The meme stock strikes again – Wendy’s share price soared in June 2026, in response to retail investor inflows. Yet, this constitutes only a fraction of retail investor activity. Indeed, broader retail flows can be harder to discern, often reliant on panels or social media accounts. Perhaps there is another way. In this literature review, we discuss a paper that analyses whether Google Trends data and ESG ratings correlate with retail investors’ decisions to buy, hold or sell stocks (on aggregate).

We discuss findings from the 2026 paper ‘Attention, ESG, and Retail Investor Stock Holdings’, published in the Journal of Behavioural Finance by Matthias Horn and Andreas Oehler.

QUICK VIEW

1. Retail investors are drawn to buying stocks with strong attention-grabbing characteristics, as measured by abnormal Google Trends data (spikes in search volume). Elements that could grab attention include news, high trading volumes, sustainability considerations and changing analyst ratings.
2. Meanwhile, retail investors are more likely to sell stocks with abnormally low search volumes and hold those that are rarely Googled at all.
3. ESG and sustainability preferences also drive retail investor activity, although this is unstable. The authors mention that it constitutes a stronger driver during periods of heightened climate change concern, with investors divesting as concerns fade.