Finfluencers and AI drive discovery but not trust in finance, dentsu study finds

Financial influencers and AI tools are playing a growing part in how consumers find financial products and services, but trust still decides whether they act, according to new research from dentsu.

The marketing network’s latest Consumer Navigator Report found that nearly half (49%) of consumers had come across financial influencer, or “finfluencer”, content on TikTok in the last year, either by choice or through recommendations served by the platform.

That content is prompting action. More than two thirds (68%) of people who saw it did something as a result, and one in five (20%) acted directly, by scanning a QR code, clicking or swiping a link, or taking the creator’s route through to a provider or product. Only 15% took no action at all.

Trust in independent financial creators remains limited, however. Just one in ten (10%) consumers trust finfluencers enough to act on their advice. A third (34%) check the information elsewhere first, and another 34% use the content only for ideas rather than to make financial decisions.

The results indicate that creator content is turning into an important point of discovery, but that consumers still want reassurance from trusted sources before they commit to a financial product or service.

AI as a starting point

The study also points to the growing role of AI. Some 45% of consumers now turn to AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude for financial information or guidance at least once a month, so an AI tool may already have helped a customer understand a product or compare options before they reach a provider’s website.

When AI presents similar offers, 28% of consumers say familiarity with a provider, or seeing it as established or trustworthy, would most influence their decision. This was the top-ranked factor, and dentsu said it shows marketers need to understand how their products show up in AI-generated search results.

Ben Gott, dentsu’s President, Data & Technology, said: “Today, consumers can find out more about a brand and its products than ever, before they even reach its website. ‘Finfluencers’ and AI are driving a new era in brand discovery. However, influence doesn’t automatically equal trust. In most cases, people still want to verify what they see before they act. Financial brands need to ensure they are represented accurately and consistently across different channels, while continuing to build the credibility that will turn awareness into action.”

The report is based on a nationally representative poll of 2,000 UK adults, carried out by Toluna for dentsu between 16 and 22 September 2026. In the previous 12 months, all respondents had bought, renewed, switched, changed or seriously considered a financial product or service. Quotas for age, gender, region and household income were set using the most recent publicly available UK demographic data.