The Relationship between Expected Return, Fear of Missing Out, and Gold Speculative Motives: Evidence from Individual Investors in Ho Chi Minh City

This study examines the mechanisms underlying the relationships among expected return, fear of missing out (FOMO), and gold speculative motivation among individual investors in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, was adopted, with survey data collected from 268 individual investors. The empirical data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) via SPSS 26 and AMOS 24. The findings indicate that all hypothesized relationships in the proposed model are statistically significant, providing empirical evidence on the mechanisms underlying gold speculative motivation. In addition, financial knowledge, herding behavior, and social influence are identified as important factors shaping investors' perceptions, expectations, and psychological responses. Theoretically, this study contributes to the behavioral finance literature by providing further empirical evidence on investor behavior in emerging economies. From a practical perspective, the findings offer useful implications for policymakers in enhancing financial knowledge, mitigating the adverse effects of herding behavior, and promoting more prudent, informed, and sustainable gold investment behavior.