While the literature related to this topic has predominantly focused on investigating the influence mechanism that social media influencers (SMIs) impose over their followers, less is known about ...their attachment mechanism. Given that social media platforms were originally designed to facilitate personal bonding and not product or brand recommendations, we posited that social media followers' emotional attachment to SMIs is an important precedent that affects the followers' behavioral inclination to accept the SMIs' endorsements. We thus drew new attention to the relationship between SMIs and their followers by focusing on their attachment development mechanism and its casual factors and effects. In doing so, Study 1 inductively analyzed the key causal factors, both with respect to SMI persona- and content-driven attributes, that make followers feel attached to SMIs. By integrating the findings of Study 1 with the human brand theory, Study 2 provided empirical evidence after analyzing 325 U.S. consumers' responses about how SMIs' personas (i.e., inspiration, enjoyability, and similarity) and content curation abilities (i.e., informativeness) affected followers to perceive the SMIs as human brands who fulfill their needs for ideality, relatedness, and competence—all of which resulted in an intense attachment to SMIs. It was this positive emotion shaped with SMIs that transferred to SMIs’ endorsements and positively influenced the followers to acquire the products/brands that the SMIs recommended.
Influencer marketing has emerged as an effective approach for brands to connect with customers through social media influencers. Although influencer marketing has attracted increased interest from ...marketing researchers in recent years, relatively little is known about influencers' content and engagement strategy and its links to followers' engagement behavior. The present study addresses this gap by examining how measures of influencers' content and engagement strategy (i.e., follower count, followee count, content volume, and domains of interest) are associated with followers' engagement behavior on Instagram both independently and interactively. The study leverages a unique dataset of Instagram influencers compiled by scraping an online influencer database to test its hypotheses. The findings indicate that follower count and content volume are negatively associated with follower engagement, while followee count is positively associated with follower engagement. However, these main effects are modified by influencers' domains of interest. The findings contribute to the literature by illuminating how elements of influencers' content and engagement strategy contribute to followers’ engagement behavior on Instagram.
Despite the increasing popularity of influencer marketing, the knowledge related to the parameters of influencer marketing affecting the brand knowledge and development of customer attitudes is ...scarce and not sufficiently explored. This research uses the tri-component attitude model to identify the impact of the credibility of mega influencer, content of the post and the congruence of the influencer with the brand on brand knowledge, affection and purchase intention of youth representing Gen Z for personal care products. We shortlisted the influencers to represent the Mega, Macro and Micro Influencer categories for our study. The survey instrument was a questionnaire developed on 7 point semantic differential scale and was administered to undergraduate and pot-graduate university students. The results of our study indicate that the content of the message and congruence of the influencer with the brand significantly influenced the brand knowledge and brand affection while the credibility of the influencer did not affect the brand knowledge or brand affection. Further, the brand knowledge mediated the relationship between (a) the content of the post and attitude towards the brand and (b) the congruence of influencer with the brand and attitude towards the brand. Managerial implications are discussed in the light of our findings.
•First academic field study on the effects of influencer marketing disclosure.•Three online experiments provide insights on underlying behavioral mechanisms.•Platform-initiated branded content tool ...consistently leads to strongest effects.•Disclosure interacts with number of followers and previous brand endorsements.•Actionable recommendations for public policy makers, managers, and influencers.
Consumers’ changing media consumption behaviors and skepticism toward traditional forms of advertising have prompted the growth of influencer marketing. Even as regulatory authorities call on brands and influencers to disclose the posts as advertising, no consistent guidelines exist. The distinct effects of self-generated versus platform-initiated disclosures also remain unclear, nor has research addressed the interplay of key influencer characteristics and marketing disclosures. This article reports on findings from the first academic field study of influencer marketing disclosures, as well as three experimental studies, which indicate that disclosure is a double-edged sword. When provided through a platform-initiated branded content tool, disclosure consistently exerts the strongest effect on perceptions of advertising, negatively relating to influencer trustworthiness and consumer engagement. The effects of disclosure type also depend on the number of followers and number of previously endorsed products (i.e., influencer characteristics). Yet, consumers also express appreciation for transparency when influencers disclose posts as advertising, which increases perceived trustworthiness of the influencer and engagement with the post. The implications of these findings should inform choices by public policy makers, brand managers, and influencers.
