From Influence to Action: The Role of Investment Influencers in Student Financial Education

Abstract

The financial education system which existing today has experienced major changes because social media platforms expanded their user base at an unprecedented rate. The emergence of investment influencers who people refer to as “finfluencers” has transformed financial information dissemination through platforms like YouTube and Instagram and Twitter. The study investigates how these influencers affect financial education and literacy development in Indian college students. The research team gathered primary data from 95 participants who completed a structured questionnaire through their quantitative research method. The researchers used statistical methods which included Chi-square test and correlation analysis and ANOVA test to study how different factors affected financial learning results by analyzing their relationship with influencer content consumption and their perceived credibility and demographic information. The results show that more than half of students watch financial influencers on a regular basis because they want to learn about saving and investment. The results show that students who want to invest more tend to check the information which influencers share while students who have completed more education tend to trust influencer guidance less. The research study demonstrates that investment influencers help students learn about finance because they provide students with free access to financial information which influences their informal learning process. The research findings show that people need to assess online financial content critically while they should combine influencer-based learning methods with conventional financial education programs. The study presents practical benefits for educators and policymakers and fintech platforms which aim to promote financial literacy among their target audience.