Case study - Savings & Investment Attitudes Study on the Romanian Market

Client objective

Understand how many Romanians save (incidence rate), how they save or invest and think about financial protection, in order to support positioning and communication strategy.

Situation

A client operating in the investment space wanted to better understand how people in Romania manage money in a context marked by inflation, uncertainty and pressure on household budgets.

The business question was not only what savers do, but also how many people actually save in the first place. This made the study more complex than a standard survey among a pre-defined target. The client needed reliable incidence data at national level, but also enough interviews with savers to analyze behaviours, motivations, barriers and openness toward different saving and investment options.

The study therefore had to answer two questions at the same time: 1) how widespread saving really is in Romania, and 2) how those who save behave and think about saving.

Challenge

The main challenge was methodological.

At first glance, the simplest route would have been to survey only people who had money set aside or invested. This would have made the analysis cleaner and faster, but it would have missed the bigger strategic question: how common is saving in Romania in the first place? The study therefore had to avoid an easy shortcut and solve several methodological challenges at once:

• Measuring the real size of the saver audience
  A sample made only of savers would have shown what savers do, but not how many people in Romania actually save.
• Understanding who saves and who does not
  Without starting from a nationally representative base, we would not have been able to compare saver incidence across various demographics
• Avoiding a distorted incidence estimate
  If the raw sample was not representative before the screener, the final saver incidence could have been biased by certain groups being over- or under-represented.
• Securing enough savers for meaningful analysis
  A standard national sample alone could have protected the incidence read but might not have delivered enough savers to analyse behaviours, motivations, barriers and openness toward financial products in depth.

The study had to solve this methodological tension: the client needed to understand savers in depth, but also needed to know how widespread saving actually is in the Romanian population. The design also had to remain realistic in terms of budget and timing. We could not run a large national study only to then conduct a separate deep-dive with savers, so the sample design had to deliver both incidence measurement and robust saver analysis within the same research flow.

Solution / approach

We designed the study in two layers.

First, we built a nationally structured raw sample of Romanian internet users aged 18–65. Quotas were set before the screener, on the variables available at recruitment stage: gender, age, region, locality size and urban/rural split, while education was controlled from how the survey invites were sent.

Then, we allowed savers to qualify naturally from within this raw sample. Respondents entered the saver target if they said they had money set aside or invested.

After fieldwork, the full raw database was weighted to mirror the national population structure – even though we monitored the key variables during fieldwork, some minor adjustments were needed to correct for categories with lower response rates – lower education, rural areas. This allowed us to calculate saver incidence on a corrected national base, both overall and across key demographic groups.

The final design combined:

• A representative national starting sample
  We first built a national raw sample before applying the saver screener, so we could measure how many people actually save or invest.
• A full raw database, including pre-screener records
  Even though only saver interviews were treated as completed interviews for the full questionnaire, we kept the full raw base, including people who did not qualify as savers, to calculate and weight saver incidence correctly.
• Natural qualification of savers from the national base
  Savers were not recruited directly as a separate target. They qualified naturally if they said they had money set aside or invested, which allowed us to see who saves and who does not.
• A clear comparison between savers and the broader population
  This made it possible to understand how savers differ from the national internet-user population by gender, age, region, locality size, urban/rural profile and education.
• A robust final sample of savers
  The full questionnaire was completed by savers, giving us enough interviews to analyse their behaviours, motivations, barriers and openness toward financial products.

Outcome

The study showed that saving is meaningful in Romania but varied across different demographics. Around 40% of the weighted national sample qualified as savers, meaning they had money set aside or invested.

The incidence was not evenly distributed. Saving was more common among men, people with higher education, residents of Bucharest and larger urban areas, while lower-education groups, rural residents and women showed lower incidence.

The research also showed that saving in Romania is driven more by protection than by active wealth building. Most savers were motivated by safety and the need to build a buffer, while wealth accumulation played a much smaller role.

Three important conclusions shaped the final interpretation:

1. Saving is mostly about security, not growth
   People set money aside mainly to feel protected in case of uncertainty, emergencies or future pressure. This made reassurance, preparedness and trust more relevant communication territories than return-driven investment narratives.
2. Most savers stay close to familiar, low-complexity options
   Bank savings, current accounts, cash at home and tangible assets remained central in how people managed money. This showed that the market still relies strongly on known and accessible formats.
3. Inflation creates concern, but not always informed action
   Many savers were worried about inflation and felt generally informed about money, but the study also revealed confidence gaps, knowledge barriers and uncertainty around more complex investment choices.

Impact - Client decision

The study gave the client a clearer view of both market size and market readiness.

By separating incidence measurement from saver profiling, the client could understand not only what savers think and do, but also how large the addressable audience really is and which groups are more or less likely to save.

The findings helped guide:

• audience targeting by demographic and socio-economic profile;
• communication strategy;
• education priorities for people who feel uncertain or lack information;
• positioning of investment products within a broader financial-security narrative;
• future tracking of saver behaviour in Romania.

The research helped move the conversation from “what do savers invest in?” to a more strategic question: “who is realistically able and ready to save, what are they trying to protect, and what kind of financial story can help them feel confident enough to act?”