Young People Under ‘Finfluencer’: The Rise of Financial Influencers on Instagram: An Abstract

Under the shadow of the covid-19 pandemic, millions of young people have the resulting consequences (e.g., increased uncertainty regarding their careers and economic prospects: McGrindle, 2020; Yuesti et al., 2020) started to think more seriously about how to manage their financial resources. As a result, personal finance has become trendy to speak about. Rather than proactive actions coming through the formal financial services industry to address the increasing demand for accessible financial information that does not require an advisor or costs a fortune, we are witnessing the uprising of personal finance influencers. These financial influencers (a.k.a. Finfluencers) talk about how to manage various aspects of financial life and do so by promoting their advice on a broad scope of money related topics (ranging from dealing with student loans, buying a house, how to ask for a pay raise, budgeting tips, and tricks, filing for tax returns, stock investment opportunities, and portfolio management) in short, light-hearted video formats that are posted on Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube and other social media platforms. Although currently, these Finfluencers can be regarded as a niche influencer marketing group, it is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years – especially now that designated sections on social media platforms are taking off (e.g., #FinTok, #FinTwit, #Finmeme, #StockTok, #Findependence). In line with this trend, this research explores how consumers consume social media influencers when they offer utilitarian (rather than hedonic) oriented products, services, and advice. Using text-mining techniques, we examine the content of personal finance influencers on Instagram to investigate how consumers respond to the recommendation of more utilitarian-oriented products. In addition, gender and race are an integral part of the consumer’s perception of financial expertise. This research looks at the moderating role of gender and race on influencers’ financial expertise on consumer response. We found that influencers with financial accreditations generate a more positive affective response compared with financial influencers who mainly share information stemming from personal experience. In addition, we found that influencers’ gender and race moderate the relationship between financial expertise and consumers’ affective responses significantly.