Från flöde till förvärv : En kvantitativ studie om sociala mediers betydelse för privatinvesterares investeringsbeslut

Sammanfattning

The purpose of this study is to examine the significance of social media for private investors’ investment decisions. In this study, influence is understood as respondents’ self-reported and perceived influence, as well as statistical associations between different variables. The study therefore does not aim to establish causal effects. The study is based on a quantitative survey of 113 private investors in Stockholm. The empirical material is analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and Cramér’s V. The results show that own analysis remains the most important basis for investment decisions, as 68.1 percent of the respondents identify it as a central source of information. At the same time, the results show that social media has significance in the decision-making process. For example, 53.1 percent of the respondents state that they have, to some extent, purchased an asset after seeing it discussed on social media. The study also shows that less experienced investors use social media as investment input to a greater extent than more experienced investors. Furthermore, exposure to financial influencers shows the strongest association with perceived influence. However, no statistically significant association was found between gender and the most important source of information. The study concludes that social media does not replace private investors’ own analysis, but rather functions as a complementary source of information. Social media mainly appears to have significance by creating attention, spreading investment ideas and making other investors’ behavior more visible.