Date of Award
Spring 6-13-2026
Document Type
Undergraduate Honors Thesis
Degree Name
B.S. in Business Administration, Finance
Organizational Unit
Daniels College of Business, Reiman School of Finance
First Advisor
Maclyn Clouse
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Finance, Generation Z, Personal finance, YouTube
Abstract
This study evaluates the content of YouTube finance influencers (finfluencers) to assess whether they provide excessively promoted advice or can help improve the low financial literacy of Generation Z. A total of 407 videos sampled using the nine knowledge areas tested in the TIAA Institute Personal Finance Index (P-Fin) were analyzed using Structural Topic Modeling (STM). Eight topics were observed in the videos ranging from general literacy to emergency planning. Comparing the observed topics to the P-Fin categories showed that finfluencers address six of the nine key areas of financial literacy, with gaps in the coverage of long-term focused content, such as retirement fluency. The findings suggest that finfluencers provide accessible content focused on many key areas of financial literacy, making them a viable tool for financial education. However, because many finfluencers operate in a largely unregulated space and may lack required disclosures or credentials, efforts to promote accountability and transparency are essential to ensure their reliability as educational resources.
Copyright Date
6-13-2026
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. This work may only be accessed by members of the University of Denver community. The work is provided by permission of the author for individual research purposes only and may not be further copied or distributed. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Alyse Alfred
Provenance
Received from Author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
25 pgs
File Size
423 KB
Recommended Citation
Alfred, Alyse, "Assessing YouTube Finance Influencers: Guidance or Hype for Generation Z?" (2026). Restricted Access ETDs. 135.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/restrictedetd/135