Nonprofessional Investors Research Articles

The Effect of Approach/Avoidance Motivation and Gain/Loss-Framing on the Processing of Information Cues by Non-Professional Investors

Investor judgment and decision-making (JDM) is influenced by several factors. We examine the effect of dispositional goal orientation (approach and avoidance motivation), as well as situational goal orientation (gain- and loss-framing), on non-professional investors’ JDM. In an experiment, 150 business students evaluated the relevance of (positive and negative) information cues and estimated the resulting stock price changes. Results show that approach motivation increases the perceived relevance of (positive and negative) information cues, which in turn results in greater expected stock price changes. The increasing effect that approach motivation has on the perceived relevance of negative information cues is amplified by gain-framing and dampened by loss-framing. Similarly, the effect that the perceived relevance of information cues has on expected stock price changes is amplified under gain-framing and dampened under loss-framing. These results contribute to the JDM literature and have practical implications for non-professional investors.

Initial Public Offering Price Support and Ownership Structures

Shares sold through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are often underpriced and therefore very popular investment objects. Fjesme (2016) documents that the allocating investment bank requires certain larger investors in popular IPOs to also purchase more shares after the stock exchange listing. This additional buying supports prices and attracts more attention to the companies in the short term. Wilhelm (1999) explains how non-professional investors are likely to misunderstand this price support as positive information and thereby increase their investment. Obtaining data to investigate the implications of price support on investor holdings has proven difficult in the past. In this paper, I investigate actual IPO allocations combined with trading after the listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE). I document that increased price support generates a large influx of domestic and retail ownership as opposed to foreign institutional ownership. I conclude that price support reduces international institutional ownership on the OSE.

Asymmetric Investor Materiality and the Effects of Disclosure

SUMMARYWe broaden our understanding of investor materiality, finding it to be asymmetrical for good and bad news. Motivated by legal and standards-based materiality definitions, we consider both participants' stated materiality limits and investment judgments, as well as the effect of auditors' materiality disclosures on those judgments. The study employs a 3 × 2 experiment manipulating materiality disclosure (high or low materiality number or no disclosure) and gain or loss subsequent events of equal magnitude. Absent disclosure, non-professional investors report lower materiality thresholds than typical auditor limits, and they exhibit lower materiality levels for bad news relative to good news both in their stated preferences and investment decisions. We find that disclosure reduces the distance between user and auditor materiality and eliminates the asymmetry in investors' stated materiality levels. However, disclosure fails to attenuate asymmetry in investment decisions, suggesting materiality preferences are “sticky” and difficult to affect through disclosure.

Examining belief-adjustment model and investors overconfidence on investment decision making

This research aims to examine whether there is a different judgment between the investor who receives good news followed by bad news and the one who receives bad news followed by good news information order in the step-by-step and the end-of-sequence disclosure pattern by using financial information type and non-financial information type and overconfidence characteristics on investment decision making. This research is included in the experimental design by using a mixed design of between-subjects and within-subject design and classified as experimental research which uses the 2x2x2 method. Participants used in this research are undergraduate business students in STIE Perbanas Surabaya who are studying and/or have completed investment management and/or financial statement analysis courses who will serve as non-professional investors. The results obtained in this research showed that recency effect occurred between the investor who receives good news followed by bad news and the one who receives bad news followed by good news in the step by step disclosure pattern, while there is no order effect occurred when the disclosure pattern used is the end-of-sequence. JEL Classification : G02, G11, G17 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26905/jkdp.v23i4.3203

Do Voluntary Disclosures Mitigate the Cybersecurity Breach Contagion Effect?

ABSTRACTIn this study, we investigate the negative impact of a cybersecurity breach on a bystander (i.e., non-breached) firm in the same industry, referred to as investment contagion effects, and whether voluntary cybersecurity disclosures mitigate these effects. Using an experiment with nonprofessional investors, we provide strong evidence of investment contagion effects. However, we also find a portion of investor participants perceive the breach as positive news for the bystander firm, a phenomenon known as competition effects. Our evidence suggests contagion effects are dominant over competition effects, and cybersecurity disclosures provided prior to the breach announcement attenuate contagion effects. Additionally, we find cybersecurity disclosures provided subsequent to the breach announcement can reduce the magnitude of investment contagion effects. Our study informs standard setters and firms as we find some evidence that voluntary disclosures are effective in lessening investment contagion effects.

