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1 – 10 of over 5000Lin Wang, Zhihua Wang, Xiaoying Wang and Yang Zhao
The purpose of this paper is to assess the influence mechanism of the word-of-mouth reputation of influencers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the influence mechanism of the word-of-mouth reputation of influencers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study explored word-of-mouth reputation from four characteristics of information source of influencers: credibility, professionalism, interactivity and attractiveness. The grounded theory was used to extract the characteristic indicators of influencers and used questionnaire surveys to obtain 218 valid samples. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was used for the configuration analysis.
Findings
The results revealed the following: (1) a causal asymmetric correlation exists between the driving mechanism of high word-of-mouth reputation and non-high word-of-mouth reputation; (2) influencers matching high word-of-mouth reputation comprises potential, developmental and almighty types, whereas live streaming influencer matching non-high word-of-mouth reputation comprises elementary and groping types; and (3) all factors must be combined to play a role, and neutral permutations of two solutions were found among the three overall solutions to attain high word-of-mouth reputation; (4) the combination of high user activity and high exposure is the core configuration that results in high word-of-mouth reputation.
Practical implications
This study provides recommendation for consumers, live streamers, brand and e-commerce platform on how to promote the sustainable and healthy development of influencer marketing.
Originality/value
This study focused on elucidating how the characteristics of information source affect the word-of-mouth reputation of influencers and have a reference value for the research on word-of-mouth reputation in the context of live commerce.
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Hsiao-Han Lu and Ching-Fu Chen
Drawing on source credibility theory, this study aims to explore the relationship between influencers’ characteristics and followers’ well-being through followers’ stickiness to…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on source credibility theory, this study aims to explore the relationship between influencers’ characteristics and followers’ well-being through followers’ stickiness to influencers’ channels or posts.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors gathered data through an online survey of 450 followers. The proposed hypotheses were examined using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results reveal that trustworthiness and physical attractiveness positively affect followers’ stickiness to influencers, while the influence of expertise is not evident. Stickiness has positive impacts on both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. The findings also show that stickiness mediates the relationships between physical attractiveness and trustworthiness toward both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to explore the impact of influencers’ characteristics on followers’ stickiness to influencer webpages. The findings contribute to transformative service research and the theory of stickiness by deepening the understanding of how influencer characteristics contribute to followers’ well-being through the effect of users’ stickiness.
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Dean Charles Hugh Wilkie, Rebecca Dolan, Paul Harrigan and Harriet Gray
The continued evolution of influencer marketing has created a need to better understand influencer marketing effectiveness. With brands increasingly partnering with influencers…
Abstract
Purpose
The continued evolution of influencer marketing has created a need to better understand influencer marketing effectiveness. With brands increasingly partnering with influencers, research is yet to provide an integrated perspective examining the critical role of both parties. This study aims to draw on the source credibility model and signaling theory to explain the mechanisms that matter in influencer marketing effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model of influencer marketing effectiveness is analyzed using partial least squares with data from 281 followers of social media influencers.
Findings
The authors establish influencer characteristics of popularity and attractiveness as heuristic cues that inform judgments of influencer efficacy. Further, category involvement and altruistic motives for collaboration are shown to moderate followers’ reliance on these heuristic cues. Then, a sequential mediating effect demonstrates the critical roles of the influencer and partner brand in three desired outcomes: enhanced perception of brand authenticity, enhanced brand engagement and positive attitudes toward influencer posts.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should consider other heuristic cues that could inform influencer efficacy judgments and switch the focus toward the partner brand’s impact on such judgments.
Practical implications
A step-by-step visual framework is presented to help marketers and influencers translate these findings into key responsibilities for developing more effective and collaborative partnerships.
Originality/value
Besides presenting an integrated perspective, signaling theory provides an original lens for explaining influencer marketing effectiveness, addressing the need to expand the theoretical boundaries of influencer marketing research.
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Li Chen, Yiwen Chen and Yang Pan
This study aims to empirically test how sponsored video customization (i.e. the degree to which a sponsored video is customized for a sponsoring brand) affects video shares…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to empirically test how sponsored video customization (i.e. the degree to which a sponsored video is customized for a sponsoring brand) affects video shares differently depending on influencer characteristics (i.e. mega influencer and expert influencer) and brand characteristics (i.e. brand establishment and product involvement).
