Blessing or Curse? The Influence of Neobrokers on the Investment Behavior of Young Investors

Abstract

My thesis addresses the topic related to the impact of neobrokers on the investment behavior of investors. I deal with the questions of which target groups are particularly attracted by neobrokers, for which investment strategies neobrokers are primarily used, and to what extent the design of the neobroker applications plays a significant role in the investment decisions of its users. Based on my online-based questionnaire, it can be determined that neobroker customers are predominantly younger and willing to take more risk compared to customers of branch or direct banks. Moreover, neobrokers are used for short-term investments and not for retirement planning. Here, the design of neobroker applications has a decisive influence on the trading behavior of its users. Not only is the risk of shares assessed differently due to the representations of the stock prices within the neobroker applications but buys as well as sells are carried out more frequently using neobrokers than in comparison to traditional broker providers. Ultimately, I also show that a learning section including a knowledge check of the newly acquired financial expertise within the neobroker applications is perceived as helpful by its users as it is for customers of traditional financial service providers.

Keywords: Neobroker; Trading; Fintech; Attention-grabbing.