Investigating the Effect of ePWOM on Trading among University Students in BURSAMKTPLC Simulation: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

This paper aims to propose a conceptual mechanism to explain university students' intention to perform online financial trading under the influence of social media networking sites (SNSs) by integrating the technology acceptance model and the theory of planned behaviour and the concept of electronic positive word-of-mouth (ePWOM). Making a profit or loss during the trading simulation may influence respondents' attitudes and intentions to perform online financial trading. In designing a financial platform, practitioners' focus should be on efficiency, user-friendliness, and providing functions that improve the usefulness of the platform. Nonetheless, great emphasis should be given to studying the impact of ePWOM on trading activities. Another implication is to be aware of the importance of prior experience and education in improving students' use of financial platforms. Thus, improving consumers' knowledge and skills of online trading would increase their market participation. A contribution of this study is to explore the mechanism that drives students' intention to use online trading along with the influence of ePWOM. More specifically, the current study integrates the three theories mentioned and examined how emotional and cognitive factors can inform students' behaviour, specifically, intention to perform online trading in the future