Behavioral Finance and Investment Decision: An Empirical Study of Individual Investors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.63345/ijrhs.net.v14.i8.6

Devesh Thakur

Research Scholar

Chaudhary Charan Singh University Meerut

Orcid id https://Orcid.org/0009-0004-6483-7712

Abstract— The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how numerous behavioral finance elements influence the choices that individual investors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) make about their investments or investments in general. The method of a five-point Likert questionnaire that was developed for 300 respondents was utilized in the research project. This was done in light of the fact that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in the process of developing its financial system, which includes a noticeable banking depth and an increased use of digital financial services. Investment activities in general have been considered, as opposed to stock market investment specifically. For the purpose of developing a framework for the analysis of the data, the research made use of a number of behavioral finance aspects, including overconfidence, herding, anchoring, loss aversion, representativeness, and financial literacy. According to the findings of the research, there is a good correlation between the behavior constructions and the choices about investments that are made, and the study also indicated that financial literacy has a beneficial influence on the quality of investment decisions. It is of the utmost importance to point out that the findings of the study provide a comprehensive explanation of the choices that were made about investments.

Keywords: Behavioral Finance, Investment Decision, Individual Investors, Behavioral Biases, Financial Literacy, Overconfidence, Herding, Anchoring, Loss Aversion, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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