Social media influencers – such as the ‘Instafamous’ – are required to disclose any commercial relationship. To achieve transparency, Instagram has introduced a standardized disclosure (‘Paid ...partnership with brand’). This study examined whether this disclosure effectively raises ad recognition, and how this consequently affects consumers' responses to the message, influencer, and brand. Additionally, the effects of the disclosure were compared between micro- (<10,000 followers) and meso- (10,000–1 million followers) influencers. Results of an online experiment (N = 192) with a 2 (no disclosure vs. standardized disclosure) x 2 (micro-vs. meso-influencer) between subjects design showed that the disclosure did achieve its goal of increasing ad recognition. Furthermore, the disclosure positively affected brand recall and intentions to engage with the post, via ad recognition. The parasocial interaction with the influencer was not affected. Moreover, influencer type did not moderate the effect of the disclosure and did not affect people's responses to the message, influencer, or brand.
•The standardized Instagram disclosure helps users to recognize influencer marketing.•Disclosure indirectly increases brand recall and intentions to engage with the post.•The disclosure does not damage the parasocial interaction with the influencer.•Responses and effects did not differ between micro- and meso-influencers.
Digital marketing campaigns increasingly utilize social media influencers. Research in influencer marketing has investigated popularity metrics but found conflicting results on how the number of ...followers and likes on posts might influence consumers' behaviors. The present research investigates green living orientation of influencers as a moderating characteristic that leads to differential interpretation of popularity metrics in the context of green advertising messages. Specifically, lower popularity metrics seem to benefit green influencers or “greenfluencers.” An increased perception of trust in greenfluencers with lower popularity results in enhanced attitudes toward a sponsored product and increased purchase intentions. Additionally, consumers are willing to donate higher amounts to a related charity after exposure to a promotional post by a green influencer with low following. We present the results of three lab studies and discuss theoretical and practical implications.
•Green influencers (“Greenfluencers”) are considered more trustworthy if they have fewer followers.•Green influencers generate positive product outcomes if they have fewer followers.•Donation amounts to a partner charity are higher after exposure to micro green-living or sustainability-oriented influencer.•Digital marketing campaigns can benefit from using micro greenfluencers.
Os influenciadores digitais influenciam a intenção de compra de bens e serviços e atuam como mediadores ou (re)produtores das mais variadas ideologias. Ao alcançarem um amplo espectro populacional, ...disseminam crenças, valores e representações e moldam as atitudes e comportamentos das suas audiências em múltiplas esferas da vida social. Através de uma incursão teórico-empírica a estudos de várias áreas das ciências sociais, sugerem-se algumas pistas analíticas relacionadas com as estratégias simbólico-ideológicas mobilizadas por estes indivíduos nas suas práticas.
Although influencer marketing is deemed as the panacea to marketing issues and the solution to success for many tourism businesses, this research highlights some of the challenges and threats ...associated with its practice. Based on the literature available on the topic and some of the
latest evidence from a variety of locations, we examine the phenomenon from a range of perspectives including audiences, policy and regulatory, influencers, destination management organizations, as well as tourism organizations. This study highlights that more attention should be paid to vulnerable
groups such as young audiences and local communities. This study concludes with implications for theory and practices and future research avenues for influencer marketing in tourism.
This review provides insight into the research on the strategic use of social media influencers. A search in the Scopus database yielded a total of 154 peer-reviewed academic publications focussing ...on influencer marketing, published mostly in the last three years (2018-2020). Most of these studies were empirical and used survey research, an experimental design, content analysis, or interview methodology. While a few studies examined how influencers can incite behavioural change or affect public opinion, the majority of studies focussed on the use of influencers as a commercial marketing tactic. Using Stern's Revised Communication Model for Advertising as a theoretical framework, the studies were classified according to three research characteristics: source, message, and audience. The first research stream focussed on the perspectives of influencers and communication professionals. The second stream was concerned with the content strategies used by influencers in their sponsored posts. The third research stream focussed on the appeal of influencers and the efficacy of their sponsored recommendations. Several studies in the third stream were concerned with the transparency of this covert marketing tactic. The paper concludes with a future research agenda and implications for marketing practice and public policy.
•Disabled influencers positively impact consumer perceptions of product luxury.•Consumers are willing to pay more for products promoted by disabled influencers.•Disabled influencers can make a ...critical contribution to luxury advertising.
This article initiates a debate on consumer perceptions of products promoted by disabled social media influencers. The findings of six experimental studies show that consumers consider products promoted by disabled (vs. nondisabled) influencers more luxurious. Further extending this effect, driven by perceived influencer uniqueness, this research also demonstrates that consumers are willing to pay a premium for products promoted by disabled influencers. The positive effect of disabled influencers on perceptions of product luxury is especially robust for consumers with a relatively strong belief in psychological contagion. Substituting a disabled influencer’s promotional post with a brand-generated post featuring a disabled model does not render the same effect, emphasizing the unique role of disabled influencers (vs. models) in advertising. This research demonstrates a critical contribution that disabled influencers can make to luxury advertising, thereby highlighting the need for companies to collaborate with such influencers in promoting luxury products.
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