Abstract:

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2020), financial literacy is a key competence for increasing the financial resilience and well-being of the population. This competence is measured by the ability to use knowledge, skills, and experience to manage financial resources efficiently and to ensure better planning and decision-making at either individual or enterprise level (McCallum et al., 2018).

Financial education can be impacted by different cultural and socio-economic factors, so literacy programs need to be adapted to specific audiences, considering the specific strengths and preferences of each group of individuals. Promoting an understanding of behavioural changes and decisions related to savings, investments, retirements, credits, and debt is essential to ensure long-term financial and economic sustainability. Specifically, young people become an attractive consumer segment in the economy worldwide (Altintas, 2011), which helps ensuring economic sustainability.

Policymakers, stakeholders, and educators seek to incorporate new teaching and learning approaches that help to develop financial literacy in individuals. Several empirical studies identify financial literacy as a basic tool for the growth and development of organizations and individual financial stability (Ye & Kulathunga, 2019; Lusardi, 2019; Förster, Happ, & Walstad, 2019). Among the various approaches proposed, game-based learning has gained popularity in promoting and developing different skills, including financial literacy (Psenak, Psenakova, Szabo, & Kovac, 2019; Amagir, Groot, Maassen van den Brink, & Wilschut, 2018; Bayuk & Altobello, 2019). Game-based learning refers to a multitude of games used in educational contexts, including digital games, virtual reality, board games, and escape room games that provide different challenges at different levels to increase the involvement and development of individuals in technical and transversal skills. This paper is a critically conceptual study offers a review of educational experiences concerning the development of financial literacy, allowing to identify opportunities and challenges associated with the application of game-based approaches at different levels of education. Indeed, Jorgensen and Savla (2010) suggest that educators could offer financial seminars, workshops and other teaching methodologies to teach both financial literacy and how parents can increase their ability to discuss, teach, and model financial principles to their relatives.

The study contributes to the creation of a conceptual framework for the learning and internalizing of financial literacy concepts through educational games.

Keywords:

Game-based learning, Financial literacy, Conceptual framework.