Behavioral Finance in the Banking Industry : Trends, Challenges, and Research Perspectives

This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of behavioral finance research within the context of banking and management from 2001 to 2025. Drawing on a dataset of 1,626 peer-reviewed publications retrieved from Scopus, the analysis utilizes VOSviewer to map publication trends, country and journal contributions, collaboration networks, and evolving research themes. The results reveal a sustained and accelerating growth in scholarly output, with the field transitioning from foundational studies of cognitive biases and market anomalies to contemporary topics such as digitalization, FinTech adoption, and risk management in financial institutions. The United States, India, China, and the United Kingdom emerge as leading contributors, while specialized journals such as the Journal of Behavioral Finance and the Journal of Banking and Finance play central roles in scholarly dissemination. Cluster and keyword analyses highlight the expanding intellectual structure of the field, identifying major research streams on cognitive biases, digital transformation, investor sentiment, and the intersection of behavioral finance with new technologies. The findings underscore the importance of behavioral insights for improving decision-making, risk management, and financial product innovation in the banking industry. The study also emphasizes the growing need for interdisciplinary collaboration and advanced analytical methods to address emerging challenges in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.

Behavioral finance, Banking, Bibliometric analysis, Risk management

1. Aftab, R., Fazal, A., & Andleeb, R. (2025). Behavioral biases and FinTech adoption: Investigating the role of financial literacy. Acta Psychologica, 257, 105065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105065 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Akerlof, G. A., & Shiller, R. J. (2009). Animal spirits: How human psychology drives the economy, and why it matters for global capitalism. Princeton University Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Altunbaş, Y., Gambacorta, L., & Marqués-Ibáñez, D. (2012). Do bank characteristics influence the effect of monetary policy on bank risk? Economics Letters, 117(1), 220–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2012.04.106 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Assoe, K., Mbengue, M. L., Sène, B., & Sy, O. (2025). Herding behavior in African stock markets: A state-space assessment during times of crisis. Finance Research Letters, 79, 107208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.107208 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Bacha, S., & Azouzi, M. A. (2019). How gender and emotions bias the credit decision-making in banking firms. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 22, 183–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2019.03.004 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Baker, S. R., Bloom, N., Davis, S. J., Kost, K., Sammon, M., & Viratyosin, T. (2020). The unprecedented stock market reaction to COVID-19. The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, 10(4), 742–758. https://doi.org/10.1093/rapstu/raaa008 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Barberis, N., & Thaler, R. (2003). A survey of behavioral finance. In G. M. Constantinides, M. Harris, & R. M. Stulz (Eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance (Vol. 1, pp. 1053–1128). Elsevier. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Chen, D. L., Moskowitz, T. J., & Shue, K. (2016). Decision-making under the gambler’s fallacy: Evidence from asylum judges, loan officers, and baseball umpires. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(3), 1181–1241. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjw017 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Corzo, T., Hernán, R., & Pedrosa, G. (2024). Behavioral finance in a hundred keywords. Heliyon, 10(16), e35979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35979 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. DellaVigna, S. (2018). Structural behavioral economics. In B. D. Bernheim, S. DellaVigna, & D. Laibson (Eds.), Handbook of Behavioral Economics: Foundations and Applications 1 (Vol. 1, pp. 613–723). North-Holland. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Goodell, J. W. (2020). COVID-19 and finance: Agendas for future research. Finance Research Letters, 35, 101512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2020.101512 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Hirshleifer, D. (2015). Behavioral finance. Annual Review of Financial Economics, 7(1), 133–159. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-financial-092214-043752 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Ho, P.-H., Huang, C.-W., Lin, C.-Y., & Yen, J.-F. (2016). CEO overconfidence and financial crisis: Evidence from bank lending and leverage. Journal of Financial Economics, 120(1), 194–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2015.04.007 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Kahneman, D. (2003). Maps of bounded rationality: Psychology for behavioral economics. American Economic Review, 93(5), 1449–1475. https://doi.org/10.1257/000282803322655392 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Kirimhan, D., Payne, J. E., & AlKhazali, O. (2024). Herd behavior in U.S. bank stocks. Finance Research Letters, 67, 105930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2024.105930 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Kumar, S., & Goyal, N. (2015). Behavioral biases in investment decision making – a systematic literature review. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 7(1), 88–108. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRFM-07-2014-0022 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Paule-Vianez, J., Gómez-Martínez, R., & Prado-Román, C. (2020). A bibliometric analysis of behavioural finance with mapping analysis tools. European Research on Management and Business Economics, 26(2), 71–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedeen.2020.01.001 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Shiller, R. J. (2003). From efficient markets theory to behavioral finance. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(1), 83–104. https://doi.org/10.1257/089533003321164967 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Singh, B. (2021). Factors influencing the investment choices of retail investors in the Indian stock market. Review of Behavioral Finance. Advance online publication. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Statman, M. (2019). Behavioral finance: The second generation. CFA Institute Research Foundation. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Zhu, Y., & Jin, S. (2023). How does the digital transformation of banks improve efficiency and environmental, social, and governance performance? Systems, 11(7), Article 374. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems11070374 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Impact of Foreign Direct Investment in India
• Issues Involved in Digitalisation Special Reference to Indian Tourism Growth
• Relationship Marketing and Customer Loyalty in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Industry in Nairobi County
• Financial Literacy or Financial Inclusion? Which is Which, What is What—To Achieve Uganda’s 10-Fold Economic Growth By 2040
• Harnessing Natural Gas for Economic Transformation: Overcoming the Regulatory and Infrastructural Bottlenecks in Nigeria