What drives the investment intentions of emerging economy millennials? Examining the effect of financial advertisement with the PLS-SEM

The financial service sector involves high-risk and uncertain elements that make financial decision-making challenging; thus, information sources act as facilitators. The present study analyzed the effects of financial advertisements on investors’ behavioral intentions with perceived risk acting as a mediator and gender and marital status as moderating variables. The study empirically validates the proposed conceptual model (based on Stimulus–Organism–Response) with the interrelationship between financial advertisement antecedents, perceived risk, and investors’ investment intentions. Data were collected from 481 respondents using the survey method and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). “Multigroup analysis (MGA)” was conducted to identify the gender and marital status intergroup moderating effects. The study confirms the significant relationship between informativeness and truthfulness with the perceived risk. The result found that credibility and truthfulness are significantly related to investor intention. In addition, the mediating effect of the perceived risk was found to be absent. Gender is moderating the relationship between credibility and investment intentions; informativeness and perceived risk; truthfulness and perceived risk, whereas marital status moderates the relationship between credibility and investment intentions; involvement and perceived risk; and truthfulness and perceived risk. The present study helps to understand millennial investment decision-making when they are exposed to various financial promotions and advertisements. This study provides insights to the government in policy framing regarding the financial advertisements essentials and disclosures that need to be focused on.