Mobile Devices and Investment News Apps: The Effects of Information Release, Push Notification, and the Fear of Missing Out

ABSTRACT We examine how information dissemination via mobile device applications (apps) affects nonprofessional investors' judgments. In response to the prevalence of mobile device use, the media ungroups content into smaller pieces to accommodate users, and apps use push notifications to highlight this content. These changes increase users' ability to access investment information in real time, leaving some investors feeling as if they are missing out if they are not continuously connected. We validate a scale to capture investors' fear of missing out on investment information (I-FoMO) and document that I-FoMO is distinct from traditional FoMO that occurs in social settings. Then, using an experiment, we find that receiving ungrouped content via a mobile device has a greater effect on investment allocations in the presence, rather than absence, of push notifications. Further, we find that these results hold for higher, but not for lower, I-FoMO investors. JEL Classifications: G23; M41; M48; M49. Data Availability: Contact the authors.

Segmenting “digital investors”: evidence from the Italian equity crowdfunding market

The financial market despite being hit by the digital revolution has only recently reached the segment of direct investments on the part of non-professional investors in new ventures. Through equity crowdfunding platforms, in particular, capital demand and supply for startups are easily linked, thus bringing thousands of new investors to the financial market. This study examines equity crowdfunding investor drivers when selecting investment proposals. Specifically, we segment the Italian equity crowdfunding investors’ market by means of a cluster analysis and explore differences between segments in terms of socio-demographic and behavioral variables. Based on previous studies, six drivers (pertaining to three macro dimensions) were chosen for the segmentation of equity crowdfunding investors: confidence in team, confidence in venture, financial pledge and project attractiveness, platform characteristics, community driver, societal driver. The cluster analysis yielded four clusters we labeled: (1) venture trustful; (2) crowdfunding technicians; (3) financial investors, talent scouters; (4) social dreamers. In order to further specify the profile of the four clusters, each one was cross-tabulated with external variables of crowdfunding investors’ socio-economic characteristics and behavioral variables. Understanding, by means of a fine-grain lens, the differences between these new digital investors offers practical insights for crowd-equity platform management or for would-be entrepreneurs seeking funds. Finally, implications on future research streams on crowdfunding are discussed.

Legitimation Strategies as Valuable Signals in Nonfinancial Reporting? Effects on Investor Decision-Making

Companies disclosing negative aspects in sustainability reports often employ legitimation strategies to present mishaps in a favorable light. In incentivized experiments, we find that nonprofessional investors divest from companies with a negative sustainability-related incident, and that symbolic legitimation (which only evasively explains a negative incident) is not a strong enough signal to counter this divestment behavior. Even substantial legitimation (which reports on measures and behavioral change) mitigates the divestment decisions only if the company reports on concrete remediation actions in morally charged situations, such as social or environmental incidents. We elaborate these results in light of signaling and screening theory, and suggest the conceptual extension of “costly signals” to what we call “valuable signals.” We argue that valuable signals need be not only costly for the sender from an economic perspective but also perceived as appropriate by the receiver from a noneconomic perspective.

Audit Partner Signature Disclosure Effects on Non-Professional Investors’ Credibility Assessments and Liability Perceptions

Restoring the credibility of the auditor’s report by disclosing an audit partner’s signature has been the subject of recent auditing standard setting. This study presents an experimental examination of the effect of voluntary audit partner signature disclosure on nonprofessional investor credibility assessments of auditor’s reports and perceived audit partner liability. We find that disclosing the audit partner’s signature enhances auditor’s report credibility unless obtainable information is over-endorsed by the disclosure. However, we could not detect any substantial effect of voluntary audit partner signature disclosure on perceived audit partner liability. We provide evidence consistent with source credibility theory that the audit partner’s signature is used as a heuristic cue in information processing, thereby affecting nonprofessional investor judgments. In light of the increasing interest in and reforms of the auditor’s report, our findings contribute to a decade of auditing standard setting discussions and relativize the perceived liability threats linked to audit partner related disclosures.

