IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/qrfmpp/qrfm-01-2021-0006.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A qualitative phenomenological exploration of social mood and investors’ risk tolerance in an emerging economy

Author

Listed:
  • Humaira Asad
  • Iqra Toqeer
  • Khalid Mahmood

Abstract

Purpose - The authors design a theoretical perspective that explores how different phases of social mood influence financial risk tolerance (FRT) among investors. Risk is involved in almost all financial decision-making. For a better understanding of risk tolerance behavior, the role played by social mood cannot be ignored. This study aims to explore the linkage between social mood and FRT of investors in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach - Using qualitative phenomenology as the guiding framework, 22 interviews were conducted to have a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of investors with at least 10 years of investment experience. Thematic analysis was done to analyze data. Audio-recording, bracketing, triangulation and member checking were done to ensure validity and reliability. Findings - A theoretical model is developed using the six themes identified through thematic analysis. This model presents an in-depth analysis of the determinants of social mood, its multiple phases and its impact on risk tolerance behavior. Findings reveal that the level of financial literacy, experience and purpose of investment moderate the effect of social mood on FRT. Practical implications - Investors can manage risk and increase their profits by controlling the effects of social mood. They can benefit from the market situation by taking more risk when the market is extremely low. The advisors can frame their advice in the light of the model. Originality/value - According to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explores investors’ risk tolerance in response to variations in social mood in the context of an emerging economy. The paper has contributed conceptually and methodologically. It uses phenomenology as the method and develops a theoretical model that describes how different types of investors adjust their risk tolerance in response to changes in their social mood.

