The perils of overconfidence: Why many consumers fail to seek advice when they really should

David R. Lewis ()
Additional contact information
David R. Lewis: Ryerson University

Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 2018, vol. 23, issue 2, No 3, 104-111

Abstract: Abstract Consumers regularly make decisions. Some of these decisions are relatively simple, such as a selecting a jam or a coffee, where the choice is entirely subjective. Others, such as investment decision-making, are risky, complex, consequential, and there is a normatively optimal choice. Seeking advice from an expert is a reasonable solution in these circumstances, and yet a minority of investors turn to a professional for advice. As an alternative to human advisors, technology is increasingly being harnessed to provide effective and low-cost advice to assist consumers in making decisions. In a retail context, these are shop bots and search engines often used on a mobile phone while shopping. In an investment context, these are frequently referred to as “robo-advisors”. Examining consumer intention to seek advice in an investment context, the current study demonstrates that, among numerous factors examined, unfounded confidence was the best indicator of consumer reluctance to seek advice. Robo-advisors, as artificial intelligence agents providing financial literacy instruction and impartial expert advice, may offer a solution.

Keywords: Advice; Consumer financial decision-making; Objective knowledge; Subjective knowledge; Confidence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41264-018-0048-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:jofsma:v:23:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1057_s41264-018-0048-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41264

DOI: 10.1057/s41264-018-0048-7

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Financial Services Marketing is currently edited by Tina Harrison

More articles in Journal of Financial Services Marketing from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().