Consumer use of social media has witnessed significant growth in recent years. Due to its unregulated, user-generated, and poorly censored format, social media use has blurred the line between the fake and the true and can result in mass dissemination of inaccurate and false information, thereby impacting national politics, election outcomes, and social interactions between consumer social clusters. In the unique context of financial decisions, consumer reliance on social media can significantly increase the risk of making poor financial decisions. This study examined the impact of cognitive style, consumer gullibility, and demographics on consumers’ reliance on social media for financial decision making. The results of a US national survey identify consumer characteristics which contribute to increased reliance on social media in financial decision making. The findings point to consumer vulnerabilities associated with psychographic and demographic attributes of consumers. The paper concludes with recommendation-related consumer education and public protection measures.

中文翻译：

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在使用社交媒体进行财务决策时，认知风格，易变性和人口特性的作用

近年来，消费者对社交媒体的使用有了显着增长。由于社交媒体的使用不受管制，由用户生成且审查方式不佳，因此模糊了假冒与真实之间的界限，并可能导致大量传播不正确和虚假的信息，从而影响国家政治，选举结果和社会互动消费者社会集群之间。在独特的财务决策背景下，消费者对社交媒体的依赖会大大增加做出不良财务决策的风险。这项研究考察了认知方式，消费者的信度和人口统计因素对消费者对社交媒体财务决策的依赖的影响。美国一项全国调查的结果确定了消费者特征，这些特征有助于在财务决策中增加对社交媒体的依赖。调查结果指出了与消费者的心理和人口统计学特征相关的消费者脆弱性。本文以推荐相关的消费者教育和公共保护措施作为结尾。