We study factors influencing individuals’ decisions to purchase Citibank stock during the 1920s. Familiarity was an important positive influence (measured outside New York by branch presence, and within New York, by network connections to existing owners). Within New York, wealth, knowledge, and one's influence within the New York City Business network also increased the probability of becoming a Citibank shareholder. The role of some network influences, like other identifiable influences, became less important during the price boom of the late 1920s, perhaps reflecting the rising importance of other means of increasing familiarity during the price boom (i.e. media coverage).
