Gen Zs are more likely to listen to social media influencers for financial and adulting advice rather than actual industry professionals, a new study from the CFA Institute suggests.
The study, which was published late last month, found that many young adults "have a slight preference" towards financial information delivered via their mobile devices, particularly from TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
According to the study, many Gen Zs find financial influencers more "relatable" due to a closer age gap and not being connected to corporations many perceived as self-serving.
CFA's findings correlate to earlier studies on how more Gen Zs prefer to use YouTube and TikTok more than other social media platforms.
And financial firms know this too as evidenced by a 21% increase in financial advisors starting using TikTok for their business, according to a Putnam Investments research.
The study was conducted on 32 young investors from the US, the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Also Read: YouTube, TikTok are the Most Used Social Media Apps Among US Teens
Long-Form Videos are a Trend on Financial Influencers
The study has also highlighted which influencers more people watch based on the content they create. At least, for its duration.
It shows that people prefer long-form videos rather than the prevalent shorter clips to understand investments, financing, and even tax filing.
TikTok has been pushing for longer and landscape videos a la YouTube style in the past months to cater to this kind of creators.
Related Article: TikTok is Now Pushing More Landscape Videos Over Vertical Shorts
Dangers of Social Media Financial Influencers
Of course, no online community only has good sides to it.
Regulators have long since raised concerns about potential status abuse and fraud that may arise from more people relying on social media influencers.
For this, the CFA recommends that relevant government agencies "reduce policy complexity and harmonize rules across markets."
The institute is calling for a "universal definition" of online investments to promote transparency and accessibility for affected investors.
