THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL FACTORS AND SUBJECTIVE NORMS ON INVESTMENT DECISION-MAKING: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GEN Z AND MILLENNIALS

Investment decision-making is increasingly influenced by social surroundings, especially in an environment shaped by digital media, peer interaction, family guidance, and widespread access to financial information. The present study examined the influence of social factors and subjective norms on investment decision-making among Gen Z and Millennial respondents. The study was based on primary data collected from 480 respondents and analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS 4. The findings show that social factors significantly influence investment decision-making directly and also affect perceived behavioral control and subjective norms. Subjective norms also significantly influence investment decision-making in both generations. However, the multigroup analysis indicates that the path differences between Gen Z and Millennials are not statistically significant. The study concludes that social influence is an important determinant of investment behavior, but this influence operates in a broadly similar way across both generations. These findings support earlier literature highlighting the relevance of social influence, behavioral context, and normative pressure in financial decision-making Alshebami and Aldhyani (2022), Ikhsan and Wulandari (2024), Singh et al. (2025), Thanki et al. (2025).