A STUDY ON INVESTOR AWARENESS AND PERCEPTION TOWARDS ALGORITHMIC TRADING IN GUJARAT

Abstract

Algorithmic trading accounts for a large share of the order flow on Indian stock exchanges, but many retail investors know little about how it works. This study examines the awareness and perception of investors towards algorithmic trading in Gujarat. The objectives were to measure the level of investor awareness towards algorithmic trading and to examine the relationship between investor awareness and perception. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale. A sample of 150 investors was drawn from Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot by simple random sampling. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, one-sample t test, independent samples t test, one-way ANOVA, chi-square test, Pearson correlation and simple linear regression. The results show that awareness of investors is at a moderate level (mean = 3.09), while their perception is favourable (mean = 3.48). Awareness differs significantly with investing experience, but not with gender, age or education. Awareness has a strong positive relationship with perception (r = 0.58, p < 0.001) and explains about 34 per cent of the variation in it. The study concludes that investor education by brokers, exchanges and regulators can raise awareness and support better informed views.