The Impact of Vivid Graphical Presentation of Financial Information in Digital Annual Reports on Investors' Impressions of Management and Firm Performance

ABSTRACTThis study examines the effect of graphical vividness on nonprofessional investors' impressions of management and firm performance when the financial performance news is either positive or negative. Conducting a 2 × 2 between-participants experiment with 470 participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk (M-Turk), I find that when the news is positive, nonprofessional investors have more positive impressions of management, which, in turn, leads to more positive impressions of firm performance when the graphical presentation is vivid versus pallid. In contrast, when the news is negative, presenting graphs vividly has little effect on nonprofessional investors' impressions. The study contributes to regulators and practice by demonstrating that allowing a high degree of presentation flexibility in digital annual reports has behavioral outcomes to nonprofessional investors' judgments and decisions. The study also contributes to the strategic disclosure literature by demonstrating the impact of graphical vividness in presenting financial performance information.

Daily and Intraday Herding within Different Types of Investors in Borsa Istanbul

ABSTRACT This paper aims to explore the daily and intraday herd behavior of various investor groups trading in an emerging equity market, Borsa Istanbul (BIST). We analyze a one-year tick-by-tick order and trade data of BIST 100 Index stocks and document differences in herding behavior of investor groups considering market capitalization, market conditions, and announcements as well as daily and intraday periodicities. We find that nonprofessional investors (brokerage houses and domestic funds) tend to herd on large (small) stocks; their herding behavior mostly exhibits a U shape (an inverse U shape) during the day. All types of investors tend to herd in down markets on a daily basis while this behavior disappears, even inverts intraday.

Do stock investors need to discuss to reduce decision bias?

The research examines the role of discussion in investors’ decision in a step-by-step information setting. Several studies present that disclosure strategy stimulates order-effect bias, but simultaneous information decreases the impact of that bias. This bias makes people weigh more heavily to recent observations than they do to older ones. Using step-by-step information, a recency effect is expected to be found. This study uses an experimental method. The participants are the representation of non-professional investors in the stock market because of a lack of knowledge and experience. Participants are also a reflection of the customer easiness in registering to be stock traders. The role of discussion between participants is a new feature of this experiment. After evaluating participants’ decision in a discussion, the experiment shows that an individual’s choice after discussion produces more bias, although they already learn the information before the discussion. The research finds that (1) using the within-subject sample, group discussion produces overvaluation (undervaluation) in positive (negative) sequential information, (2) there is bigger price revision when negative sequential information is presented. This study suggests disclosure strategies for companies. Considering a recency bias, companies must present step-by-step information when they disclose good news, but they must avoid step-by-step disclosures when giving bad news. The second practical implication is for investors; they need to think about the benefits of joining an investor club, since the discussion exacerbates recency bias. These results are expected to contribute to finance literature.

The Effects of Materiality and Disclosure Transparency on Nonprofessional Investors’ Reactions to CSR Restatements: An Experimental Investigation

Investors are demanding more Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting, which has increased the prevalence of CSR disclosures. However, such disclosures are restated at high rates, leading to concerns about reliability. Using two experiments, we investigate how investors react to restatements of CSR disclosures. Results reveal that a negative CSR restatement is decision useful, whereby investors are less willing to invest in a company that corrects a significant overstatement of performance. We also find that features of the environment—the materiality of the CSR issue and the intentionality of the error—affect investors’ reactions to the restatement. Finally, our study demonstrates how CSR restatements affect investment judgments. Specifically, we provide evidence of a “contagion effect,” by which the credibility effects of a CSR restatement transfer to investors’ assessments of financial disclosures. These results inform regulators and practitioners concerned about the ramifications of errors in CSR reporting on nonprofessional investors’ judgments.

