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Effect of Inflation Education on Purchasing-Power Awareness among Accounting Education Students in Nigerian Universities

Abstract

Inflation is an important economic phenomenon that affects the value of money, prices of goods and services, household expenditure, business costs, savings, investment decisions, and financial planning. Accounting Education students require adequate knowledge of inflation and its effects because future accounting professionals and educators are expected to understand how changes in the general price level influence financial information, purchasing decisions, budgeting, and business operations. However, some students may have limited practical understanding of how inflation reduces the purchasing power of money and affects the real value of income, savings, and expenditures. Inflation education provides an opportunity to improve students’ understanding of changes in the general price level and their implications for the amount of goods and services that a given amount of money can purchase. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of inflation education on purchasing-power awareness among Accounting Education students in Nigerian universities. The study will be anchored on Experiential Learning Theory, Cognitive Learning Theory, and Human Capital Theory. Experiential Learning Theory explains how students develop meaningful understanding through practical experiences, reflection, conceptualization, and application of knowledge to real-life situations. Cognitive Learning Theory emphasizes how students acquire, organize, retain, and apply information to develop accurate understanding of economic concepts and relationships. Human Capital Theory explains how investment in relevant knowledge and skills improves students’ competence, productivity, financial decision-making, and preparedness for future professional responsibilities. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how inflation education may influence students’ purchasing-power awareness. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental research design. The population will comprise Accounting Education students enrolled in selected Nigerian universities. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties or departments, levels of study, classes, and eligible students. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, inflation knowledge assessment scales, purchasing-power awareness instruments, practical price-comparison exercises, inflation scenario tasks, budgeting exercises, expenditure-planning activities, and pre-test and post-test assessments. Inflation education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to inflation lessons, understanding of inflation concepts, causes of inflation, measurement of inflation, consumer price changes, price-level changes, inflation rates, headline inflation, food inflation, core inflation, effects of inflation on income, effects of inflation on savings, effects of inflation on expenditure, effects on household budgets, effects on business costs, effects on investment decisions, effects on financial planning, historical inflation trends, interpretation of inflation statistics, use of price indices, consumer price index interpretation, comparison of prices across periods, calculation of changes in prices, interpretation of inflation percentages, real versus nominal values, inflation-adjusted values, budgeting under inflation, expenditure forecasting, savings planning, purchasing decisions, and practical application of inflation information. Purchasing-power awareness will be assessed using indicators such as students’ ability to explain purchasing power, recognize the relationship between inflation and the value of money, identify changes in the quantity of goods that a fixed amount of money can purchase, compare nominal income with real income, recognize the effect of rising prices on household expenditure, interpret inflation rates, assess changes in the real value of savings, evaluate changes in the real value of income, adjust budgets for price increases, compare prices across different periods, interpret consumer price information, calculate changes in purchasing power, identify inflation-adjusted values, distinguish nominal and real financial amounts, recognize the effect of inflation on financial planning, assess the affordability of goods and services, make informed purchasing decisions, and apply purchasing-power concepts to personal and business financial situations. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students’ demographic and academic characteristics, inflation knowledge, exposure to inflation education, and purchasing-power awareness levels. Inferential statistical techniques, including paired and independent t-tests, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of inflation education on purchasing-power awareness. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, purchasing-power awareness scores before and after exposure to inflation education may be compared with those of a control group receiving conventional classroom instruction to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that inflation education has a significant positive effect on purchasing-power awareness among Accounting Education students in Nigerian universities. Students exposed to structured inflation education are expected to demonstrate greater understanding of how changes in the general price level influence the value of money and their ability to purchase goods and services. Inflation-concept lessons may improve students’ understanding of the meaning and implications of inflation. Lessons on the causes of inflation may help students understand factors that contribute to rising prices. Inflation-measurement activities may improve students’ ability to interpret inflation statistics and price-level changes. Exercises involving headline, food, and core inflation may strengthen students’ understanding of different measures of inflation. Consumer-price activities may improve students’ ability to recognize changes in the prices