Algorithms are said to affect social realities, often in unseen ways. This article explores conscious, instrumental interactions with algorithms, as a window into the complexities and extent of ...algorithmic power. Through a thematic analysis of online discussions among Instagram influencers, I observed that influencers’ pursuit of influence resembles a game constructed around “rules” encoded in algorithms. Within the “visibility game,” influencers’ interpretations of Instagram’s algorithmic architecture—and the “game” more broadly—act as a lens through which to view and mechanize the rules of the game. Illustrating this point, this article describes two prominent interpretations, which combine information influencers glean about Instagram’s algorithms with preexisting discourses within influencer communities on authenticity and entrepreneurship. This article shows how directing inquiries toward the visibility game makes present the interdependency between users, algorithms, and platform owners and demonstrates how algorithms structure, but do not unilaterally determine user behavior.
•The study examines the power of digital influencers on followers’ perceptions toward recommended brands.•The results confirm the effectiveness of influencers as valuable sources of brand ...information.•Perceived influence fosters brand engagement in self-concept, brand expected value and intention to purchase.•Brand engagement in self-concept raises brand expected value.•Both engagement and expected value positively affect intention to purchase recommended brands.
Despite the growing interest in digital influencers as a brand communication tool in recent years, much remains to be explored to understand how they can build a bond with their followers that shapes their perceptions and behaviors towards the endorsed brands. This study aims to determine how effective digital influencers are in recommending brands via electronic word-of-mouth by examining whether the potential influence they have on their followers may affect brand engagement in self-concept, brand expected value and intention to purchase recommended brands. The results from a sample of 280 followers show that the perceived influential power of digital influencers not only helps to generate engagement but also increases expected value and behavioral intention regarding the recommended brands. Moreover, brand engagement in self-concept raises brand expected value and both variables also affect the intention to purchase recommended brands. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the persuasive power of digital influencers, which is still limited. It can be also useful for companies when developing their own social media communication strategy.
The advertising and marketing literature have established that celebrity endorsements constitute an effective way to enhance attitudes toward brands and increase purchase intents. However, there are ...no relevant studies on digital influencers. This study addresses the research gap by examining the effect of digital influencers' attractiveness and the effect of the congruence between a digital influencer and a brand on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. By applying structural equation modeling to a sample of 307 followers of digital influencers, a model was tested and group analysis was performed for two categories (“entertainment & video games” and “fashion & beauty”). The results show that both brand attitudes and purchase intentions are influenced by the digital influencer's attractiveness (which includes both likeability and familiarity) and by the congruence between the digital influencer and the brand. This study makes several contributions to both theory and practice, which are highlighted in this paper.
In B2B markets, vendor companies increasingly rely upon influential individuals in the digital environment to communicate information about their offerings to client organizations. Given the growing ...B2B digital engagement, cues that help to differentiate highly impactful digital influencers are crucial for vendor companies. Drawing from Stereotype Content Model, we analyze competence and warmth as relevant cues of digital influencers. Employing experimental studies, we examine how competence and warmth influence B2B purchasing managers' evaluation and selection of vendors' solutions. We find that the digital influencers' competence enhances purchasing managers' intention to buy the advocated vendor's offering. When compared with warmth, competence minimizes capability and relational concerns associated with the purchase decision. Further, we show that such effect of competence is prominent when manager-influencer identification is low. Our research advances knowledge on the characteristics of digital influencers that shape B2B purchasing managers' evaluation and selection of vendors. We identify concern-based psychological mechanisms underlying the effect of influencers' characteristics, and related boundary conditions. Our findings provide implications for digital influencers seeking to expand reach in B2B markets, and for vendor companies and marketing agencies in the selection of digital influencers.
•B2B companies increasingly count on on digital influencers to evaluate products.•B2B digital influencer's competence enhances purchasing managers' intention to buy.•The effect of competence is prominent when manager-influencer identification is low.•A digital influencer's competence, rather than warmth, is effective for reducing uncertainty on suppliers' offerings.
A partir de debates sobre a práticas que orientam as performances de microcelebridades em plataformas digitais, busca-se compreender como três influenciadoras socialmente engajadas negociam esse ...status na produção de vídeos patrocinados. Analisa-se qualitativamente seis vídeos ligados a pautas feministas publicados no YouTube pelas brasileiras Júlia Tolezano, Maíra Medeiros e Nátaly Neri. As conclusões apontam para negociações entre as esferas do ativismo e do consumo a partir de dois traços performáticos predominantes: o consumo como experiência de emancipação feminista e reforço da cumplicidade com a audiência.
Is it already the end of the influencers' era? More specifically the human influencers' era? Indeed, AI-powered digital avatars called “virtual influencers” are replacing them as marketing influence ...partners with the biggest brands, such as Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. By this choice, they avoid associating their business with the names of influencers who could have a very bad reputation overnight. This research aims to understand the incredible popularity of certain virtual influencers among consumers as well as their limits. This article explores this emerging phenomenon using a mixed qualitative methodology combining three retail case studies in Brazil and 16 experts open-ended interviews with. The results show that: (1) not being human is advantageous to virtual influencers; (2) their story is more important than their appearance in creating engagement; (3) they contribute to improve digital marketing campaigns; and (4) they seem more authentic than human influencers.
