📄 Abstract
The rapid expansion of social media platforms has transformed the manner in which retail investors access, evaluate, and utilize financial information for investment decision-making. Finfluencers have emerged as significant digital information providers, influencing investors through the quality, credibility, usefulness, and social acceptance of the content they share. This study examines the influence of Information Quality, Information Credibility, Information Usefulness, and Social Influence on the Investment Behaviour of retail investors in Karnataka. A quantitative research approach employing a cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study. Primary data were collected from 182 retail investors using a structured questionnaire developed from validated measurement scales. Prior to conducting multiple regression analysis, multicollinearity diagnostics were performed using Tolerance and Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) statistics to examine the independence of the predictor variables. The diagnostic results indicated that all independent variables satisfied the prescribed threshold values, confirming the absence of multicollinearity and establishing the suitability of the regression model for further analysis. The findings demonstrate that the selected predictor variables provide distinct and non-overlapping explanatory information regarding investment behaviour, thereby ensuring the stability and reliability of the regression estimates. The study contributes to the growing literature on digital financial communication by highlighting the significance of information-related and social factors in shaping retail investors' behavioural decisions in an increasingly technology-driven investment environment. The findings offer valuable implications for finfluencers, financial institutions, policymakers, and regulatory authorities by emphasizing the importance of providing accurate, credible, useful, and socially relevant financial information through digital platforms. The study also provides a methodological contribution by validating the absence of multicollinearity among the predictor variables, thereby strengthening the robustness of the proposed regression model and offering a reliable framework for future research examining the determinants of investment behaviour in the context of social media-driven financial communication.
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📚 How to Cite:
Vijayashree S G , Pooja Takalkar , IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA FINANCIAL INFLUENCERS ON INVESTMENT CHOICES , Volume 12 , Issue 7, July 2026, EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) , Pages: 187 - 197 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra28617