WHAT DRIVES RETAIL INVESTORS’ INVESTMENT DECISIONS? EVIDENCE FROM NO MOBILE PHONE PHOBIA (NOMOPHOBIA) AND INVESTOR FEAR OF MISSING OUT (I – FOMO)

Abstract

The main objective of the study is to investigate the impact of No-Mobile-Phobia (Nomophobia) on retail investors‟ investment decisions. The relationship was further analysed by incorporating the role of Investor related Fear-of-Missing-Out (I-FoMO) which is different from traditional FOMO in Indian Financial Markets. The information asymmetry is generated by the absence of a mobile phone coupled with the fear of missing important information in financial markets used for extensive investment decisions was determined by conducting a survey method. A total of 265 retail investors were used for analysing the data and to explore this new phenomenon by Partial Least Square Structural Equational Modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS version 3.3.2. Further, Importance Performance Map Analysis (IMPA) was applied to investigate the critical factors for determining investor behaviour. The results revealed that there is a tendency to exhibit overtrading by retail investors in the state of fear of no investment information and lack of convenience due to news in smartphones. The similar phenomenon was experienced where Nomophobia leads extensively to I-FoMO which mediates the relationship of No-mobiles and investor behaviour. The study provides a new dimension to the theoretical frameworks in behavioural finance where media studies and information dissemination through smartphones to understand investor behaviour. The study not only validates NMP Questionnaire in media studies but also investigates the new scale of I-FoMOin behavioural finance to understand the aspects of fear and anxiety among human behaviour in Information Systems (IS) Research.