IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijogbc/v20y2025i2d10.1007_s42943-025-00123-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leveraging Finfluencer Credibility for Enhanced Client Engagement and Investment Decisions: Insights from PLS-SEM

Author

Listed:
  • Vipin Vihari Ram Tripathi

    (Galgotias University)

  • Rukmani Jaiswal

    (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University)

  • Manish Kumar Srivastava

    (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University)

  • Ashish Kumar Srivastava

    (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University)

Abstract

Financial influencers, or "finfluencers," have transformed the global financial landscape, particularly in India, by making finance more accessible, engaging, and influencing others' financial decision-making. The present study examines the impact of finfluencers' credibility, comprising expertise, trustworthiness, authenticity, and attractiveness, on client engagement and investment behavior within the digital landscape. Using the source credibility theory (SCT) as a foundation, cluster data were collected from four metropolitan cities of India, involving 437 financial clients through a structured e-questionnaire. This study employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the complex relationship between credibility dimensions and their effects on client behavior. The findings reveal that all dimensions of credibility, except authenticity, significantly influencing client engagement. Findings highlight the credibility-driven strategies finfluencers use to strengthen client engagements and improve their competitive position in an increasingly digitized and trust-sensitive financial market. Further, although focused on India, this study offers insights for other emerging markets experiencing a digital shift in financial services. This study extends source credibility theory by applying it to digital finance and provides practical insights for leveraging finfluencers to enhance their competitiveness in financial engagement.

Suggested Citation

  • Vipin Vihari Ram Tripathi & Rukmani Jaiswal & Manish Kumar Srivastava & Ashish Kumar Srivastava, 2025. "Leveraging Finfluencer Credibility for Enhanced Client Engagement and Investment Decisions: Insights from PLS-SEM," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 155-162, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijogbc:v:20:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s42943-025-00123-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s42943-025-00123-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s42943-025-00123-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s42943-025-00123-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ijogbc:v:20:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s42943-025-00123-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.