 |
| RFI | 0.958 |
| IFI | 0.991 |
| PNFI | 0.270 |
| Path | β | p |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Literacy (FINLIT) → FinTech Usage (FINTEKK) | 0.76 | <0.001 |
| Financial Socialization (FINSOS) → FinTech Usage (FINTEKK) | 0.23 | <0.001 |
| Financial Literacy (FINLIT) → Green Financial Literacy (YESFIN) | −0.13 | n.s. (p > 0.05) |
| Financial Socialization (FINSOS) → Green Financial Literacy (YESFIN) | 0.20 | <0.01 |
| FinTech Usage (FINTEKK) → Green Financial Literacy (YESFIN) | 0.88 | <0.001 |
| Path | Indirect Effect | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Literacy (FINLIT) → FinTech Usage (FINTEKK) → Green Financial Literacy (YESFIN) → | 0.66 | [0.42, 0.91] |
| Financial Socialization (FINSOS) → FinTech Usage (FINTEKK) → Green Financial Literacy (YESFIN) → | 0.20 | [0.11, 0.32] |
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Soydaş, Ş.S.; Özbek, A.; Çam, A.V.; Radulescu, M.; Alofaysan, H. Toward Sustainable Financial Behavior: The Role of Financial Socialization and FinTech in Enhancing Green Financial Literacy. Sustainability 2026, 18, 4621. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18104621
Soydaş ŞS, Özbek A, Çam AV, Radulescu M, Alofaysan H. Toward Sustainable Financial Behavior: The Role of Financial Socialization and FinTech in Enhancing Green Financial Literacy. Sustainability. 2026; 18(10):4621. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18104621
Chicago/Turabian StyleSoydaş, Şafak Sönmez, Adem Özbek, Alper Veli Çam, Magdalena Radulescu, and Hind Alofaysan. 2026. "Toward Sustainable Financial Behavior: The Role of Financial Socialization and FinTech in Enhancing Green Financial Literacy" Sustainability 18, no. 10: 4621. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18104621
APA StyleSoydaş, Ş. S., Özbek, A., Çam, A. V., Radulescu, M., & Alofaysan, H. (2026). Toward Sustainable Financial Behavior: The Role of Financial Socialization and FinTech in Enhancing Green Financial Literacy. Sustainability, 18(10), 4621. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18104621

