Economics and Digital Business Review
Vol. 7 No. 1 (2026)

The Use of Generative AI in Investment and Budgeting Decision-Making Among Business Students: A Qualitative Analysis of Public Digital Artifacts

Aldo Franco Karinda (Universitas Klabat, Indonesia)
Harke Revo Leonard Polii (Universitas Klabat, Indonesia)
Rifal Richard Pangemanan (Pakistan Adventist Seminary and College, Pakistan)



Article Info

Publish Date
06 Apr 2026

Abstract

This study analyzes how public digital artifacts relevant to the context of business students frame the use of generative AI in investment and budgeting decisions, how trust and risk perceptions toward AI outputs are represented, and how norms of use are displayed in the digital ecology. The study uses a qualitative approach through a thematic-interpretive analysis of public digital artifacts from TikTok, X, Threads, YouTube, and Stockbit during January 2025–February 2026. The final analytical corpus consists of 44 selected public entries, which include 39 cross-platform primary digital artifacts and 5 contextually reinforcing sources of limited use. The discussion of the themes relies primarily on primary artifacts on YouTube, X, and Stockbit, while TikTok and Threads are used primarily to clarify the digital norm ecology. The analysis yields four main patterns: AI is interpreted as a financial co-pilot ; trust in AI is selective and contextual; verification and affirmation of human judgment become norms of use; and digital spaces play a role in both normalizing and limiting the use of AI. These findings suggest that financial behavior in the context of business students in the AI era is more appropriately understood as a digital representation shaped by the interaction between economic rationality, calibration of trust in technology, and digital communication culture

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

ecotal

Publisher

Subject

Decision Sciences, Operations Research & Management Economics, Econometrics & Finance

Description

Economics and Digital Business Review, is published by STIE Amkop Makassar in 2020, with registered number ISSN : 2774-2563 (Online), is a peer-reviewed journal published Economics and Digital Business Review published two times a year (January & July) by STIE Amkop Makassar, It provides an academic ...