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Archive » February 2026 » The Human Touch: Does it matter who gives your financial advice?

The Human Touch: Does it matter who gives your financial advice?

Marianna Brunetti, Vincenzo Farina, Umberto Filotto, Lucia Leonelli, Maria Gabriella Ceravolo
February 2026 - n. 2
Keywords: Consulenza finanziaria, decisioni finanziarie, fattore umano, fiducia digitale
Jel codes: G41, D80, D91

This study examines the impact of the source of financial advice – human or algorithmic – on individual decisionmaking. In a laboratory experiment with 68 participants, eye-tracking technology was used to measure visual attention during the evaluation of consumer loans presented through standardized disclosure documents. The results show that the source of advice does not directly affect decision accuracy but influences attention to relevant information. When advice conflicts with objective data, human advice leads participants to re-examine credit costs more carefully, whereas algorithmic advice elicits a more neutral pattern of attention, regardless of whether the advice is correct or not, suggesting that digital advisors do not trigger the same trust or suspicion mechanisms as human advisors.

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