Introduction/Objective: this study examines how risk communication (balanced vs. unbalanced information), product type (basic, mid-range, high-end), and consumer income level (low, middle, high) influence credit card use and installment payment decisions.

Methodology: a discrete choice experiment was designed with 90 participants (62 women, 28 men; mean age = 29.5 years) classified by per capita income into three levels (low, middle, high).

Results: the results show that balanced information increased the likelihood of choosing a credit card and reduced the number of installments selected. Conversely, middle- and high-income groups showed a greater preference for mid- and high-value products, intensified by unbalanced information, which led to longer payment terms. An ordinal logistic regression model confirmed that providing balanced information significantly reduces the number of installments, with a greater impact on low-income participants.

Conclusions: these findings underscore the role of balanced communication in mitigating financial risk and highlight the importance of risk literacy strategies that complement traditional financial education. This research contributes to the literature on consumer behaviour and behavioural economics by showing that the quality of information can shape more responsible credit decisions, with relevant implications for public policy design and the regulation of financial markets in contexts of economic vulnerability.

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Keywords:
Financial decisions,
risk communication,
risk literacy,
consumer credit,
credit cards,
financial education,
household debt,
consumer behaviour.

JEL Codes:
D14, D83, D91, I31

04_RSN_17(36)_205_The_effect

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