IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v15y2022i8p353-d882960.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Algorithm Aversion as an Obstacle in the Establishment of Robo Advisors

Author

Listed:
  • Ibrahim Filiz

    (Faculty of Business, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Siegfried-Ehlers-Str. 1, D-38440 Wolfsburg, Germany)

  • Jan René Judek

    (Faculty of Business, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Siegfried-Ehlers-Str. 1, D-38440 Wolfsburg, Germany)

  • Marco Lorenz

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences, Georg August University Göttingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany)

  • Markus Spiwoks

    (Faculty of Business, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Siegfried-Ehlers-Str. 1, D-38440 Wolfsburg, Germany)

Abstract

Within the framework of a laboratory experiment, we examine to what extent algorithm aversion acts as an obstacle in the establishment of robo advisors. The subjects had to complete diversification tasks. They could either do this themselves or they could delegate them to a robo advisor. The robo advisor evaluated all the relevant data and always made the decision which led to the highest expected value for the subjects’ payment. Although the high level of efficiency in the robo advisor was clear to see, the subjects only entrusted their decisions to the robo advisor in around 40% of cases. In this way, they reduced their success and their payment. Many subjects orientated themselves towards the 1/n-heuristic, which also contributed to their suboptimal decisions. As long as the subjects had to make decisions for others, they noticeably made a greater effort and were also more successful than when they made decisions for themselves. However, this did not have an effect on their acceptance of robo advisors. Even when they made decisions on behalf of others, the robo advisor was only consulted in around 40% of cases. This tendency towards algorithm aversion among subjects is an obstacle to the broader establishment of robo advisors.

