How Persistent are the Effects of Experience Sampling on Investor Behavior?

Abstract

Investor behavior was shown to be considerably different when the risk-return tradeoff is presented by experience sampling as opposed to a descriptive communication. We analyze the persistency of this difference in a setting in which investors are faced with multiple decisions over time and are consequently able to adjust the risk level they initially chose. For this we use an experimental setting with repeated investment decisions over multiple trading days, and we also test a new form of risk simulation in which wealth paths over time are presented rather than just final outcomes. After investors’ initial decisions, for which we confirm previous findings, we do not find persistent differences of simulation-based learning on investors’ risk-taking behavior. With regards to trading volume, only a simulation in which investors see wealth paths and not only final outcomes leads to lower trading frequency soon after the initial asset allocation.

Keywords: Behavioral finance, simulated experience, experience sampling, investment decision, risk communication, financial advice

JEL Classification: D81; G11