Buy, Sell, or…Hold That Thought: The Impact of Task Interruption on Investor Decision-Making

Abstract

Task interruptions are ubiquitous and can systematically affect decision-making, even when they are nondiagnostic and thus irrelevant. We report the results of an experiment employing experienced investors as participants to solidify the theoretical foundation underpinning the impact of interruption on investor decision-making. We consider the joint effects of interruption and risk/return preferences on experienced investor decision-making, as well as the effectiveness of two theory-driven mitigating strategies. Consistent with the expanded Goal-Based Choice (GBC) Model, but, inconsistent with other theoretical explanations proposed to date, we provide evidence that interruption exacerbates the influence of risk/return preferences on investment decisions and that a mitigating strategy derived from the expanded GBC Model effectively eliminates this effect. Overall, the expanded GBC Model provides the best theoretical explanation for these phenomena, enhancing our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and the generalizability of prior research. JEL Classifications: M40; M41.