FACTORS AFFECTING PARTICIPATION IN THE STOCK MARKET AMONG EMPLOYED PEOPLE IN VIJAYAWADA

Author

Chundru Sai Akhil, DR. D.Praveena Devi


Abstract

 Participation in the securities market is one possible route through which households can take part in long-term economic growth. Nevertheless, many Indian households continue to depend mainly on familiar savings options such as bank deposits, gold, insurance and property. This paper examines the conditions that may encourage or discourage employed people in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, from investing in shares, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. It brings together household-finance research, behavioural-finance concepts and Indian market evidence to develop a framework around six broad influences: financial knowledge, perceived risk, demographic and financial circumstances, institutional trust, social influence, and digital access and transaction costs.

The paper uses a descriptive and quantitative research design. Secondary material is reviewed to establish the wider context, while a structured questionnaire is proposed for a future survey of employed residents or workers in Vijayawada. The planned instrument uses five-point agreement scales and includes questions about investment participation, reasons for non-participation and respondents’ information sources. The proposed analysis includes descriptive statistics, reliability assessment, tests of association and regression techniques. Since primary responses have not yet been collected, the paper does not present city-level survey results as established findings. Instead, it identifies the evidence currently available, explains the relationships that the survey is intended to test and provides a format for reporting results after data collection.

The secondary literature suggests that awareness and actual investment are not the same. Knowledge gaps, concern about losses, uncertainty about intermediaries, family responsibilities and difficulty evaluating online advice can all affect a person’s decision. The paper argues that responsible participation is more likely to be supported by practical financial education, transparent services, realistic understanding of risk and accessible investor protection than by promotional messages alone.


Keywords

stock market participation, employed individuals, financial literacy, risk perception, investor trust, behavioural finance, digital investment, Vijayawada



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References


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