The effects of trading apps on investment behavior over time

Abstract

We study the impact of trading app use on investment behavior over time. To this aim, we collect data from 503 participants, representative for German Neobroker users, Ex-Neobroker users and Neobroker usage planners, and from 537 participants, representative for German Neobroker users and general online-broker users. We compare Neobroker users and general investors by a number of aspects regarding demography and investment behavior. In particular, we find that Neobroker users are significantly younger, more risk tolerant, more likely to buy derivatives and gain a higher annual return (non-risk-adjusted) than general investors. In total, the financial literacy of Neobroker users increases over time. A worrying result is that the risk tolerance of Neobroker users rises significantly over time. We find that male Neobroker users gain a higher annual return (non-risk-adjusted) than female Neobroker users.