•The main quality of virtual influencers is their absence of human flaws.•Virtual influencers seem more authentic than human influencers.•Their story is more important than their appearance in creating engagement.•They contribute to improve influencer marketing campaigns.•Their main limitation is their inability to reach certain audiences.
This article investigates how fashion companies build their relationships with digital influencers (DIs), a new group of cultural intermediaries who are increasingly central to brand communication ...strategies. Scholars have mostly studied DIs’ role in influencing the market, but largely neglected the process through which they build their work. Through a qualitative inductive research directed at 21 Italian fashion companies, we describe the process through which companies fabricate the authenticity work, while collaborating with DIs. By taking the overlooked perspective of the company brand owner, we identify the underlying dynamics of achieving co-fabricated authenticity, unpacking the mechanisms through which companies select DIs, shape the connections and regulate the reciprocity with them. Our findings highlight how companies and DIs’ practices become intertwined, with the commodity of authenticity being constructed at the crossroads between the former’s commercial needs and the latter’s grassroots narratives and practices. ‘Co-fabricated authenticity’ ultimately emerges as the result of the work of those actors who are engaged in managing the authenticity or processes of authentication of marketable goods: the intangible and ephemeral value of authenticity is made tangible and co-produced through the collaboration between brands and cultural intermediaries such as DIs.
Research on digital influencers' role in marketing strategies under ongoing development. This study explores the role of digital influencer marketing on consumer purchase intention in fashion ...products. The goal is to investigate the direct and indirect relationships of trustworthiness, expertise, content quality, similarity, para-social interaction, and attitude towards sponsored posts on purchase intention. A mixed-method approach was conducted combining interviews with five digital influencers and a consumer-based survey with a sample of 206 fashion consumers, among them 96.1% were women and 51.5% were between 18 and 31 years old. Results indicate that blog content quality and para-social interaction positively influence purchase intention in fashion brands. Additionally, blog content quality plays a mediating role between trustworthiness and purchase intention. Moreover, consumers' attitude towards sponsored posts influences directly and positively purchase intention and mediates the relationship between trustworthiness and purchase intention. Consumers' attitude towards sponsored posts was also found to mediate the relationship between expertise and purchase intention. This study highlights the digital influencers' marketing characteristics, which affect the fashion consumer purchase intention, enriching the research in this area and providing recommendations for further investigation. The results also highlight the importance of aligning communication strategies of fashion brands with influencers' lifestyle.
Nowadays, we live in a society in constant evolution, marked by accelerated technological advances and now we are going through another social transition born from the third industrial revolution, ...also known as the digital age that was originated in the mid-twentieth century, the digital transformation that has transformed society in the way of thinking and acting. Since technology is increasingly present in our daily lives, more and more digital professions have emerged, as is the case of digital influencers, these professionals manifest themselves in different ways and through different social networks, such as bloggers, Instagrammers, and Youtubers. These have been playing a key role when it comes to promoting brands and products, helping companies to grow, and having a significant impact on consumers' lives. This study aims to understand the impact of digital influencers on the purchase decision process applied to fashion consumers. The methodology used in this dissertation is qualitative in nature and combines the carrying out of semi-structured interviews of an exploratory nature with digital influencers and the execution of a focus group for consumers. The results show that consumer decisions, in general, are influenced by digital influencers.
PurposeSocial commerce platforms are prevalent in the explosion of social media and e-commerce, and they enable conversations across a broad range of topics. However, their success depends on ...consumers' willingness to invest their time, attention and money. Digital influencers have shown prominent effects on consumers in those social commerce platforms. This study, thus, aims to attempt to unravel the role of digital influencers in affecting consumer engagement and purchase behaviour in online social commerce communities.Design/methodology/approachA mixed approach with a field interview, an online survey and secondary archive data are presented to confirm all the hypotheses.FindingsSeveral forms of social power from digital influencers (including expert power, informational power, referent power and legitimate reciprocity power) could influence consumer engagement behaviours (including content participation and content creation). Moreover, the two types of consumer engagement behaviours could further influence consumer purchase likelihood in the social commerce community.Research limitations/implicationsSeveral forms of social power from digital influencers (including expert power, informational power, referent power and legitimate reciprocity power) could affect consumer engagement behaviours (including content participation and content creation). Moreover, the two types of consumer engagement behaviours could further affect consumer's purchase expenditure in the social commerce community.Originality/valueThis study draws on the theories of social power and social influence and integrates the literature on consumer engagement to explain how digital influencers affect consumer engagement and their purchase behaviour in an online social commerce community. Firstly, this work extends existing studies on the antecedents of consumer engagement in the social commerce communities by considering the role of digital influencers. Secondly, this research advances the theoretical understanding of the influence of digital influencers through a new lens of social power. The findings also contribute to community managers, users who pursue popularity and companies who target business goals.
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