Citation :

Krishiv Arora, "Decoding Crypto Advertising: How Teenagers Interpret Digital Cryptocurrency Promotions on Social Media," International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 50-59, 2026. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V13I4P106

Abstract

This paper investigates how cryptocurrency advertising and social media ecosystems shape Indian teenagers’ perceptions of risk, trust and opportunity in digital assets. Against a backdrop of low youth financial literacy and rising Gen Z participation in crypto investing globally, understanding how young people interpret persuasive financial content is increasingly relevant. The study addresses a gap in existing work, which largely focuses on adult retail investors in developed markets and text-heavy platforms, by examining how Indian adolescents and young adults (13–25) encounter and evaluate highly visual, youth-facing crypto promotions. A qualitative-dominant mixed-methods design is employed. Visual content analysis of nine high-visibility crypto campaigns on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram is combined with a short online survey of 27 Indian respondents aged 13–25. The ad coding captures colour, emotional framing, FOMO and “easy money” language, celebrity presence and the visibility of risk disclaimers, while the survey records perceived trustworthiness, risk, confusion, sources of information and self-reported confidence in understanding crypto. Findings show that the analysed campaigns systematically amplify reward cues, normalise speculative trading as simple and aspirational, and relegate risk warnings to low-salience text, often using bank-like or game-like framing that exploits conceptual gaps around regulation and product safety. Survey responses suggest that many teenagers recognise hype and misleading tropes yet still rely heavily on influencers and peers, report FOMO and express limited confidence in their own financial knowledge. The paper argues for stronger youth-oriented media-literacy interventions, stricter enforcement of advertising standards, and platform-level tools that foreground risk and sponsorship in crypto content aimed at or easily accessed by young audiences.

Keywords

Cryptocurrency Advertising, Financial Literacy, FOMO, Social Media, Teenagers.

References

1. ASCI, ASCI Frames Guidelines for Advertising and Promotion of Virtual Digital Assets and Services, ASCI, 2022. [Online].Available: https://www.ascionline.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/vda-guidelines-press-release-feb-23.pdf
2. CFA Institute, and FINRA Investor Education Foundation, Gen Z and Investing: Social Media, Crypto, FOMO, and Family, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/sites/default/files/-/media/documents/article/industry-research/Gen_Z_and_Investing.pdf
3. CoinSwitch, India's Crypto Portfolio Q3 2025: How India Invests, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://coinswitch.co/switch/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Indias-Crypto-Portfolio-Q3-2025.pdf
4. John W. Creswell, and J. David Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 6^th ed., SAGE Publications, 2022.
   [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
5. Sraboni Dutta, “Financial Literacy of the Indian Young Adults: An Empirical Analysis,” International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 1-9, 2026.
   [CrossRef] [Publisher Link]
6. Elliptic, Impact analysis: The ASCI's Guidelines for Advertising Virtual Digital Assets in India, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.elliptic.co/insights/impact-analysis-the-asci-s-guidelines-for-advertising-virtual-digital-assets-in-india/
7. Mohmoud Elmazaty, Cristiano Ronaldo Faces Lawsuit for Promoting Crypto Exchange Binance, The Peninsula, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/29/11/2023/cristiano-ronaldo-faces-lawsuit-for-promoting-crypto-exchange-binance
8. Serena Espeute, and Rhodri Preece, The Finfluencer Appeal: Investing in the Age of Social Media, CFA Institute Research and Policy Center, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://rpc.cfainstitute.org/research/reports/2024/finfluencer-appeal
9. Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Tech Tuesday: Building a Digital Defense against QR Code Scams, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/elpaso/news/fbi-tech-tuesday-building-a-digital-defense-against-qr-code-scams
10. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Social Media-influenced Investing, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/2025-social-media-influenced-investing.pdf
11. Felix Friederich et al., “CRYPTO-MANIA: How Fear-of-missing-out Drives Consumers' (Risky) Investment Decisions,” Psychology and Marketing, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 102-117, 2024.
    [CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
12. Web Desk, Cristiano Ronaldo Hit with Legal Blow in Billion-dollar Binance Lawsuit, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.geo.tv/latest/542982-cristiano-ronaldo-hit-with-legal-blow-in-billion-dollar-binance-lawsuit
13. Essam Ghadafi, and Panagiotis Andriotis, “UK Finfluencers: Exploring Content, Reach, and Responsibility,” arXiv Preprint, 2025.
    [CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
14. GK Today, “Gen Z Overtakes Millennials as India's Leading Crypto Investors, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.gktoday.in/gen-z-overtakes-millennials-as-indias-leading-crypto-investors/
15. International Organization of Securities Commissions, Finfluencers (Report No. FR/08/2025), 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD795.pdf
16. Internet Matters, Decrypting Crypto: Exploring Children's Engagement with Cryptoassets, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/research/decrypting-cryptoassets-nfts-report/
17. Leora Klapper, Annamaria Lusardi, and Peter van Oudheusden, “Financial Literacy Around the World,” World Bank. Washington DC: World Bank, pp. 218-237, 2015.
    [Google Scholar]
18. National Centre for Financial Education, Financial Literacy and Inclusion in India: Final Report, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://ncfe.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NCFE-2019_Final_Report.pdf
19. S. Naveen, and R. Surendhar, “A Study on Financial Literacy among Youth in India,” International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 2189-2194, 2025.
    [Publisher Link]
20. Felix Reichenbach, and Martin Walther, “Financial Recommendations on Reddit, Stock Returns and Cumulative Prospect Theory,” Digital Finance, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 421-448, 2023.
    [CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
21. National Centre for Financial Education, National Strategy for Financial Education (2020–2025), National Centre for Financial Education, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://ncfe.org.in/nsfe/
22. Tareq Sikder, Legal Blow for Cristiano Ronaldo as Judge Denies Dismissal Motion, Finance Magnates, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/legal-blow-for-cristiano-ronaldo-as-judge-denies-dismissal-motion/
23. Court Listener, Sizemore v. Ronaldo, No. 1:23-cv-24481, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68036546/sizemore-v-ronaldo/
24. Lucy Harley-McKeown, Crypto Apps Soar in Popularity after Super Bowl Splurge, The Block, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.theblock.co/amp/linked/134101/crypto-apps-soar-in-popularity-after-super-bowl-splurge
25. Sonja Warkulat, and Matthias Pelster, “Social Media Attention and Retail Investor Behavior: Evidence from r/Wallstreetbets,” International Review of Financial Analysis, vol. 96, pp. 1-18, 2024.
    [CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
26. Wells Fargo, Social Media Increases Teenage Interest in Wall Street, Wells Fargo Survey Finds, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://newsroom.wf.com/news-releases/news-details/2021/Social-Media-Increases-Teenage-Interest-in-Wall-Street-Wells-Fargo-Survey-Finds/default.aspx
27. Karolis Zilius, Tasos Spiliotopoulos, and Aad van Moorsel, “A Dataset of Coordinated Cryptocurrency-Related Social Media Campaigns,” Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1112-1121, 2023.
    [CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]