Lena Pellandini-Simanyi's Lead Agency Swiss National Science Foundation grant
Institute of Marketing and Communication Management
IMCA professor Lena Pellandini-Simanyi has won a Lead Agency Swiss National Science Foundation grant. The project, titled "Investing in Meaning: How Symbolic Meanings Shape Lay Investor stock Choices", will investigate whether lay investors' the stock choices serve as a form of self-expression - and a way to align one’s financial portfolio with personal values, beliefs, and social affiliations. For example, are fashion-conscious consumers more likely to choose shares of LVMH, parent company of Louis Vuitton, instead of shares of a bank or a sewage company? Does the fact that certain lay investors may consider Tesla or Elon Musk himself ‘cool’ impact their decision to acquire Tesla stocks? More generally: To what extent people are attracted to stocks whose meanings align with their self-image and aspirations? The project, led by Prof. Pellandini-Simanyi and co-PI Adam Hayes (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) will answer these questions using a mixed-methods research, combining theories of consumer behavior, economic sociology and finance.