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a unique real-world data set that combines coded variables (e.g. customization) and objective video performance (e.g. sharing) of 365 sponsored videos to test the hypotheses. A negative binomial model is used to analyze the data set.
Findings
This study finds that the effect of video customization on video shares varies across contexts. Video customization positively affects shares if they are made for well-established brands and high-involvement products but negatively influences shares if they are produced by mega and expert influencers.
Research limitations/implications
This study extends the influencer marketing literature by focusing on a new media modality – sponsored video. Drawing on the multiple inference model and the persuasion knowledge theory, this study teases out different conditions under which video customization is more or less likely to foster audience engagement, which both influencers and brands care about. The chosen research setting may limit the generalizability of the findings of this study.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that mega and expert influencers need to consider if their endorsement would backfire on a highly customized video. Brands that aim to engage customers with highly-customized videos should gauge their decision by taking into consideration their years of establishment and product involvement. For video-sharing platforms, especially those that are planning to expand their businesses to include “matching-making services” for brands and influencers, the findings provide theory-based guidance on optimizing such matches.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills an urgent research need to study how brands and influencers should produce sponsored videos to achieve optimal outcomes.
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Fei Fan, Kara Chan, Yan Wang, Yupeng Li and Michael Prieler
Online influencers are increasingly used by brands around the globe to establish brand communication. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of social media content in…
Abstract
Purpose
Online influencers are increasingly used by brands around the globe to establish brand communication. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of social media content in terms of presentation style and brand communication among online influencers in China. The authors identified how characteristics of social media posts influence young consumers’ engagement with the posts.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed 1,779 posts from the Sina Weibo accounts of ten top-ranked online influencers by combining traditional content analysis with Web data crawling of audience engagement with social media posts.
Findings
Online influencers in China more frequently used photos than videos to communicate with their social media audience. Altogether 8% and 6% of posts carried information about promotion and event, respectively. Posts with promotional incentives as well as event information were more likely to engage audiences. Altogether 22% of the sampled social media posts mentioned brands. Posts with brand information, however, were less likely to engage audiences. Furthermore, having long text is more effective than photos/images in generating likes from social media audiences.
Originality/value
Combining content analysis of social media posts and engagement analytics obtained via Web data crawling, this study is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, one of the first empirical studies to analyze influencer marketing and young consumers’ reactions to social media in China.
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Natalya Saldanha, Rajendra Mulye and Arnold Japutra
Consumers are increasingly spending more time on social media platforms to cope with anxiety and loneliness resulting from the recent pandemic. The extraordinary times…
Abstract
Purpose
Consumers are increasingly spending more time on social media platforms to cope with anxiety and loneliness resulting from the recent pandemic. The extraordinary times, characterised by isolation and lockdown, has placed increasing dependence on online technology as a coping mechanism in which social media influencers (SMIs) served as the human face of brands, helping both consumers and brands maintain human connection. How should practitioners navigate their social media campaigns in this changing environment?
Design/methodology/approach
To answer this question, the Source Connectedness Pyramid is proposed to help explain and compare the interactions between consumers and SMIs in ordinary and extraordinary times.
Findings
In their interactions with influencers during ordinary times, consumers are satiated with influencer source characteristics of attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise. However, during extraordinary times, consumers substitute their usual preference to focus on connectedness, characterised by relatedness, belongingness and attachment.
Originality/value
The empirical study within this paper lends support to this proposition and offers additional insights. The proposed Source Connectedness Pyramid contributes to influencer communication theoretically and has strategic implications for practitioners when navigating their social media campaigns in these extraordinary times.
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Brian J. Taillon, Steven M. Mueller, Christine M. Kowalczyk and Daniel N. Jones
The purpose of this paper is to better understand the role of closeness and the relationships between social media influencers and their followers, and, more specifically, how…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to better understand the role of closeness and the relationships between social media influencers and their followers, and, more specifically, how social media influencers can effectively manage their human brands.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies were conducted to explore social media influencers. Qualitative content analysis and modeling with path analysis were used to analyze the data.
Findings
Results found attractiveness and likeability to positively predict attitudes toward the influencer, word-of-mouth and purchase intentions, whereas similarity only predicted word-of-mouth from the follower. Closeness served as a moderator but had different effects. Closeness positively moderated the effect of attractiveness on purchase intentions; however, it had a negative effect with similarity on purchase intentions. Moreover, closeness moderated the effect of likeability on attitude toward the influencer.
