Purchases of 31% teenagers influenced by social media: OP survey

About a third of 15–19-year-olds said that their purchases are influenced by the social media, according to a survey commissioned by OP Financial Group.

Girls are more susceptible to this than boys, said OP in a press release referring to the survey on Friday.

OP´s financial literacy barometer also showed that social media channels for the young are buzzing with financial advice from influencers. Youths trust influencers much less than lessons learned at home and school.

The survey entitled “A better tomorrow – the financial literacy barometer for young people” was commissioned in 2026, based on collaboration between OP Pohjola, the University of Helsinki and the University of Jyväskylä.

It assessed the financial literacy of youths (aged 15–19) in 2026 and the barometer's themes include how the social media influence young people.

According to the barometer, one-third (31%) of youngsters feel that their purchases are influenced by social media content. This varies by gender where 20% of girls and 10% of boys, said that they have made an impulse purchase due to the social media.

Girls buy relatively often in response to social media recommendations, and experience more social media-induced status pressure than boys.

"It's worth noting that the result reflects only youngsters' own opinions of social media impacts. In reality, social media probably influence them much more than they realise," said Eija Juntunen, a doctoral researcher of the University of Helsinki.

About 45% of respondents said that they admire people who have expensive homes, cars and clothes. 27% disagreed with this statement.

"The study suggests that social media intensify pressure to consume, especially for young people whose finances are already weak. Status pressure and impulse buying are most common among those in the weakest financial position," Juntunen added.

The barometer also reveals where young people go for reliable financial advice. They receive most information about finances from their family and close contacts (66%) and from school (50%). The next most-used channel is social media influencers (40%).

Trust does not grow in line with the amount of information provided. Trust is high (over 80%) in financial information provided by families and school. However, there is little trust in financial information from social media influencers (17%) – which is as low as the score for AI (18%). Finfluencers, or social media financial influencers, have become a major platform phenomenon.

"Young people have learned to be critical of financial content on the social media, but it still might influence their behaviour," said Terhi-Anna Wilska, Professor of Sociology of the University of Jyväskylä.

"Many social media influencers produce high-quality financial content in collaboration with public authorities and banks, for example. On the other hand, trust can be undermined by unrealistic investment tips and get-rich-quick expectations spread on the social media. Trust is also weakened by unqualified people posing as experts. A large audience of youngsters may be exposed to tempting content of this kind."

The genders are strongly divided in their use of AI to gain financial information. Whereas 21% of boys actively seek financial information from AI, only 10% of girls do so.

Young people with strong financial literacy make significantly fewer impulse buys through social media. The barometer set exam-like tasks to measure financial literacy.

"The logic of social media platforms favours strong inducements to shop. However, financial literacy appears to protect youngsters from impulsive consumption," said Satu Kuoppamäki, Head of ESG, Retail Banking of OP Pohjola.

The entire barometer will be published on 9 September.

A total of 61 schools across Finland participated in – and 2,346 participants responded to – the barometer survey in early 2026. The study was performed for the first time in 2024.