This study investigated the impact of positive and negative affective cues on an investor’s intentions to purchase stock, and the moderating effect of cognitive cues on the relationship between the valence of affective cues and an investor’s intentions to purchase stocks. To
further explore the moderating effect, this study investigated whether and when the effect of cognitive cues on an investor’s purchase intentions could outweigh the effect of affective cues as the number of cognitive cues increased. Four experiments were conducted to test the
hypotheses. Study One confirmed the effect of corporate image as an affective cue on investors’ stock buying decisions. The findings of Study Two indicated that a single piece of negative financial information had a significant influence on the effect of corporate image on stock
buying intentions, while the effect of a single piece of positive financial information did not. The findings of Study Three provided preliminary indications of the quantity of financial information necessary for corporate image to undergo psychological decay, and suggested that an affect heuristic could be lessened or eliminated when the intensity of cognitive evaluations is stronger. To eliminate the possible confounding effects observed in Study Three, the good (bad) financial information in Study Four was described as 15% above (below) the same period of last year, respectively. As expected, the findings of Study Four were similar to those of Study Three. Therefore, Study Four confirmed that the effect of cognitive cues on an investor’s purchase intentions could outweigh the effect of affective cues as the number of cognitive cues increased.