Research limitations/implications
This study was limited by the student sample as well as the students’ self-identification of a social media influencer. Future research should include experimental design manipulating well-known/followed or fictional social media influencers on different social media.
Practical implications
This paper explores the characteristics of social media influencers as well as the potential outcomes associated with influencers on social media. The implications for marketers and advertisers include a better understanding of how consumers engage with influencers on social media.
Originality/value
The role of closeness is identified as a moderator of consumers’ behaviors toward social media influencers.
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Raja Ahmed Jamil, Urba Qayyum, Syed Ramiz ul Hassan and Tariq Iqbal Khan
Extending the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this study investigates the impact of social media influencers (SMI) on consumer well-being (CW) as well as the influence of CW…
Abstract
Purpose
Extending the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this study investigates the impact of social media influencers (SMI) on consumer well-being (CW) as well as the influence of CW on purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
A between-subjects experiment (macro- vs mega-influencer) was conducted to assess the proposed hypotheses. A total of 190 consumers participated in the experiment, and SmartPLS 3.3 was used for multigroup analyses.
Findings
Overall, argument quality (AQ), source's credibility (SC) and influencer's kindness positively predict CW, and CW predicts purchase intention. It was also found that SC is more important when information comes from a mega-influencer, whilst kindness is essential for a macro-influencer.
Practical implications
The results of this study imply that CW should be an essential component of influencer marketing strategy. Marketing managers should hire credible and kind influencers who can produce quality arguments. Additionally, the selection of SMI (macro- vs mega-influencer) should be aligned with the marketing objective and type of persuasion required.
Originality/value
This is one of the early attempts to extend ELM by introducing influencer kindness as a peripheral cue. Moreover, the study offers novelty by examining the effects of influencer characteristics (AQ, SC and kindness) on CW and comparing these effects across macro- and mega-influencers.
研究目的
藉著擴展詳儘可能性模型, 本研究擬探討網絡紅人對消費者福祉的影響, 以及消費者福祉對購買意圖的影響。
研究方法
研究人員進行被試間實驗 (中網紅對大型網紅) , 以對提出的假設進行評價。190名消費者參與實驗, 研究人員使用SmartPLS 3.3 進行多群組分析。
研究結果
總的來說, 論點品質、來源可信度和網紅的仁慈體貼, 均能積極預測消費者福祉, 而消費者福祉亦可預測購買意圖。研究人員亦發現, 若資訊是來自大型網紅的話, 來源可信度則更形重要, 而對中網紅來說, 仁慈體貼則是不可或缺的。
研究帶來的啟示
研究結果暗示, 消費者福祉應是網紅市場營銷戰略的基本要素。市場經理應僱用可靠、仁慈體貼、並能提出優質論點的網紅。而且, 網絡紅人 (中網紅對大型網紅) 的挑選, 必須與營銷目標和說服的種類互相協調。
研究的原創性
本研究為早期的嘗試, 利用引進網絡紅人的仁慈體貼作為周邊線索, 來擴展詳儘可能性模型。另外, 本研究探討網絡紅人的特徵 (論點品質、來源可信度和仁慈體貼) 會如何影響消費者福祉; 研究人員亦跨中網紅和大型網紅, 對這些影響進行比較, 就此而言, 本研究提供了創新的研究意念。
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Fatima Abdulaziz Al-Emadi and Imene Ben Yahia
The study aims to explore why consumers engage with ordinary celebrities on social media by identifying the influential characteristics that have engaged followers and have led to…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to explore why consumers engage with ordinary celebrities on social media by identifying the influential characteristics that have engaged followers and have led to opinion leadership on visual platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data were collected from 32 social media users following at least one ordinary celebrity on Instagram and Facebook in Qatar and Tunisia.
Findings
The findings of this study highlight five main characteristics that lead to fame and opinion leadership on social media visual platforms: credibility, storytelling and content quality, fit with the platform, Actual and aspired image homophily and consistency.
Research limitations/implications
This research is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, one of the first studies that highlight the features determining opinion leadership on visual platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Second, the results of the study highlight some features that distinguish ordinary celebrities from traditional established celebrities.
Practical implications
The findings of this research represent a guideline for effective influential marketing development. Based on the results, recommendations are provided for companies, influencers and social media users who aspire to become influencers.
Originality/value
This research, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is among the first to shed light on opinion leadership through ordinary celebrities on visual social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, and thus, adds new insights to the area of social media marketing.
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