Performance of Different Risk Indicators in a Multi-Period Polynomial Portfolio Selection Problem Based on the Credibility Measure.

In this paper, we study the portfolio selection problem considering transaction costs under multiple periods. For non-professional investors, it is a critical factor to choose an appropriate model among multiple portfolio selection models in investment. Based on the credibility measure, we formulate a multi-period polynomial portfolio selection model to gather the risk indicators involving variance, semi-variance, entropy, and semi-entropy, helping investors bet on assets. According to the polynomial goal programming (PGP) approach, investors can conquer the fields by combining apposite indicators to build appropriate models. Subsequently, an adjusted genetic algorithm on the foundation of the penalty function is designed to obtain the optimal solution of this multi-period model. The results indicate that the PGP method is suitable for investors to choose the model and assigns the proper models to investors with different risk preferences.

Bright lines vs. blurred lines: When do critical audit matters influence investors' perceptions of management's reporting credibility?

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will soon require auditors to disclose critical audit matters (CAMs) to highlight areas of financial statements which are subject to a higher risk of material misstatement. Concurrently, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board continue their efforts to converge both sets of accounting standards, and the newly converged revenue recognition standard contains a relatively limited amount of implementation guidance. I hypothesize and find that CAMs lower investors' perceptions of management's reporting credibility when the financial statement area discussed by CAMs is governed by precise, but not an imprecise, accounting standards. The emphasis of risks via CAMs is incongruent with investors' expectations about the ability of precise standards to reduce financial reporting risks. The results from this experiment with nonprofessional investors provide insights about the interaction between CAMs and accounting standards.

Presentational format and financial consumers’ behaviour: an eye-tracking study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether financial consumers are sensitive to presentational format of financial disclosure documents and whether this influences the financial attractiveness of products. Design/methodology/approach In order to observe and measure consumers’ attention, the authors exploit the unobtrusive methodology of eye tracking on a sample of nonprofessional investors, applying an ecological protocol, through a cross-sectional design. Findings The analysis reveals that financial information processing and attention distribution are influenced by the way the information is conveyed. Moreover, some layouts induce individuals to rate the products as less financially attractive, independent of the information content. This suggests the importance of studying the neural mechanisms of investors’ behaviour in the scrutiny of financial product documents. Practical implications The results lead to recommend regulators and managers to study how investors respond to financial disclosure documents by exploiting neuroscientific techniques. Moreover, there is a role for the search of any benefit coming from emphasising specific sources of information inside documents. Originality/value This research investigates the influence of presentational format on consumers’ information processing measuring the underlying neurophysiological processes; the consequent perception of financial attractiveness is also explored.

Examining the effect of deception detection decision aids on investors' perceptions of disclosure credibility and willingness to invest

Recent evidence suggests that the trend of issuing video disclosures is growing and investors are exposed to the risk of including deceptive information in their decisions. This study suggests that investors can use deception detection decision aids to identify deceptive behavior in video disclosures, and that the use of such decision aids affects their perceptions of disclosure credibility and willingness to invest. The theoretical framework of this study suggests that providing investors with a deception detection decision aid affects their willingness to invest through their perceptions of disclosure credibility, and that this effect is conditional on management's reputation. Using data from 387 nonprofessional investors, the findings provide support for the predicted effect of deception detection decision aid on investors' judgment and decision making. The effect of providing investors with a deception detection decision aid is fully mediated by investors' perceptions of disclosure credibility, and that effect is significantly stronger when management's reputation is good than when management's reputation is bad.

