AI and Social Media Are Reshaping Financial Decisions

November 2025

AI and social media are part of today’s financial decision-making landscape. Over four in 10 U.S. adults say they’ve acted on information from these sources, signaling a fundamental shift in how financial choices are made. Confidence remains a key driver of behavior: Consumers who trust these sources are more likely to take financial action in response to something they saw on social media or generated by AI, from researching new topics to purchasing products. Some people — especially young people — trust them when it comes to financial advice.

According to findings from LIMRA’s U.S. Consumer Sentiment: July 2025, confidence in traditional institutions is modest, while emerging sources such as AI and social influencers are gaining traction, particularly among younger consumers. A slightly higher proportion of Gen Z respondents express confidence in AI for financial guidance than in insurance agents, mutual fund firms, or mortgage lenders. Social media influencers, while ranking last overall in trust, still command enough credibility among Gen Z to surpass several established players.

Surely, familiarity breeds confidence. While social media is nearly ubiquitous, with 9 in 10 respondents using it, adoption declines with age. AI use is less widespread but still notable, especially among younger groups. Gen Z and Millennials are the most active users across both channels, while Boomers lag behind.

Confidence Landscape

Confidence in financial advice sources is fragmented and generationally polarized. Across all U.S. financial decision makers, social media influencers rank last in perceived credibility: only 12 percent report “extreme” or “quite a bit” of confidence in them. Gender differences are notable, with men tending to be more trusting of social media for financial advice, as they are with most sources.  

Generational differences tell a more consequential story. Among Gen Z, confidence in social influencers rises to 24 percent, placing them on par with or ahead of mortgage lenders, robo-advisors, and insurance agents (Figure 1). Gen Z is three times as likely as Gen X and 12 times as likely as Boomers to place confidence in social media influencers.

The generational divide is apparent when it comes to confidence in AI as well. For younger cohorts, AI functions as a trusted research tool that rivals or surpasses traditional sources. Thirty percent of Gen Z and 28 percent of Millennials express strong confidence in AI-driven financial guidance, matching or outpacing their confidence in insurance companies, mutual fund firms, and even well-known financial educators. Similar to the pattern seen with confidence in influencers, Gen X and Boomers remain cautious when it comes to AI.

These gaps underscore a structural shift: younger consumers are willing to treat AI and social media as credible sources for financial decisions, while older consumers largely reject them. Institutional reputation is important to young consumers, but trust is also shaped by accessibility and the belief that alternative sources can offer valuable, independent perspectives without vested interests. Older consumers, by contrast, may view influencers as self-promotional or lacking credibility, even when they are skeptical of some traditional sources.

Behavioral Impact

Social media and AI both influence financial behavior in measurable ways. Overall, 41 percent of decision makers report taking at least one financial action because of social media, and 30 percent report doing so because of AI. The most common financial activity for both channels is research, where over 2 in 10 explored a financial topic they had not considered before (Figure 2). Downstream actions follow: Some users report changing money management habits, subscribing to a financial service or app, and purchasing a financial product — though fewer than 1 in 10 do so.

Financial activity based on social media is highest among Gen Z (66 percent) and Millennials (62 percent), while AI shows a similar pattern: half of Gen Z and 46 percent of Millennials have acted, compared to 24 percent of Gen X and only 1 in 10 Boomers.

Confidence is a strong predictor of behavior. Among respondents with strong confidence in influencers, more than 80 percent have acted on social content; for AI, 72 percent of those with strong confidence have acted. Frequency matters as well: 78 percent of those using AI multiple times a day report financial activity, compared to 57 percent of heavy social media users. Respondents with higher self-reported financial knowledge are more likely to act based on both AI and social content, being more confident in their ability to evaluate advice and more comfortable acting on information from nontraditional sources such as influencers and AI tools.

Both channels now shape the full spectrum of financial behavior for certain consumers, from initial research to product adoption.

Industry Implications

Both AI and social media are increasingly becoming integral to the financial decision process. These patterns indicate that influence is no longer solely concentrated in traditional advice models but distributed across digital ecosystems where accessibility and immediacy matter as much as institutional reputation.

The challenge is clear: Consumers expect fast, personalized, and relatable guidance, yet carriers face layered compliance obligations, from rules on marketing and disclosures to evolving expectations for algorithmic accountability and data ethics in AI-driven advice. Addressing this tension will require approaches that combine explainable technology with engagement models that convert early interest into informed, compliant decisions.The hierarchy of financial influence is being rewritten. AI and social media now compete with and in some cases surpass traditional institutions in shaping consumer behavior. The industry’s ability to adapt will determine whether these channels become competitive threats or integrated components of a modern advice ecosystem.

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