Impact of Microblogging Platform on Investment Decisions in Retirement and Pension Products

Abstract

This research paper seeks to analyse the effects of microblogging, particularly involving websites like twitter and reddit, on investment decisions especially as they relate to retirement and pension. With the new digital interfaces helping the user to surf the internet more and more, microblogging sites have become important public spheres where individual investors, financial advisors, stock market experts and others are expressing opinions and analysis. This paper seeks to understand the implications and impact of the content shared on these platforms to investors’ decision making, perceived risk and confidence in retirement solutions. In this research, social media posts with topics on retirement investment are analyzed qualitatively while quantitative surveys are conducted on individual investors. The study reveals that microblogging platforms affect investors’ decisions in relation to perceived financial gains and implicated risks. But at the same time, this work also reveals threats resulting from increased influence of fake news and its instability factor and differing in content. The findings can be useful for financial planners, government officials and shareholders interested in exploring the impact of microblogging for decisions related to retirement investment and the possibility of using social media in raising people’s financial literacy and increasing their awareness.