Table 4 Future research agenda Theme... | Emerald Publishing

Table 4

Future research agenda

Theme	Research focus	Research questions
Financial products and digital transformation	Examine the influence of product characteristics on online helping behaviour	How do financial product characteristics influence the scope and nature of customer-to-customer helping behaviours in online financial communities? How does financial product complexity affect the perceived accuracy and comprehensiveness of social media-mediated customer-to-customer advice? What role does product lifecycle stage play in the development of customer helping online communities? How do different digital platform architectures enable or constrain various forms of C2C helping behaviour in financial services? What role do algorithmic recommendations and content curation play in facilitating or hindering effective C2C helping in digital financial environments?
Privacy and confidentiality concerns on social media	How do privacy and confidentiality concerns reconfigure helping interactions between customers	How do individuals balance personal financial disclosure against privacy concerns when offering advice to peers on social media, and what strategies do they employ to provide meaningful guidance while protecting sensitive information? To what extent do platform anonymity features influence the depth and specificity of financial information shared in customer-to-customer interactions? How do privacy concerns differentially impact online information sharing across various financial product categories, e.g. investments vs debt management?
Risk perception and peer financial advice	The influence of individual risk tolerance profiles on social media helping dynamics	How do customers with different risk tolerance profiles adapt their financial advice when helping social media peers they perceive as having higher or lower risk tolerance than themselves? To what extent do customers project their own risk preferences onto others when providing financial guidance, and what factors mitigate this projection bias? What specific methods and approaches do risk-averse customers use to evaluate, verify, and/or adapt financial advice received from other customers on social media platforms before applying it to their own financial decisions?
Institutional support	The influence of institutional design	How can financial institutions design and deliver effective training or educational resources to equip customers with the knowledge and communication skills necessary to provide accurate, responsible, and contextually relevant customer-to-customer financial guidance on digital platforms? How can financial institutions effectively moderate customer-to-customer advice on social media platforms while preserving authenticity and avoiding overly restrictive controls? How can AI be effectively applied to moderate and amplify high-quality customer-to-customer financial advice on social media platforms while minimising perceived algorithmically-driven biases?
Cultural and market level influences	Develop frameworks for understanding how cultural dimensions influence C2C helping behaviour	How do cultural dimensions such as collectivism versus individualism influence customers' motivations and approaches when providing and seeking financial guidance to and from peers on digital platforms? What effect do cultural norms regarding money discussions influence the depth and nature of financial customer-to-customer support social media-mediated conversations? In what ways do differences in platform liability laws influence the governance structures of customer financial communities, and how does this impact on information quality?
Customer vulnerability and financial helping behaviour	Explore negative consequences and dysfunctions in C2C online financial support	What is the effect of power imbalances between financially knowledgeable and less knowledgeable customers on vulnerability to manipulation or exploitation on online platforms? What responsibility evasion strategies do customers employ when providing potentially harmful financial guidance to peers online? How does the volume and diversity of online peer input influence cognitive overload in financial decision-making? What role does C2C helping behaviour play in improving financial inclusion for underserved populations What ethical challenges arise when customers provide financial advice to peers, and how can these be mitigated?
Methodological innovation in C2C helping behaviour research	Develop and apply innovative research approaches including longitudinal designs, digital ethnography, social network analysis, and experimental methods; explore mixed-method approaches that capture both breadth and depth of helping phenomena	How do C2C helping patterns evolve across different stages of financial product adoption, and what temporal factors influence the sustainability of peer support networks in digital financial communities? How do manipulated social cues, e.g. peer endorsements, community badges and anonymity levels, influence customers' willingness to provide detailed financial advice and the perceived quality of that advice?

Theme	Research focus	Research questions
Financial products and digital transformation	Examine the influence of product characteristics on online helping behaviour	How do financial product characteristics influence the scope and nature of customer-to-customer helping behaviours in online financial communities?How does financial product complexity affect the perceived accuracy and comprehensiveness of social media-mediated customer-to-customer advice?What role does product lifecycle stage play in the development of customer helping online communities?How do different digital platform architectures enable or constrain various forms of C2C helping behaviour in financial services?What role do algorithmic recommendations and content curation play in facilitating or hindering effective C2C helping in digital financial environments?
Privacy and confidentiality concerns on social media	How do privacy and confidentiality concerns reconfigure helping interactions between customers	How do individuals balance personal financial disclosure against privacy concerns when offering advice to peers on social media, and what strategies do they employ to provide meaningful guidance while protecting sensitive information?To what extent do platform anonymity features influence the depth and specificity of financial information shared in customer-to-customer interactions?How do privacy concerns differentially impact online information sharing across various financial product categories, e.g. investments vs debt management?
Risk perception and peer financial advice	The influence of individual risk tolerance profiles on social media helping dynamics	How do customers with different risk tolerance profiles adapt their financial advice when helping social media peers they perceive as having higher or lower risk tolerance than themselves?To what extent do customers project their own risk preferences onto others when providing financial guidance, and what factors mitigate this projection bias?What specific methods and approaches do risk-averse customers use to evaluate, verify, and/or adapt financial advice received from other customers on social media platforms before applying it to their own financial decisions?
Institutional support	The influence of institutional design	How can financial institutions design and deliver effective training or educational resources to equip customers with the knowledge and communication skills necessary to provide accurate, responsible, and contextually relevant customer-to-customer financial guidance on digital platforms?How can financial institutions effectively moderate customer-to-customer advice on social media platforms while preserving authenticity and avoiding overly restrictive controls?How can AI be effectively applied to moderate and amplify high-quality customer-to-customer financial advice on social media platforms while minimising perceived algorithmically-driven biases?
Cultural and market level influences	Develop frameworks for understanding how cultural dimensions influence C2C helping behaviour	How do cultural dimensions such as collectivism versus individualism influence customers' motivations and approaches when providing and seeking financial guidance to and from peers on digital platforms?What effect do cultural norms regarding money discussions influence the depth and nature of financial customer-to-customer support social media-mediated conversations?In what ways do differences in platform liability laws influence the governance structures of customer financial communities, and how does this impact on information quality?
Customer vulnerability and financial helping behaviour	Explore negative consequences and dysfunctions in C2C online financial support	What is the effect of power imbalances between financially knowledgeable and less knowledgeable customers on vulnerability to manipulation or exploitation on online platforms?What responsibility evasion strategies do customers employ when providing potentially harmful financial guidance to peers online?How does the volume and diversity of online peer input influence cognitive overload in financial decision-making?What role does C2C helping behaviour play in improving financial inclusion for underserved populationsWhat ethical challenges arise when customers provide financial advice to peers, and how can these be mitigated?
Methodological innovation in C2C helping behaviour research	Develop and apply innovative research approaches including longitudinal designs, digital ethnography, social network analysis, and experimental methods; explore mixed-method approaches that capture both breadth and depth of helping phenomena	How do C2C helping patterns evolve across different stages of financial product adoption, and what temporal factors influence the sustainability of peer support networks in digital financial communities? How do manipulated social cues, e.g. peer endorsements, community badges and anonymity levels, influence customers' willingness to provide detailed financial advice and the perceived quality of that advice?

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