International Journal of Educational Review, Law And Social Sciences (IJERLAS)
Vol. 5 No. 5 (2025): September

FOMO AND GEN Z INVESTMENT BEHAVIOR: A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON EMOTIONAL BIAS IN FINANCE

Faris Ramadhan (Unknown)
Etty Sri Wahyuni (Unknown)
Adnan Suhardis (Unknown)
Robin (Unknown)
Sumantri (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
06 Sep 2025

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates how Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) influences Generation Z investment behavior and emotional bias in financial decision-making processes. The research employed an interpretive phenomenological approach with in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted among Generation Z investors in Indonesia to understand the psychological mechanisms underlying FOMO-driven investment decisions. Systematic thematic analysis revealed three primary themes: FOMO as an emotional investment driver, social media influence creating information asymmetry, and financial literacy functioning as a complex moderating factor. The findings demonstrate that FOMO operates as a powerful emotional compulsion that systematically overrides rational decision-making processes, with social media exposure to peers' investment success serving as the most potent trigger for impulsive investment behavior. A significant "information paradox" emerged where participants heavily rely on low-credibility sources such as financial influencers while underutilizing high-credibility alternatives like official company reports, prioritizing accessibility over accuracy. The relationship between financial literacy and FOMO vulnerability proved non-linear, with medium literacy levels paradoxically increasing overconfidence bias while high literacy enabled sophisticated rationalization of emotional decisions. These findings contribute to behavioral finance theory by revealing how digital-social contexts amplify emotional biases beyond traditional market psychology models, suggesting that conventional financial education approaches may be insufficient for addressing emotionally-driven decision-making among digital-native generations.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

IJERLAS

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Environmental Science Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Library & Information Science Social Sciences Other

Description

This journal accepts articles on results of the research in fields of Education, Cross Culture, Law, Environmental Empowerment which are the latest issues from the results of activities or practical implementations that are problem solving, comprehensive, meaningful, latest and sustainable findings ...