No abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop an in-depth contextualized understanding of individual investors’ buying decision in Indian stock market. Specifically, it provides answers to: how do individual investors make buying decision in stock market; and how and when do biases set in during such decisions. The paper also brings forward some aspects of individual’s journey as an investor.Design/methodology/approachGiven the exploratory nature of this study, the paper takes a step away from typically used variance approach and instead uses a process approach. The authors do in-depth one-on-one interview, where each respondent shares his/her lived experiences as an investor retrospectively. To understand buying decision, each respondent is asked to elaborate three significant buying transactions carried out by him/ her in stock market.FindingsSocio-cultural factors are found to have significant influence in inducing respondents to enter market. “Safe” vs “Risky” mental account emerges as the prominent stock categorization done by Indian investors. Three building blocks, namely, Identification, Rationalization and Further Validation emerge as the building blocks that culminate into buying decision of individual investors. The biases are seen to play a dual role in such decisions; as Attention Boosters and Rationales.Originality/valueThis study, to the best of authors’ knowledge, is first of its kind which amalgamates behavioral biases with phenomenon such as attention and Rationalization, to understand “how” behavioral biases set in during buying decision of individual investors.

PurposeCan something that drives our initial attention toward a stock have any implications on final decision to buy it? This paper empirically and statistically tests association, if any, between factors fostering attention toward a stock and rationales to buy it.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses survey responses of individual investors involving multiple response categorical data. Association between attention fostering factors and rationales is tested using a modified first-order corrected Rao-Scott chi-square test statistic (to adjust for within-participant dependence among responses in case of multiple response categorical variables). Further, odds ratios and mosaic plots are used to determine the effect size of association.FindingsStrong association is seen between attention fostering factors and rationales to buy a stock. Further, strongest associations are seen in cases where origin is the same underlying influencing factor. Some of the most cited attention fostering factors and rationales in this research stem from familiarity bias and expert bias.Practical implicationsWhat starts as a trivial attention fostering factor, which may not even be recognized by majority investors, can go on to become one of the rationales for buying a stock. This can result in substantial financial implications for an individual investor. Investor education agencies and regulatory authorities can make investors cognizant of such association, which can help investors to improve and adjust their decision making accordingly.Originality/valueThe extant literature discusses factors/biases influencing buying decisions of individual investors. This research takes a step ahead by distinguishing these factors in terms of whether they play role of (1) fostering attention toward a stock or (2) of reasons for ultimately buying it. Such dissection of factors/biases, to the best of authors' knowledge, has not been done previously in any empirical and statistical analysis. The paper uses multiple response categorical data and applies a modified first-order corrected Rao-Scott chi-square statistic to test association. Application of the above-mentioned test statistic has not been done previously in context of individual investor decision-making.