ABSTRACTKeynes (The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Harcourt Brace and Co., New York, 1936) had rightfully argued that picking stocks is akin to a beauty contest. The chances of winning are amplified if one’s choice matches the likelihood of the panel’s choice. In this era of financialization, where profit-making has shifted to speculative sways rather than fundamental trade and commodity production measures (Krippner, Socio-Econ Rev 3(2):173–208, 2005), similar beauty contests have become even more acute. Online, real-time media channels along with pervasive investments applications have ushered in unprecedented online financial information and retail investor interest, ranging from dealing in penny stocks to sentiment-based trading. More than information sources, similar investment sites compete to recommend investment directions and strategies, not driven by strict fundamentals used by “arbitrageurs” or rational speculators but on pseudo-signals proffered by various information investment channels with varying degrees of credibility. This behavior, referred to herein as information activism, concomitantly adds a sociopsychological dimension to the concept of financialization (Lagoarde-Segot, Int Rev Financial Anal 2016) – wherein technology-driven information reach and range contribute to financial dominance of financial actors and practices. Using information activism as a lens, this research empirically evidences the extent to which information activism affects retail investor behavior under various market conditions. This study examines the differential effects of two primary, albeit reputable, sources of information activism: an investment news channel (CNBC – Mad Money) and an online financial blog (SeekingAlpha), and the effect on investor behavior during the 2008 financial crisis. In identifying the specific downstream effects of information activism on capital markets and investor behavior, factors related to investor behavior, such as trading volume and price reaction, are analyzed surrounding information activism events. Results indicate that retail investors appear to rely on online information activists during uncertain economic conditions. Findings denote that abnormal returns are associated with information activism during uncertain economic conditions and for buy recommendations when information asymmetry is high. Abnormal trading volume is also associated with information activism during economic uncertainty and with buy recommendations when information asymmetry is high particularly for stocks exchanges where unsophisticated investors tend to trade more heavily.

中文翻译：

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金融化时代的选美：信息激进主义与散户投资者行为

摘要凯恩斯（The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Harcourt Brace and Co., New York, 1936）正确地认为选股类似于选美比赛。如果一个人的选择与小组选择的可能性相匹配，那么获胜的机会就会放大。在这个金融化的时代，盈利已经转向投机性而非基本的贸易和商品生产措施（Krippner, Socio-Econ Rev 3(2):173–208, 2005），类似的选美比赛变得更加激烈. 在线实时媒体渠道以及无处不在的投资应用程序带来了前所未有的在线金融信息和散户投资者的兴趣，从低价股交易到基于情绪的交易。不仅仅是信息来源，类似的投资网站竞相推荐投资方向和策略，并非由“套利者”或理性投机者使用的严格基本面驱动，而是由各种可信度不同的信息投资渠道提供的伪信号驱动。这种行为，在本文中被称为信息激进主义，同时为金融化的概念增加了社会心理学维度（Lagoarde-Segot，Int Rev Financial Anal 2016）——其中技术驱动的信息范围和范围有助于金融参与者和实践的金融主导地位。本研究以信息激进主义为视角，实证证明了信息激进主义在各种市场条件下对散户投资者行为的影响程度。这项研究检查了两个主要的，尽管有信誉的，信息激进主义的来源：投资新闻频道（CNBC – Mad Money）和在线金融博客（SeekingAlpha），以及 2008 年金融危机期间对投资者行为的影响。在识别信息激进主义对资本市场和投资者行为的具体下游影响时，围绕信息激进主义事件分析与投资者行为相关的因素，如交易量和价格反应。结果表明，在不确定的经济条件下，散户投资者似乎依赖在线信息活动家。研究结果表明，在不确定的经济条件下，异常回报与信息激进主义以及在信息不对称程度高时的购买建议有关。