Limited attention, salience of information and stock market activity Articles uri icon

publication date

  • May 2020

start page

  • 92

end page

  • 108

volume

  • 87

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0264-9993

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1873-6122

abstract

  • It is now widely recognized in the literature that individuals have limited attention and that salient informationplays a key role in individuals choices. We analyze the salience of two sources of information for investors:firm-specific and market. Salient information on firm and market levels is captured by 52-week highs and lowindicators while investor attention is filtered by Google web searches. Results show that web searches is a predic-tor of volume, volatility and returns, and the effects are stronger when using market information. Our findingshelp to better understand the sources of information that lead individuals in making investment decisions

subjects

  • Statistics

keywords

  • 52-week high prices; behavioral finance; google search volume index; investor attention; predictability; salience