Abstract
We study the effect of gamification on retail traders' behavior using a randomized online experiment. Participants with lower financial literacy prefer platforms with hedonic gamification elements, such as confetti and achievement badges. On average, hedonic gamification increases trading volume by 5.17%. However, the difference in trading activity between gamified and non-gamified platforms is driven primarily by self-selection (70%) rather than gamification (30%). Participants who prefer hedonic gamification exhibit noisy trading strategies, while those favoring non-gamified platforms display stronger contrarian behavior. Further, price trend notifications enhance learning for investors with accurate beliefs, but reinforce trading mistakes for those with incorrect beliefs.
Marius Zoican
Associate Professor of Finance
I study the impact of (new) technology on securities exchanges and asset management, as well as how to leverage technological innovations to build a better market.