The recent Young Money report by MRM and Mouthy Money has highlighted a strong trust among young adults in online financial influencers, known as ‘finfluencers’, despite a general lack of clarity regarding their brand endorsements.
The study found that 71% of young adults aged 18 to 30 who follow finfluencers trust the financial advice given. In contrast, only 7% of the respondents consider themselves skeptical of the financial content these influencers post.
This trust persists even though only 28% of young people feel that the influencers clearly communicate when their posts are paid promotions. The report comes at a time when the UK’s financial regulator is considering tougher rules on the promotion of financial services products and services by finfluencers.
Despite the ambiguity in endorsements, young followers are largely undeterred from acting on finfluencers’ advice. A significant 93% have taken some form of action based on their recommendations, with actions ranging from reducing spending to investing in cryptocurrencies.
Edmund Greaves, co-editor of Mouthy Money, remarked on the situation: “Today’s generation of young people are exposed to a gluttony of financial advice and promotions… The responsibility is therefore landing with the individual to make their own assumptions as to whether the advice or information is credible and worth acting upon.”
Chris Tuite, head of consumer finance at MRM, also provided his perspective, saying: “Misinformation can be costly in more ways than one… The challenge now for financial services providers is to ensure their own voices are more influential in the online spaces where young people hang out… They need to be braver, bolder and stronger at telling those people the stories that matter to their financial future.”
