Publication of brief study: The Instagram communication of neo-brokers

A new generation of app-based brokerage providers, so-called “neo-brokers,” are also targeting young retail investors in particular. However, the low financial literacy of the young population is one of the biggest barriers to their financial market participation. Therefore, this short study investigates: How do neo-brokers address their young target group on the social media platform Instagram? The study is based on a content analysis of the Instagram communication of the three neo-brokers Trade Republic (@traderepublic), Scalable Capital (@scalable.capital) and justTRADE (@justtrade_com). The brief study shows that financial education forms a large part of the content of the neo-brokers’ Instagram communications. Thus, both broker users who follow the Instagram account and interested potential investors are provided with value-added information that increases their financial knowledge and can mitigate potential barriers to investing. You can download the short study here (German only) By Lisa-Marie Trabitzsch, Paulin Laura Ostrowski and Christian P. Hoffmann