Suggested Citation

  • Ibrahim Filiz & Jan René Judek & Marco Lorenz & Markus Spiwoks, 2022. "Algorithm Aversion as an Obstacle in the Establishment of Robo Advisors," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-25, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:15:y:2022:i:8:p:353-:d:882960
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/15/8/353/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/15/8/353/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frank D. Hodge & Kim I. Mendoza & Roshan K. Sinha, 2021. "The Effect of Humanizing Robo‐Advisors on Investor Judgments," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 770-792, March.
    2. Eriksen, Kristoffer W. & Kvaløy, Ola & Luzuriaga, Miguel, 2020. "Risk-taking on behalf of others," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    3. Bolton, Gary E. & Ockenfels, Axel & Stauf, Julia, 2015. "Social responsibility promotes conservative risk behavior," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 109-127.
    4. Zhong Chu & Zhengwei Wang & Jing Jian Xiao & Weiqiang Zhang, 2017. "Financial Literacy, Portfolio Choice and Financial Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 799-820, June.
    5. Zulia Gubaydullina & Markus Spiwoks, 2015. "Correlation Neglect, Naïve Diversification, and Irrelevant Information as Stumbling Blocks for Optimal Diversification," Journal of Finance and Investment Analysis, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 4(2), pages 1-1.
    6. William N. Goetzmann & Alok Kumar, 2008. "Equity Portfolio Diversification," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 12(3), pages 433-463.
    7. Urs Fischbacher, 2007. "z-Tree: Zurich toolbox for ready-made economic experiments," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 10(2), pages 171-178, June.
    8. Kohei Kawaguchi, 2021. "When Will Workers Follow an Algorithm? A Field Experiment with a Retail Business," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(3), pages 1670-1695, March.
    9. Andrew Prahl & Lyn Van Swol, 2017. "Understanding algorithm aversion: When is advice from automation discounted?," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(6), pages 691-702, September.
    10. Zielonka, Piotr, 2004. "Technical analysis as the representation of typical cognitive biases," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 217-225.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Béatrice Boulu-Reshef & Alexis Direr & Nicole von Wilczur, 2022. "Algorithmic vs. Human Portfolio Choice," Working Papers hal-04638885, HAL.
    2. Cardillo, Giovanni & Chiappini, Helen, 2024. "Robo-advisors: A systematic literature review," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    3. Zhu, Hui & Vigren, Olli & Söderberg, Inga-Lill, 2024. "Implementing artificial intelligence empowered financial advisory services: A literature review and critical research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    4. Alexia GAUDEUL & Caterina GIANNETTI, 2023. "Trade-offs in the design of financial algorithms," Discussion Papers 2023/288, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    5. Béatrice Boulu-Reshef & Alexis Direr & Nicole von Wilczur, 2022. "Algorithmic vs. Human Portfolio Choice," Working Papers hal-04638885, HAL.
    6. Zulia Gubaydullina & Jan René Judek & Marco Lorenz & Markus Spiwoks, 2022. "Comparing Different Kinds of Influence on an Algorithm in Its Forecasting Process and Their Impact on Algorithm Aversion," Businesses, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-23, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Filiz, Ibrahim & Judek, Jan René & Lorenz, Marco & Spiwoks, Markus, 2021. "Reducing algorithm aversion through experience," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    2. Ploner, Matteo & Saredi, Viola, 2020. "Exploration and delegation in risky choices," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Barrafrem, Kinga & Hausfeld, Jan, 2020. "Tracing risky decisions for oneself and others: The role of intuition and deliberation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. Kirchler, Michael & Lindner, Florian & Weitzel, Utz, 2020. "Delegated investment decisions and rankings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    5. Ibrahim Filiz & Thomas Nahmer & Markus Spiwoks & Kilian Bizer, 2018. "Portfolio diversification: the influence of herding, status-quo bias, and the gambler’s fallacy," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 32(2), pages 167-205, May.
    6. Zulia Gubaydullina & Jan René Judek & Marco Lorenz & Markus Spiwoks, 2022. "Comparing Different Kinds of Influence on an Algorithm in Its Forecasting Process and Their Impact on Algorithm Aversion," Businesses, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-23, October.
    7. Filiz, Ibrahim & Nahmer, Thomas & Spiwoks, Markus & Gubaydullina, Zulia, 2020. "Measurement of risk preference," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    8. Yongping Bao & Ludwig Danwitz & Fabian Dvorak & Sebastian Fehrler & Lars Hornuf & Hsuan Yu Lin & Bettina von Helversen, 2022. "Similarity and Consistency in Algorithm-Guided Exploration," CESifo Working Paper Series 10188, CESifo.
    9. Celse, Jeremy & Karakostas, Alexandros & Zizzo, Daniel John, 2023. "Relative risk taking and social curiosity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 243-264.
    10. Stöckl, Thomas & Huber, Jürgen & Kirchler, Michael & Lindner, Florian, 2015. "Hot hand and gambler's fallacy in teams: Evidence from investment experiments," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 327-339.
    11. Buckle, Georgia E. & Füllbrunn, Sascha & Luhan, Wolfgang J., 2021. "Lying for others: The impact of agency on misreporting," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    12. Felix Bolduan & Ivo Schedlinsky & Friedrich Sommer, 2021. "The influence of compensation interdependence on risk-taking: the role of mutual monitoring," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(8), pages 1125-1148, October.
    13. Sascha Füllbrunn & Wolfgang J. Luhan, 2015. "Am I my Peer‘s Keeper? Social Responsibility in Financial Decision Making," Ruhr Economic Papers 0551, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    14. Cavalcanti, Carina & Fleming, Christopher & Leibbrandt, Andreas, 2022. "Risk externalities and gender: Experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 51-64.
    15. Eriksen, Kristoffer W. & Kvaløy, Ola & Luzuriaga, Miguel, 2020. "Risk-taking on behalf of others," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    16. Mahmud, Hasan & Islam, A.K.M. Najmul & Mitra, Ranjan Kumar, 2023. "What drives managers towards algorithm aversion and how to overcome it? Mitigating the impact of innovation resistance through technology readiness," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    17. Fochmann, Martin & Fochmann, Nadja & Kocher, Martin G. & Müller, Nadja, 2021. "Dishonesty and risk-taking: Compliance decisions of individuals and groups," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 250-286.
    18. Alexia Gaudeul, 2013. "Social preferences under uncertainty," Jena Economics Research Papers 2013-024, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    19. José J. Domínguez, 2021. "The Effectiveness of Committee Quotas; The Role of Group Dynamics," ThE Papers 21/12, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    20. Baghestanian, Sascha & Gortner, Paul J. & van der Weele, Joël J., 2015. "Peer effects and risk sharing in experimental asset markets," SAFE Working Paper Series 67, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, revised 2015.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:15:y:2022:i:8:p:353-:d:882960. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.