Household behavior in practicing mental budgeting based on the theory of planned behavior

Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) suggests that planned behavior is determined by behavioral intention. Despite extensive literature based on TPB, household mental budgeting behavior explained by TPB is underexplored. The current study empirically tested TPB factors in light of mental budgeting behavior. The hypothesized model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM was employed using a Likert-scaled questionnaire administered to 275 households. The results indicate that mental budgeting attitude and mental budgeting past behavior strongly predict mental budgeting intention, and mental budgeting intention predicts mental budgeting behavior. Further, mental budgeting intention partially mediates the relationship between mental budgeting attitude and mental budgeting behavior, and mental budgeting past behavior and mental budgeting behavior. This study contributes to the academic interest in theoretical progress in household behavior.