Article Details
  • Published Online:
    July  2026
  • Product Name:
    The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices
  • Product Type:
    Article
  • Product Code:
    IJARAP090726
  • DOI:
    10.71329/IUPJARAP/2026.25.3.160-186
  • Author Name:
    Leena Chhabra and Niti Nandini Chatnani
  • Availability:
    YES
  • Subject/Domain:
    Finance
  • Download Format:
    PDF
  • Pages:
    160-186
Volume 25, Issue 3, July-September 2026
Investor Attention and Trading Behavior in Stock Markets: A Bibliometric Perspective
Abstract

The paper uses bibliometric analysis to map the research landscape of investor attention, stock selection, trading decisions and their market implications. Based on the bibliographic details of 305 papers published from 1973 to 2025, the study provides key insights on influential authors, journals, countries, articles, collaboration structure and research themes. It is found that investor attention is a significant factor affecting stock volatility, liquidity and price crash risk. Individual investors, being naïve, are driven by various attention-grabbing events and easily accessible information. They often indulge in excessive buying or noise trading, resulting in increased volatility. However, access to accounting information improves the informativeness of trades and reduces crash risk. An integrated framework and future research recommendations conclude the study.

Introduction

The branch of scholarly literature examining the rise of retail investor participation in stock markets worldwide focuses on investor attention as a key determinant of their trading decisions. Attention is the ability of individuals to selectively focus on some stimuli while ignoring others (Kahneman, 1973). Since attention is a limited resource, its allocation is driven by various factors, including the efforts required for the given tasks. Anything unique, complicated, or different requires higher processing effort than a routine activity, and the allocation of attention may shift as the new information is found. In line with this, investor attention represents the limited ability of investors to attend to a piece of information. Such attention influences the stock selection and trading decisions of retail investors, which consequently impacts stock market activity (Barber et al., 2009).