Fundamental and Applied Management Journal
Vol. 4 No. 3 (2026): September

Herding Behavior as a Moderator of Financial Literacy, Overconfidence, and Cryptocurrency Investment Decisions among University Students

Ni Komang Sri Kasuma Dewi (Universitas Pendidikan Nasional, Indonesia)
Komang Widhya Sedana Putra P (Universitas Pendidikan Nasional, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
15 Oct 2026

Abstract

The development of digital financial technology has increased university students’ participation in cryptocurrency investment, where decisions may be associated with financial knowledge, psychological bias, and social influence. This study examines the relationships between financial literacy, overconfidence, and cryptocurrency investment decisions and investigates whether herding behavior moderates these relationships. A quantitative explanatory approach was employed using data from 200 active university students in Bali who had previous or current cryptocurrency investment experience. Respondents were selected using purposive sampling, and data were collected through a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.0. The results show that financial literacy is positively associated with cryptocurrency investment decisions (β = 0.392; t = 8.745; p < 0.001), while overconfidence also shows a positive and significant relationship (β = 0.247; t = 4.865; p < 0.001). Herding behavior significantly moderates the relationship between financial literacy and investment decisions (β = 0.203; t = 4.146; p < 0.001) and between overconfidence and investment decisions (β = 0.133; t = 2.666; p = 0.008). The model explains 75.6% of the variance in cryptocurrency investment decisions. These findings indicate that financial knowledge, psychological confidence, and social influence are jointly associated with cryptocurrency investment decisions among university students.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

FAMJ

Publisher

Subject

Economics, Econometrics & Finance Social Sciences

Description

Strategic and Operations Management, addressing strategic decision-making, operational excellence, supply chain, process improvement, and performance management. Business and International Management, covering global strategy, cross-border operations, internationalization, and comparative management ...