Jacob Ørmen

Project title

Finfluence - How trading platforms, investment communities, and financial influencers shape the values of young Danish investors

What is your project about?

Finfluence examines how young adults relate to the plethora of new opinion leaders in the financial sector – from influencers and digital platforms to online communities – that has emerged over the past few years.

Trading platforms give ordinary people access to trade stocks, cryptocurrencies and even more speculative products directly from their mobile phones. At the same time, popular financial influencers and online communities sell the dream of easy ways to riches and financial independence by trading in the financial markets. Finfluence seeks to understand how much the new financial actors appeal to the young investors compared to more traditional opinion leaders such as family and friends, the media, and experts.

In this way, the financial sector is a particularly exciting field for understanding the role of new and old authorities in society more generally.

How did you become interested in your particular field of research?

Like so many others, I jumped on the investing bandwagon during the Covid pandemic and suddenly had to navigate the vast amounts of information from the media, financial organizations, and on the internet. I discovered a plethora of actors sharing advice and guidance on social media and was equally intimidated and fascinated by their charismatic appearance and apparent appeal, especially among young people.

Throughout my research trajectory, I have been interested in the role that digital and social media play in the development of authority in society. One of the fundamental discussions in communication research is how we can understand the impact of those we listen to on the choices we make. Because so many Danes have become interested in investing, finance has become an obvious case to study the issue of influence and authority through analyses of the dynamics between trading platforms, financial influencers, and young investors.

What are the scientific challenges and perspectives in your project?

It is easy to believe the hype that influencers and social media have a major effect on what people do and think. Media has always been accused of being the cause of society's cultural and social decline. The role of communication research is to be critical of such easy conclusions and to come up with empirical and theoretically analyses of the role of the media in societal development. 

No single study can conclusively prove or reject any interpretation, but the Finfluence project nevertheless has the ambition to deliver the most comprehensive study to date on how young people navigate the multitude of platforms, influencers, and social relationships that seek to influence them in their financial behavior.

What is your estimate of the impact, which your project may have to society in the long term?

The project provides important knowledge for understanding how authority figures in society are changing. While figures such as traditionally mass media, close relationships, celebrities, and religious communities have played a role as opinion makers, new types of actors such as influencers, digital platforms, and online communities are emerging as authorities in society. It is an open question what role these new and established authorities play in people's lives. Finfluence is an important step in understanding this.

Which impact do you expect the Sapere Aude programme will have on your career as a researcher?

Receiving a Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader-grant is a great recognition, not only of the project, but of the research agenda my colleagues and I are driving forward focusing on digital platform economies and finance communication. The grant gives me the opportunity to build a team that provides the first building blocks towards a general study of new types of authorities in society. The research reach beyond the financial world and touch upon questions about who we trust and are inspired by in society. Questions that have consequences for our everyday lives and our democracy. The grant is an important step towards realizing that research agenda.

Background and personal life

I am a family person and spend most of my free time with my three children and my partner. We live in Nørrebro in Copenhagen and love the city for all its diversity and different communities. We enjoy exploring the cultural offerings and nature experiences that are always a bike ride or a few metro stops away. We often travel around the country and out in the world to get new experiences and visit family, who are scattered around Europe. In addition, like large parts of the Danish population, I enjoy running. For me, running is a form of meditation and a much-needed breather from a hectic everyday life, which also gives me an excuse to get away from the crowded neighbourhoods for a bit and take a cold swim in the sea.