Research by Barclays found that the fear of missing out on investments was being exploited, as finfluencer content comes with a sense of urgency, with 24% of investors stating that they feel pressure to act quickly on unsolicited advice.

This is particularly true among younger investors aged between 18-27, with just under half (48%) of them saying they felt pressure to act quickly on social media advice, which was double the national average.

A finfluencer’s appearance and ‘ostentatious signs of success’ were often misconstrued by investors as markers of credibility, the research found, while it was difficult to verify their claims on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

With 40% of investors saying they felt an influencer must be highly successful for them to follow their advice, 42% said they equated past investment success with reliability.