of goods and services. Price-comparison exercises may strengthen students’ ability to identify how the same amount of money may purchase different quantities of goods across different periods. Inflation-rate interpretation may improve students’ ability to understand the speed at which prices are changing. Income-related activities may strengthen students’ understanding of the difference between increases in nominal income and changes in real purchasing power. Savings-related exercises may improve students’ awareness that rising prices can reduce the real value of money held over time. Expenditure-planning activities may strengthen students’ ability to adjust household and business budgets in response to changing prices. Investment-related activities may improve students’ understanding of the importance of considering inflation when evaluating financial returns. Financial-planning activities may strengthen students’ ability to account for changing prices when making future financial decisions. Historical inflation-trend exercises may improve students’ ability to interpret changes in purchasing power over time. Inflation-statistics activities may strengthen students’ ability to use economic information in financial decision-making. Price-index exercises may improve students’ understanding of how changes in prices can be measured. Consumer Price Index interpretation may strengthen students’ ability to relate official price information to changes in the cost of living. Price-comparison exercises may improve students’ ability to compare the purchasing capacity of money across different periods. Price-change calculations may strengthen students’ ability to quantify increases in the prices of goods and services. Inflation-percentage exercises may improve students’ interpretation of percentage changes in prices. Real-versus-nominal value activities may strengthen students’ understanding of the difference between monetary amounts and their inflation-adjusted purchasing capacity. Inflation-adjustment exercises may improve students’ ability to estimate the real value of financial amounts. Budgeting-under-inflation exercises may strengthen students’ ability to modify expenditure plans as prices change. Expenditure-forecasting activities may improve students’ ability to anticipate the financial implications of changing prices. Savings-planning exercises may strengthen students’ awareness of protecting the real value of savings. Purchasing-decision activities may improve students’ ability to assess affordability under changing price conditions. Practical inflation scenarios may help students apply theoretical knowledge to everyday financial situations. Students may also demonstrate improved ability to explain how inflation affects purchasing power, identify reductions in the quantity of goods that fixed amounts of money can purchase, compare nominal and real income, recognize changes in household expenditure, interpret inflation rates, assess changes in the real value of savings, evaluate changes in real income, adjust budgets for price increases, compare prices across periods, interpret consumer-price information, calculate purchasing-power changes, identify inflation-adjusted values, distinguish nominal from real amounts, recognize inflation implications for financial planning, assess affordability, make informed purchasing decisions, and apply purchasing-power concepts to personal and business financial situations. However, the effectiveness of inflation education may be constrained by students’ limited prior knowledge of economics, difficulty interpreting statistical information, inadequate access to current inflation data, outdated instructional materials, limited use of practical examples, insufficient exposure to real-world price information, large class sizes, limited instructional time, inadequate access to digital learning resources, and weak integration of current economic developments into Accounting Education curricula. The study therefore expects practical, current, understandable, and application-oriented inflation education to contribute significantly to improved purchasing-power awareness among Accounting Education students in Nigerian universities. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on inflation education, purchasing-power awareness, inflation knowledge, financial literacy, economic literacy, consumer awareness, price-level changes, consumer price index, real income, nominal income, real value, inflation adjustment, household budgeting, expenditure planning, savings decisions, investment decisions, financial planning, accounting education, economic education, Experiential Learning Theory, Cognitive Learning Theory, Human Capital Theory, Accounting Education students, Nigerian universities, and Accounting Education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Universities Commission, university administrators, Accounting Education departments, accounting educators, economics educators, curriculum developers, financial-literacy organizations, policymakers, and other stakeholders regarding strategies for improving students’ understanding of inflation and purchasing power. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating practical inflation education into Accounting Education programmes, incorporating current Nigerian inflation and price data into classroom activities, strengthening students’ ability to interpret inflation statistics and consumer-price information, using practical budgeting and purchasing-power exercises, improving students’ understanding of real and nominal values, incorporating inflation-adjustment activities into accounting instruction, strengthening financial and economic literacy, and preparing Accounting Education students to make informed financial decisions in an inflationary economic environment.

Keywords: Inflation education, purchasing-power awareness, inflation, purchasing power, price level, consumer price index, real income, nominal income, inflation adjustment, financial literacy, economic literacy, budgeting, financial planning, Accounting Education students, Nigerian universities, Nigeria.