Stock Market Awareness Among Entrepreneurs in a Selected Rural Area in the Philippines

Abstract

The Philippines ranks number 13 in the list of countries by population. But, as researched, not even 1 percent of the Philippine population invests in the local stock market. And it has one of the lowest stock-market investment rates on a global comparison. A high level of awareness will surely give a vast advantage in the future economic performance of the country. That is a major reason why the researchers conducted this study which has the main objective aimed to determine the level of awareness on stock market trading of selected entrepreneurs in the locality of Lucban, Quezon, with the use of basic stock market trading terms and analyses. The researchers utilized a descriptive research design and an unstructured questionnaire as their primary instrument of gathering the data required. Corresponding to that, they have used stratified sampling to obtain the sample respondents. Furthermore, some of the statistical treatments that the researchers used were Slovin’s formula, weighted mean, z-test, and one-way ANOVA. The study shows that the majority of the 193 of the respondents are married women within the age range of 25-34, who has a bachelor’s degree. The researchers obtained results which led to the respondents being somewhat aware of the terms regarding stock market trading, specifically using the common stock market terms and analyses. There were significant differences in their awareness of stock market trading when grouped according to demographic factors. Given that the researchers used common stock market terms and analyses, the results still indicated that the respondents were only somewhat aware of the terms. With the perusal of these acquired results, the need of the respondents on more accessible information can be perceived. The researchers, as advocates of financial literacy, would make use of the research study as a basis for future seminars and supplementary information dissemination specifically educating about the stock market awareness.