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Stream/Area:
-
Subject:
-
Paper ID:
IJSREM67955
Volume:
10 |
10 |
Oct 2026
Pages:
1-13
Publication Frequency:
Monthly (12 issues per year)
License:International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management follows the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) License, allowing free use and distribution with proper attribution.
Bachelor of Business Administration.
kl university
Bachelor of Business Administration.
kl university
Purpose. This research paper explores how people react to financial-market uncertainty, how they perceive the effect of financial-market uncertainty on the price of gold and on the returns on gold, whether they view gold as a protective (safe haven) investment and whether they believe that gold behaves differently during times of high and low uncertainty. Design. A quantitative, cross sectional survey was carried out in which a structured questionnaire comprised of 20 five point Likert items was included in four constructs. A convenience sampling was used to distribute 400 questionnaires and retain 98 questionnaires that were usable. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, one-sample t-test, Pearson correlation, chi-square test of independence, one-way ANOVA, simple and multiple linear regression were used for data analysis in Microsoft Excel. Findings. The mean for each of the four propositions—uncertainty affects gold prices (M = 3.78); uncertainty is related to gold returns (M = 3.53); uncertainty makes gold a safe-haven investment (M = 3.45); and uncertainty improves gold's relative performance in high-uncertainty periods (M = 3.57)—was significantly higher than the neutral value of 3 for each of the tests, with p < .001. However, none of the constructs were significantly related to each other (all regression models; p > .05; R² ranged from .001 to .054), group differences in ANOVA were non-significant except one that did not pass correction for multiple testing (p > .05; R² = .30), and internal consistency of the scales was low (α ranged from -0.18 to .30). The age group, stream of study and occupation were found to be associated with the prior investment in gold investing using chi-square tests whereas gender was not found to be associated with the prior investment in gold investing. Implications and limitations. Though perceptions have been strongly skewed toward gold as a protective asset, these are attitudinal perceptions based on a small convenience sample of mostly young engineering students, and not based on actual price behavior. Originality. The study provides evidence of individual-investor perception of India which complements the secondary market evidence in the literature.
KEYWORDS
Respondents perceive financial-market uncertainty as a significant driver of gold prices and returns, regard gold as a safe-haven investment, and believe it performs better when uncertainty is high; all four null hypotheses were rejected on the basis of the one-sample tests against the neutral value (p < .001). However, these perceptions were not statistically linked to each other in regression or correlation analysis, differed little across demographic groups, and were not associated with prior investment in gold. Prior investment was associated with age, income, stream and occupation. The evidence therefore supports the view that gold enjoys a strong reputation as a protective asset among the respondents, while it does not establish that this reputation is grounded in a coherent, structured belief system or in actual price behaviour.
1. Akhtaruzzaman, M., Boubaker, S., Lucey, B. M., & Sensoy, A. (2021). Is gold a hedge or a safe-haven asset in the COVID–19 crisis? Economic Modelling, 102, Article 105588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2021.105588 2. Arslanalp, S., Eichengreen, B., & Simpson-Bell, C. (2023). Gold as international reserves: A barbarous relic no more? (IMF Working Paper No. WP/23/14). International Monetary Fund. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2023.103822 3. Baronyan, S. R., & Nae, A. (2025). Gold in a fragmented world: Safe haven and strategic asset. FTSE Russell / London Stock Exchange Group, Global Investment Research. https://www.lseg.com/en/ftse-russell/research 4. Baur, D. G. (2021). Is gold a safe haven in all currencies? [Working paper]. University of Western Australia. https://www.ssrn.com 5. Baur, D. G., & Dimpfl, T. (2023). How to use gold as a safe haven [Working paper]. University of Western Australia / University of Hohenheim. https://www.ssrn.com 6. Baur, D. G., & Lucey, B. M. (2010). Is gold a hedge or a safe haven? An analysis of stocks, bonds and gold. The Financial Review, 45(2), 217–229. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6288.2010.00244.x 7. Baur, D. G., & McDermott, T. K. (2010). Is gold a safe haven? International evidence. Journal of Banking & Finance, 34(8), 1886–1898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2009.12.008 8. Baur, D. G., & Smales, L. (2018). Gold and geopolitical risk [Working paper]. University of Western Australia Business School / Curtin University Business School. https://www.ssrn.com 9. Ben Ameur, H., Jamaani, F., & Abu Alfoul, M. N. (2024). Examining the safe-haven and hedge capabilities of gold and cryptocurrencies: A GARCH and regression quantiles approach in geopolitical and market extremes. Heliyon, 10(21), Article e40400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40400 10. Bhunia, A., & Das, A. (2025). Safe haven or risky bet? A study of gold prices during Indian stock market volatility. Economy, 12(2), 175–181. https://www.asianonlinejournals.com/index.php/Economy
Publication Date
10/15/2026
Peer Review Type
Double-Blind Peer Review
Review Rounds: 2
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