Proceedings of the 45th International Academic Conference, London

EXPLORING BEHAVIOURAL BIASES AMONG INDIAN INVESTORS: A QUALITATIVE INQUIRY

SATISH KUMAR, NISHA GOYAL

Abstract:

Psychological factors influence individual investors’ investment decision making, but few studies have used qualitative methods to understand these factors. The present study interviews experienced financial advisors and brokers working with individual investors. For the data analysis, a thematic content analysis approach with open coding was used. The findings of this study indicate that investors have numerous opinions and tendencies (categorized into cognitive errors, emotional biases and social interactions) that affect their investment decisions. This study suggests that an understanding of individual investors’ behavioural biases can provide financial planners and advisers with additional knowledge to help their clients in making better financial decisions that potentially lead to improved investment results.

Keywords: Psychological biases; investment decisions; individual investors; financial advisors; qualitative thematic content analysis

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2019.045.024

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