Sub-optimal behavioural biases and decision theory in real estate

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explain the relationship between behavioural biases, investment satisfaction and reinvestment intention considering the effect of evolutionary psychology. The study believes that biases are not at all times bad; sometimes, biases can assist the individual investor to select the top course of action and allow them to go for the less costly mistakes, thereby helping in achieving satisficing behaviour.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using structured and a close-ended questionnaire from a sample of 560 respondents by using multi-stage stratified sampling method. PLS-SEM was used for preliminary validation of the questionnaire. Mediation model using the structural equation model (SEM) with the help of AMOS 20 was used for the analyses. Pre-requisite assumptions for SEM were checked by using sample characteristics. The study has three constructs with multiple items; hence, the instrument validation was done by measuring the construct validity and reliability using Cronbach’s alpha, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis with the help of SPSS 20 and AMOS 20.FindingsThe study confirms that behavioural biases influence investment decisions in the real estate market. Further, investment satisfaction is found to have a significant and complementary partial mediating effect. The positive mediating effect of investment satisfaction between behavioural biases and reinvestment intention shows that biases are natural tendencies in response to limit to learning which can be explained by evolutionary psychology.Research limitations/implicationsThere are chances that the result obtained here is because of myopic decision-making behaviour in which the long-time horizon is not considered and behavioural biases, as well as evolutionary psychology, are adaptive, so the result may change in the long-time horizon, which seeks further investigations. The study talked about the relationship between behavioural biases, investment satisfaction and reinvestment intention; it will be interesting to bring some more constructs in this model, for example, investment intention and reinvestment behaviour; this can deliver a more precise picture in this regard.Practical implicationsUnderstanding such relationships will help in better clarity about the way investment is made. The study confirms that market behaviour in the real estate market is sub-optimal, which shows that there is an opportunity for attentive investors by trading and gathering on information. Real estate practitioners can get clues from market anomalies and investor phenomena; understanding these may suggest ways to use them in the market.Social implicationsReforms in the housing sector do not only satisfy one of the basic needs but also leads to holistic economic development. Besides direct contribution, it contributes to social capital.Originality/valueThe study extends the current knowledge base about the relationship between behavioural biases, investment satisfaction and reinvestment intention. This study investigates the behavioural biases influencing the real estate market investment decisions of non-professional investors considering the effect of evolutionary psychology.

Mapping individual behavior in financial markets: synchronization and anticipation

In this paper we develop a methodology, based on Mutual Information and Transfer of Entropy, that allows to identify, quantify and map on a network the synchronization and anticipation relationships between financial traders. We apply this methodology to a dataset containing 410text{,}612 real buy and sell operations, made by 566 non-professional investors from a private investment firm on 8 different assets from the Spanish IBEX market during a period of time from 2000 to 2008. These networks present a peculiar topology significantly different from the random networks. We seek alternative features based on human behavior that might explain part of those 12text{,}158 synchronization links and 1031 anticipation links. Thus, we detect that daily synchronization with price (present in 64.90% of investors) and the one-day delay with respect to price (present in 4.38% of investors) play a significant role in the network structure. We find that individuals reaction to daily price changes explains around 20% of the links in the Synchronization Network, and has significant effects on the Anticipation Network. Finally, we show how using these networks we substantially improve the prediction accuracy when Random Forest models are used to nowcast and predict the activity of individual investors.

How Facebook influences non-professional investors’ affective reactions and judgments

PurposeThe use of social networking websites by companies to disclose corporate news and by investors to collect information for investment purposes is increasing rapidly. However, the role of investors’ affective reactions to corporate disclosures on social networking websites is under-researched. This paper aims to examine how the disclosure platform (disclosing news on a company’s Facebook Web page or the corporate investor relations Web page) and news valence (positive or negative) jointly influence investors’ affective reactions to corporate news and stock price change judgments.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct an experimental study using 364 participants from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk website as a proxy for reasonably informed investors.FindingsResults show that the disclosure platform influences investors’ affective reactions and stock price change judgments when the corporate news is negative, but not when the corporate news is positive. In addition, investors’ affective reactions mediate the influence of the disclosure platform on investors’ stock price change judgments when the corporate news is negative rather than positive.Originality/valueThis paper extends the theory on affective reactions to a social networking context by showing that differences in disclosure platforms and news valence influence investors’ affective reactions to corporate news. In addition, the study’s theory and findings have significant implications for researchers, company managers and public relations specialists, capital market participants, regulators and investor education organizations and users of social networking websites.