“DOUBLE TAP TO INVEST!”: HOW FINFLUENCERS (FINANCIAL INFLUENCERS) SHAPE GEN Z USERS' BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS ON INSTAGRAM

Recently, a novel opinion leader who share personal financial investment knowledge and recommendations in social media have been rising, described as finfluencers. They also represent a pivotal actor in online financial information ecosystem for financial consumers. However, investigating how finfluencers' aspirational dynamics shape their influence on their audience in marketing context are limited. The study investigates how source-credibility (expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness) and self-determination theories (autonomy, competence, relatedness) predict attitudes toward finfluencers and subsequent behavioral intentions among gen Z Instagram users. 207 valid data were obtained and explanatory factor, regression and moderation analysis were conducted through IBM SPSS 22.0, Jamovi 2.6.44. and PROCESS macro. Results indicate that perceived trustworthiness, attractiveness, and relatedness significantly and positively predicted attitudes toward finfluencers, whereas perceived expertise, autonomy, and competence did not. Moreover, attitude robustly predicts both intention to follow the finfluencer’s account and to follow the finfluencer's advice. Although gender and job status do not moderate the effects, examining the interaction effect provides further insight into the diverse impacts of source-credibility dimensions on attitudes toward finfluencers. The research findings illuminate the value of finfluencers, who are emerging opinion leaders in consumers' financial behavior in the era of growing social media.