Resumen de Social media as an information source in finance: Evidence from the community of financial market professionals in Poland

Andrej Cwynar, Wiktor Cwynar, Robert Pater, Kamil Filipek

• Social media has become a source of information for individuals making decisions in financial institutions worldwide. As a part of Business Intelligence systems, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn provide financial market professionals with a magnitude of market data—for example, stock price expectations, customer insights, and market sentiment. Based on 415 survey responses of financial market professionals in Poland (purposive sample), this study examines factors behind social media usage in financial institutions. We found that decision-makers representing these institutions seldom use social media for job-related purposes. However, the professionals from institutions that manage more diversified asset portfolios and hold the most risky assets in the portfolios, are more likely to use social media for information purposes. We also found that the value of assets does not affect the use of social media for information purposes among financial market professionals in Poland. This implies that representatives of certain types of financial institutions are more inclined to use social media for professional purposes. Our study offers an insight into the variables that best explain the decision to monitor social media content by financial market professionals. Thus, it can provide a basis of recommendations aiming to enhance the market for business information.