Does Web Syndication Technology Facilitate Investor Decision Making?

ABSTRACT: Web syndication is an emerging technology that “feeds” website information to subscribers. It allows Internet users to collect, organize, and view frequently updated information from multiple sources effortlessly. We investigated whether using web syndication technology helps nonprofessional investors acquire and integrate relevant information which has been updated frequently and is from multiple sources when the investors make decisions. We obtained evidence of this new technology's effects using an experiment where subjects visited either a syndicated web page or a nonsyndicated web page and assessed two fictional companies' critical financial ratios and investment perspectives. Our results indicate that individuals who use syndication technology are more effective in acquiring relevant information updated frequently and integrating information for investment decision making than individuals who do not use such technology. The results suggest that web syndication may be used as an information integration tool for nonprofessional investors in assisting their decision making.