Suggested Citation

  • Humaira Asad & Iqra Toqeer & Khalid Mahmood, 2021. "A qualitative phenomenological exploration of social mood and investors’ risk tolerance in an emerging economy," Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(1), pages 189-211, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:qrfmpp:qrfm-01-2021-0006
    DOI: 10.1108/QRFM-01-2021-0006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/QRFM-01-2021-0006/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/QRFM-01-2021-0006/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/QRFM-01-2021-0006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anthony Miyazaki & Kimberly Taylor, 2008. "Researcher Interaction Biases and Business Ethics Research: Respondent Reactions to Researcher Characteristics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(4), pages 779-795, September.
    2. Claudia R. Sahm, 2012. "How Much Does Risk Tolerance Change?," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(04), pages 1-38.
    3. Filiz, Ibrahim & Nahmer, Thomas & Spiwoks, Markus, 2019. "Herd behavior and mood: An experimental study on the forecasting of share prices," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    4. David Hirshleifer & Tyler Shumway, 2003. "Good Day Sunshine: Stock Returns and the Weather," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1009-1032, June.
    5. Song, In Jung & Park, Heejung & Park, Narang & Heo, Wookjae, 2019. "The effect of experiencing a death on life insurance ownership," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 170-176.
    6. Caferra, Rocco, 2020. "Good vibes only: The crypto-optimistic behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    7. Huber, Jürgen & Palan, Stefan & Zeisberger, Stefan, 2019. "Does investor risk perception drive asset prices in markets? Experimental evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    8. Fisher, Patti J. & Yao, Rui, 2017. "Gender differences in financial risk tolerance," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 191-202.
    9. Gylfi Magnusson, 2019. "It is not SAD if you Sell in May: Seasonal Effects in Stock Markets Revisited," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 585-604, October.
    10. Kamstra, Mark J. & Kramer, Lisa A. & Levi, Maurice D., 2012. "A careful re-examination of seasonality in international stock markets: Comment on sentiment and stock returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 934-956.
    11. Brian M. Lucey & Michael Dowling, 2005. "The Role of Feelings in Investor Decision‐Making," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 211-237, April.
    12. Saurabh, Samant & Dey, Kushankur, 2020. "Unraveling the relationship between social moods and the stock market: Evidence from the United Kingdom," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    13. Shlomo Benartzi & Richard H. Thaler, 2002. "How Much Is Investor Autonomy Worth?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1593-1616, August.
    14. Paul Gerrans & Robert Faff & Neil Hartnett & Henk Berkman, 2015. "Individual financial risk tolerance and the global financial crisis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(1), pages 165-185, March.
    15. Rendall, Stella & Brooks, Chris & Hillenbrand, Carola, 2021. "The impacts of emotions and personality on borrowers’ abilities to manage their debts," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    16. Campara, Jessica & Da Costa, Newton & Matsushita, Raul & Da Silva, Sergio, 2021. "Two selves and two minds in a longitudinal survey of risk attitudes," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    17. Daniel Kahneman & Peter P. Wakker & Rakesh Sarin, 1997. "Back to Bentham? Explorations of Experienced Utility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 375-406.
    18. Brooks, Chris & Sangiorgi, Ivan & Hillenbrand, Carola & Money, Kevin, 2019. "Experience wears the trousers: Exploring gender and attitude to financial risk," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 483-515.
    19. John E. Grable & Michael J. Roszkowski, 2008. "The influence of mood on the willingness to take financial risks," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(7), pages 905-923, October.
    20. Gurdgiev, Constantin & O’Loughlin, Daniel, 2020. "Herding and anchoring in cryptocurrency markets: Investor reaction to fear and uncertainty," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    21. Nofsinger, John R., 2001. "The impact of public information on investors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 1339-1366, July.
    22. Daifeng Li & Yintian Wang & Andrew Madden & Ying Ding & Jie Tang & Gordon Guozheng Sun & Ning Zhang & Enguo Zhou, 2019. "Analyzing stock market trends using social media user moods and social influence," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 70(9), pages 1000-1013, September.
    23. Robert Faff & Terrence Hallahan & Michael McKenzie, 2009. "Nonlinear linkages between financial risk tolerance and demographic characteristics," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(13), pages 1329-1332.
    24. repec:eme:mfppss:v:42:y:2016:i:6:p:536-552 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Linh Nguyen & Gerry Gallery & Cameron Newton, 2019. "The joint influence of financial risk perception and risk tolerance on individual investment decision‐making," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 59(S1), pages 747-771, April.
    26. Mudalige, Priyantha & Duong, Huu Nhan & Kalev, Petko S. & Gupta, Kartick, 2020. "Who trades in competing firms around earnings announcements," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    27. Li, Wei & Rhee, Ghon & Wang, Steven Shuye, 2017. "Differences in herding: Individual vs. institutional investors," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 174-185.
    28. Van de Venter, Gerhard & Michayluk, David & Davey, Geoff, 2012. "A longitudinal study of financial risk tolerance," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 794-800.
    29. Valery Polkovnichenko, 2005. "Household Portfolio Diversification: A Case for Rank-Dependent Preferences," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1467-1502.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Caterina Cruciani & Gloria Gardenal & Giuseppe Amitrano, 2022. "Risk Tolerance Tools: From Academia to Regulation and Back," Springer Books, in: Understanding Financial Risk Tolerance, chapter 0, pages 39-78, Springer.
    2. Anbar, Adem & Eker, Melek, 2019. "The Effect of Sociodemographic Variables and Love of Money on Financial Risk Tolerance of Bankers," Business and Economics Research Journal, Uludag University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, vol. 10(4), pages 855-866, July.
    3. John Grable & Eun Jin Kwak & Martha Fulk & Aditi Routh, 2022. "A Simplified Measure of Investor Risk Aversion," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 34(1), pages 7-34, January.
    4. Goodell, John W. & Kumar, Satish & Rao, Purnima & Verma, Shubhangi, 2023. "Emotions and stock market anomalies: A systematic review," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    5. Lepori, Gabriele M., 2015. "Investor mood and demand for stocks: Evidence from popular TV series finales," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 33-47.
    6. Kim, Jae H., 2017. "Stock returns and investors' mood: Good day sunshine or spurious correlation?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 94-103.
    7. Blake, David & Duffield, Mel & Tonks, Ian & Haig, Alistair & Blower, Dean & MacPhee, Laura, 2022. "Smart defaults: Determining the number of default funds in a pension scheme," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(4).
    8. Zamri Ahmad & Haslindar Ibrahim & Jasman Tuyon, 2017. "Institutional investor behavioral biases: syntheses of theory and evidence," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(5), pages 578-603, May.
    9. Biswajit Prasad Chhatoi & Munmun Mohanty, 2023. "Discriminants of risk tolerance among Indian investors: a dichotomous discriminant approach," International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 15(1), pages 112-134.
    10. Zandri Dickason-Koekemoer & Sune Ferreira-Schenk, 2022. "Constructing a Model for Domain-specific Risk-taking, Life Satisfaction and Risk Tolerance of Investors," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 12(4), pages 84-90, July.
    11. Pedersen, Michael, 2019. "Anomalies in macroeconomic prediction errors–evidence from Chilean private forecasters," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 1100-1107.
    12. Kliger, Doron & Qadan, Mahmoud, 2019. "The High Holidays: Psychological mechanisms of honesty in real-life financial decisions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 121-137.
    13. Insoo Cho & Peter F. Orazem, 2021. "How endogenous risk preferences and sample selection affect analysis of firm survival," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1309-1332, April.
    14. Su, Yuandong & Lu, Xinjie & Zeng, Qing & Huang, Dengshi, 2022. "Good air quality and stock market returns," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    15. Stefano DellaVigna, 2009. "Psychology and Economics: Evidence from the Field," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 315-372, June.
    16. Christopher Boyce & Mikolaj Czajkowski & Nick Hanley & Charles Noussair & Michael Townsend & Steve Tucker, 2015. "The effects of emotions on preferences and choices for public goods," Discussion Papers in Environment and Development Economics 2015-08, University of St. Andrews, School of Geography and Sustainable Development.
    17. Yoshiro Tsutsui & Iku Tsutsui-Kimura, 2022. "How does risk preference change under the stress of COVID-19? Evidence from Japan," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 191-212, April.
    18. Tracey West & Andrew Worthington, 2014. "Macroeconomic Conditions and Australian Financial Risk Attitudes, 2001–2010," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 263-277, June.
    19. Levy, Tamir & Yagil, Joseph, 2011. "Air pollution and stock returns in the US," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 374-383, June.
    20. Brian C. Payne & Jiri Tresl & Geoffrey C. Friesen, 2018. "Sentiment and Stock Returns," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(6), pages 843-872, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:qrfmpp:qrfm-01-2021-0006. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.