Impact of gamification on mitigating behavioral biases of investors

Abstract

We investigate whether gamification can help mitigate behavioral biases of investors by conducting a unique stock market experiment that is free from observer-expectancy and subject-expectancy effects. Utilizing the trading data of investors who simultaneously have active portfolios in an investment firm and stock market simulation game, we show that investors have different biases in real versus simulated settings. We find that participating in a stock market game affects all biases differently, with different degrees of participation to the game. While overconfidence bias and disposition effect can be mitigated and decrease with more active participation in the game, familiarity and status quo biases increase. We also show that young, inexperienced investors with average-sized portfolios and men are more likely to participate. These findings will especially be of interest to researchers, financial institutions and governmental bodies that plan to conduct similar experiments and design services promoting better financial decision-making and investment behavior.