Resumo

The finfluencers (as called financial influencers) have gained relevance in Brazil’s capital markets, casting people who intend to invest and raising concerns of transparency. In 2023, CVM and ANBIMA regulations established some limits on the actions of these social actors. Through netnography and content analysis of 9,088 posts from 10 financial influencers on X, we identified profiles that tend toward both educational and commercial behavior, highlighting implications for studies of corporate stakeholder strategies and financial regulation.

Financial influencers are professionals not necessarily certified by capital market institutions, who have for decades made extensive use of social media to address various financial topics and products. Despite their importance to regulatory bodies and the impact of financial influencers' work on society and the market, the topic still lacks empirical studies, specifically on the interests of these social actors, that could effectively contribute to regulators, market participants, and academia.

The three main pillars of the literature to analyze financial influencers were (a) Stakeholder Theory (influencers affect legitimacy and reputation (Freeman, 2004; Mitchell et al., 1997) and, specifically, in new perspectives of studies that indicate different types of stakeholders as "defined" and "undefined" (Karunakaran et al., 2022), (b) Media and New Media (covering the discussion on influence power, monetization and misinformation risks) and, finally, (c) positioning, using the typologies of strategic social media behavior by Heavey et al. (2020).

Using qualitative netnography (Kozinets, 2002), we analyzed 9,088 posts of 10 finfluencers and their positioning on social media platform X. The method allows for the observation of discourses, interactions, and online content patterns, using publicly available data. Through manual collection and coding using Atlas TI, we analyzed ten key influencers identified by ANBIMA reports, collecting and interpreting posts from the X platform to classify profiles and strategies.

This study empirically contributes to the theoretical framework of Heavey et al. (2020), highlighting the social capital of finfluencers who use social media to gain influence, reputation, and monetization. The results highlight that these new social actors impact the capital markets by sometimes reducing and sometimes increasing information asymmetry, as well as their impact on companies, as relevant stakeholders (Karunakaran et al., 2022).

Based on an analysis of Brazilian finfluencer behaviour on platform X and the framework of Heavey et al. (2020), the study identified different behavioural profiles of this social actor as a relevant stakeholder, who bases their foundation and strength on social media, and who promote financial education, but may lack transparency, or be guided by commercial interests. Bringing practical and theoretical contributions, this study suggests positioning analysis as a tool for regulators and companies in strategic decisions.

Main articles: Aguilera et al, 2015; ANBIMA, 2022–2024; Brasil B3, 2020; CVM, 2023; Dorobantu et al, 2024; Elliott et al, 2018; Freeman, 2004; Guan, 2024; Heavey et al, 2020; Karunakaran et al, 2022; Kim & Youm, 2017; Kozinets, 2002; Kyprianou, 2024; Lubin et al, 2024; Matthews et al., 2022; McCombs & Shaw, 1972; McIntyre & Srinivasan, 2017; Men & Tsai, 2016; Miller, 2006; Mitchell et al, 1997; Morais et al, 2020; Pollock & Rindova, 2003; Porter et al, 2015; Venkataraman, A. (2024).