برند های بورس اوراق بهادار به عنوان یک تاثیرگذار در رفتار سرمایه گذار Stock exchange brands as an influence on investor behavior

Introduction Scholars in behavioral finance have expended considerable effort in trying to understand investment choices. Much of this research has focused on the decision-making behavior of the actors involved in the financial markets, particularly the institutional investors who account for the bulk of the activity (Gabaix et al., 2006; Gompers and Metrick, 2001). One strand within this research, at the finance and marketing interface, has investigated the effect of brands and brand variables in investment choices, both for individual and institutional investors (Frieder and Subrahmanyan, 2005; Huberman, 2001; Keloharju et al., 2012). The basic rationale underlying this research is that perceptions and sentiments towards corporate brands in the wider market spill over into investments in the stock market. For instance, prestigious brands (Billett et al., 2014; Frieder and Subrahmanyan, 2005), brands with high familiarity (Huberman, 2001); with high advertising spend (Grullon et al., 2004); brands with loyal customers (Keloharju et al., 2012), with high customer satisfaction, and a strong corporate reputation (Himme and Fischer, 2014), have been found to be more likely to be chosen as equity investments. While these studies have made an important contribution in identifying the link between consumer behavior and investor behavior, and the significant role of brands in both arenas, they ignore the influence of the intermediaries, the financial markets — and particularly the stock exchanges, through which the investment decisions are transacted. This research addresses a gap in the literature by approaching stock exchanges as brands that need to develop compelling value propositions and to promote themselves to potential customers/investors (Jansson and Power, 2006; Kokosalakis et al., 2006). In this sense, it brings the marketing and finance disciplines together, by exchanging research approaches between the two. It begins by considering the evidence on investor behavior from the finance and marketing literatures. It then develops a model of investor-based brand equity adapted from the well-known customer-based brand equity model developed by Aaker (1992). This research model is tested via an online survey of actual and potential private investors in two stock markets – Turkey and Ireland. The nature of the suggested interaction is discussed in the final section, together with the managerial implications of these findings.