The Moderating Effect of Financial Literacy on the Relationship Between Decision-Making Tools and Equity Returns in the Indian Secondary Equity Market

Abstract

Decision-making in the complex equity market is a demanding task due to the vast amount of information available and the wide range of decision-making techniques to choose from. The financial literacy of the investors plays a prominent role in influencing their decision-making process. Though the Indian equity market is the third largest in Asia, only around 3% of Indian households invest in it. Therefore, the financial literacy level of Indian investor needs to be assessed to increase the stock market participation and earn higher returns. This study aims to determine the moderating effect of financial literacy on the relationship between the decision-making tools and equity returns in the Indian secondary equity market. The decision-making tools include fundamental analysis: (i) Economic analysis, (ii) industry analysis, (iii) company analysis, (iv) technical analysis, and (v) advocate recommendation. The data was gathered through a questionnaire survey method and via a valid sample of 436 questionnaires, the significance of the moderating effect was tested. Using the Process Macro plugin in SPSS, moderation analysis was conducted. The results reveal that financial literacy only moderated the relationship between economic analysis and equity returns.