The Impact of Data Information Quality of XBRL-based Financial Statements on Nonprofessional Investors' Decision Making

XBRL has the ability to provide financial statements with improved data information quality (DIQ). Contextual and representational DIQ are relevant to perceptual and decision factors of nonprofessional investors when they interact with XBRL-based financial statements and make investment decisions. The author posits that XBRL-based financial statements with improved contextual and representational DIQ will positively influence nonprofessional investors’ DIQ perceptions, resulting in better alignment with decision factors (i.e., uncertainty, heuristic, task, technology, and individual characteristics) to achieve better informed investment decisions. This research will use a web-based experiment to empirically test the proposed hypotheses. The results of this research are expected to contribute to the theoretical understanding of the links between XBRL enhanced DIQ, users’ perceptions, decision factors, and investment outcome performance. Establishing whether there are links between XBRL and improved DIQ, and whether improved DIQ aligns with decision factors, will make a practical contribution by benefiting nonprofessional investors through better informed investment decisions.