Title: The main drivers of investment decision in the Malaysian Stock Exchange market: a PLS-SEM based approach

Authors: Amina Omrane; Shahab Aziz

Addresses: Management Department, University of Sfax, Tunisia; ECSTRA Research Centre, IHEC Carthage, Tunisia ' Business Studies Department, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract: As movements in the stock market have a considerable influence on the economic development and individual investors' behaviours; it is critical to pinpoint the main factors that may affect investors' decisions and their readiness (predisposition) to invest in the stock market. This paper deals with three key variables, i.e., perceived expected returns, herding behaviour, and perceived trust, and aims at examining their overall impacts on investor's attitudes towards investing in the stock market. The data were collected from a total number of 250 valid questionnaires administrated to Bursa Malaysian retail investors in 2019. They were subsequently analysed via the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. The overall findings revealed that investors' attitude towards information search mediates the relationship between three main independent variables, (i.e., perceived expected returns, herding behaviour, and perceived trust) and their investment decision. The implications of these results assist stakeholders in recognising the factors that are essential for investors' decision to invest in the stock market.

Keywords: perceived returns; perceived trust; attitude towards information search; herding behaviour; investment decision; Malaysian stock market.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2026.154684

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2026 Vol.52 No.3, pp.355 - 378

Received: 10 Jan 2022
Accepted: 23 Oct 2022
Published online: 10 Jul 2026 *

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