Authors : Nainsi Jaiswal; Anil Pratap Singh

Volume/Issue : Volume 10 - 2025, Issue 12 - December

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/bdha27ry

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/yc44y546

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/25dec563

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Abstract : The blistering digitalization of the Indian financial world has boosted the use of contemporary investment options like mutual funds, systematic investment plans (SIPs), exchange-traded funds (ETF), sovereign gold bonds (SGBs), digital gold and algorithmic trading systems. Although this change is taking place across the whole country, the behaviour of investors at the district level, especially in culturally based areas such as Varanasi has not been sufficiently investigated. This paper examines the awareness, perception, and behavioural intentions among 402 individual investors in Varanasi in regards to modern day investment tools. The structured questionnaire was utilized to gather data in the form of demographics and awareness, perception, and behavioural intention. The reliability test showed high internal consistency in all scales (Cronbach alpha 0.887, 25-item perception-behavioural scale). Sampling adequacy was confirmed by the value of the KMO of 0.867 and a very significant value based on the Bartletts test (p < 0.001). The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) identified five factors which include risk perception, return perception, trust, convenience, and behavioural intention to account all the 69.36 total variance. The use of descriptive statistics, tests that are not parametric and regression analysis demonstrated that awareness can be greatly influenced by age, education and income. Perception was strongly predicted by awareness and it appears that the most important determinant of behavioural intention was perception especially in terms of trust, convenience and risk assessment. The results highlight the significance of financial literacy, open online platforms, and focused education of investors to encourage the use of new channels of investments. This paper will bring to the literature on behavioural finance in the Indian setting and will provide some practical advice on policy, financial institutions and fintech platforms.

Keywords : Modern Investments; Investor Perception; Investor Awareness; Behavioural Intention.

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