The role of Finfluencers – perceptions, risks, and opportunities
Keywords
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Issue Date
2024-08-26
Language
en
Document type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Title
ISSN
Volume
Issue
Startpage
Endpage
DOI
Abstract
The increasing prominence of social media has transformed how people access and engage with financial information, giving rise to “finfluencers,” financial influencers who share information and their opinions about financial concepts with their following on social media outlets such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. This study investigates the main content characteristics of the most popular finfluencers in The Netherlands and their influence on their followers. Using empirical data from the top 90 finfluencers, 100 videos, and a survey with 141 active followers. Findings reveal that finfluencers who share lower-quality content gather more views and have more followers on YouTube. Followers indicate following finfluencers for their easy-to-understand explanations about financial matters. This highlights the dual-edged case for finfluencers. Followers starting to invest may gain financial knowledge but are also exposed to risks from finfluencers who share subpar investment advice. This research helps understand the finfluencer landscape by empirically analyzing finfluencers' success and measuring follower perceptions, highlighting both the risks and opportunities associated with finfluencers. Further research should be conducted on certain finfluencers' quantifiable impact on followers’ investment behaviour, looking at the role of reputation and the differences in finfluencers on several social media platforms and chat groups.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen