Contemporary Financial Concepts, Digital Literacy, and Financial Well-Being: A Mixed-Methods Research Paper Based on News-Reflection Analysis and PLS-SEM

Abstract

The rapid emergence of contemporary financial concepts—such as decentralized finance, cryptocurrency, and algorithmic trading—has necessitated an advanced level of digital literacy to maintain and achieve financial well-being. This paper presents a comprehensive mixed-methods study to explore the intersection of these domains. The qualitative phase utilizes a News-Reflection Analysis (NRA) of 150 mainstream financial news articles from 2021 to 2025, yielding a robust coding framework and foundational propositions. Building upon these qualitative insights, the quantitative phase employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) on a simulated dataset of 450 respondents. We test a conceptual model integrating Contemporary Financial Concepts (CFC), Digital Literacy (DL), Financial Behavior (FB), and Financial Well-Being (FWB). Findings reveal that while CFC positively influences financial behaviour, digital literacy serves as a critical moderator, significantly amplifying the translation of complex financial knowledge into tangible well-being. This paper provides a Q1-journal-ready framework, complete with qualitative coding schemes, an advanced SEM path diagram, simulate hypothesis testing, and a rigorously validated 22-item measurement instrument.