| Abstract: |
The proliferation of social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter (X), Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram has transformed the way retail investors in India access financial information, form beliefs about markets, and execute investment decisions. This paper examines the extent to which social media usage shapes investing behaviour among retail investors located in Faridabad, a rapidly urbanizing city in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India that combines a large salaried middle class, a growing base of small business owners, and an expanding pool of first-time equity and mutual fund investors. Drawing on behavioural finance theory and the information diffusion literature, the study develops a conceptual framework linking social media exposure to four behavioural outcomes: information-seeking, herding, overconfidence, and impulsive trading. A structured questionnaire administered to retail investors in Faridabad, combined with a review of secondary data from regulatory and industry sources, is prepared and illustrated with a representative analysis. The findings indicate that social media platforms have become a primary, and for younger investors often the dominant, source of investment-related information, that exposure to influencer content and peer discussion groups is positively associated with herding tendencies and self-reported overconfidence, and that the relationship between social media usage and portfolio outcomes is moderated by financial literacy. The paper concludes with recommendations for investors, financial educators, platform intermediaries, and regulators, and outlines the limitations of the present study along with directions for future research. |
