Money Attitude Typology and Stock Investment

Abstract

This study identifies segments of individual investors based on their money attitudes (attitude toward financial security, attitude toward stock investing, obsession with money, perceived immorality of the stock market, attitude toward gambling, interest in financial matters, attitude toward saving, frankness about finances). A cluster analysis of data from a representative mail survey conducted in Switzerland (N = 1,569) yielded four main segments of individual investors we term safe players, open books, money dummies, and risk-seekers. This typology has forecast value for behavior: Each type differed with regard to having investment portfolios, buying and selling securities, risk tolerance for maximization of capital, response to price fluctuations, and willingness to make environmentally and socially responsible investments.