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Explaining purchase intent via expressed reasons to follow an influencer, perceived homophily, and perceived authenticity
International Journal of Advertising
Abstract
The influencer trend, where people are often paid by brands to use, talk about and otherwise promote their products on social media has become increasingly popular. This study examines the potential interplay of perceived homophily with, perceived authenticity of an influencer and the reasons people may follow an influencer on subsequent purchase intentions of items the influencer has showcased on their Instagram account. Key findings suggest that the type of perceived homophily one shares with their favorite influencer is linked to the reasons they follow that influencer, and that following an influencer because they are trendy when a person also indicated perceived status homophily (e.g., similarities in size) did lead to increased purchase intent. However, influencers that are followed because they are unique and share morals and values with a follower (i.e., ‘value homophily’) do not encourage purchase intent. We find that an influencer who is perceived as more ‘authentic’ will mediate the relationship between perceptions of homophily and subsequent purchase intent.
... Appendix 3 represents a detailed depiction of the coding process. The sources of the articles discussing these themes are presented in Additionally, homophily between the influencer and the follower can enhance consumer engagement behavior, which leads to purchase intention (Shoenberger and Kim 2022). In their research, Janssen et al. (2022) and Naderer et al. (2021) found that a good fit between product and influencer increases the influencer's credibility, which affects the attitude toward the advertising. ...
... Herrando and Martín-De Hoyos 2022;Lee and Johnson 2022;Zafar et al. 2020) to explore the relationship between the ad value of the influencer post and users' attitudes and purchase intention. Additionally, psychological and interpersonal theories, such as congruity theory(Belanche et al. 2021;Janssen et al. 2022;Pangarkar and Rathee 2022), adaptation theory(Breves et al. 2019;Zhu et al. 2022), social identity theory (Farivar and Wang 2022;Piehler et al. 2022), social cognitive theory(Kim 2022;Shoenberger and Kim 2022), social power theory(Wang and Huang 2022), uncertainty reduction theory(Leung et al. 2022), S-O-R framework(Djafarova and Bowes 2021;Hsieh et al. 2023;Zafar et al. 2020), social comparison theory(Claeys et al. 2024;Jin and Ryu 2020;Lee and Watkins 2016), and trust transfer theory(Choi et al. 2023) are discussed. ...
... captured the influencer's characteristics and how they impacted the followers' behavioral outcomes. Additionally, several studies have suggested that social identity, social presence(Kim 2022), homophily (Bu et al. 2022Ladhari et al. 2020;Lee and Watkins 2016;Masuda et al. 2022;Shoenberger and Kim 2022;Xu et al. 2021), and social attraction(Leung et al. 2022) strengthen the purchase intention of the followers toward the brands endorsed by the SMIs. ...
Recent advancements in social media influencer marketing and growing attention from practitioners have propelled academic investigation. Owing to its enormous potential as a research domain, the influence of social media influencers on consumer purchase intention has gained increasing importance. Motivated by the diverse knowledge of this emerging stream of research, we consolidated the existing body of literature through a systematic literature review (SLR) employing SPAR‐4‐SLR. By integrating 76 articles published in international peer‐reviewed journals between January 2011 and December 2023, our review highlights the key areas of existing research in social media influencers and purchase intention. It provides an organizing framework to assist future research. We attempted to combine the stock of knowledge through the TCCM framework to identify several theories, contexts, characteristics, and methods used in this domain. Our review highlights significant research gaps and directs future research addressing key aspects such as theories, contexts, characteristics, and methodologies. Our findings suggest that future researchers can investigate psychological theories such as social identity, social learning, and social influence theory, among others, in the context of virtual influencers, mom influencers, travel, or food influencers. Additionally, research can examine the negative effect of social media influencers on consumer purchase intention. Further researchers can use eye‐tracking and facial recognition methods to gain deeper insights into social media influencers' effectiveness. Researchers from varied disciplines, such as consumer behavior, psychology, and marketing, can gain insights from this review and conduct research in the future. At the same time, practitioners can implement social media influencer marketing in their businesses.
... Recent studies have explored the factors contributing to SMIs' influence, such as follower count, content sharing, and sponsorship disclosures [44]. Additionally, research has emphasized how SMIs craft tailored messages to appeal to specific audiences using attributes such as entertainment, informativeness, and credibility [44,45]. Further, the informative value of influencer-generated content, alongside the influencer's credibility and attractiveness, positively influences trust in branded posts, impacting brand awareness and purchase intentions [46]. ...
... Despite extensive research, there is a need to study indirect influences and balance the perspective by considering followers' requirements and how SMIs fulfill these requirements [14,23,45]. Moreover, discerning the role of SMIs has practical implications within sustainable consumer behavior, emphasizing conscious decisions to select environmentally friendly products and services [47]. ...
... This intention, in turn, directly influences their actual shopping behavior (SMSB). The mediation effect of the ISSM can be understood through the process where SMI endorsements and recommendations lead to increased shopping intentions, which subsequently result in higher instances of actual purchases and other shopping behaviors on social media [38,45]. ...
This study provides valuable insights into the impact of social media influencers (SMIs) on consumer shopping behavior through the lens of social influence theory. It focuses on the mediating role of shopping intentions and the moderating effects of brand credibility and individual shopping values in Pakistan. Using online questionnaires, data were collected from 988 individuals with first-hand experience of social commerce. To investigate a moderated mediation model, we used Smart-PLS 4, which examines how SMIs affect shopping behavior through shopping intention in the case of social media buying. The moderating effects of brand credibility and individual shopping values, specifically hedonic and utilitarian, are also examined. The results show that brand credibility significantly moderates the relationship between SMIs and shopping intentions. Utilitarian shopping value significantly moderates the conversion of shopping intentions into actual shopping behavior, while hedonic shopping value is found to be insignificant. This study uses social influence theory to emphasize the importance of critical variables in digital consumer behavior. The findings suggest that marketers should emphasize brand credibility and practical values to boost social commerce and engagement, providing a practical guide for their strategies.
... The final sample size for this review was twenty-one, comprising eight studies from the United States (Barbe et al., 2020;Lee et al., 2022;Malik et al., 2023;Shoenberger & Kim, 2023;Mirowska & Arsenyan, 2023;Saldanha et al., 2023). Two of these are from the Netherlands, one focused on Dutch individuals only Croes & Bartels (2021) and one based on sample data from Belgium and the Netherlands (Dekoninck et al., 2023). ...
... Second, followers want to get the latest trend advice, product and brand recommendations, lifestyle advice, and product reviews from influencers. For this purpose, influencers need to focus on the novelty of the content they provide, providing followers with the latest trends, brand information, and location recommendations (e.g., food and clothing) Morton (2020); Tan et al (2021), and followers judge influencers' hipness based on similarities to themselves (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). However, not all followers blindly choose to buy products promoted by influencers; sensible followers will check reviews on other websites after receiving advice Tan et al (2021), while irrational followers will increase the frequency of purchases due to jealousy and consumerism . ...
... Feeling like self, relatedness, and finding super peer roles is the fifth motivation for following. The similarity in background culture, values, beliefs, perspectives, and age can attract followers by giving them the idea that the influencer is like me (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023;Coelhoso et al., 2022). Relatedness and similarity are important motivations for following and are not disturbed by unexpected social situations (Saldanha et al., 2023). ...
... Building on theories of social influence and social learning, transformational leadership, and signaling theory, this research contributes to the extant literature by highlighting the roles of SMIs' trustworthiness and inspirational capacity in connecting SMI personal authenticity with consumer purchase intentions. Most importantly, it challenges the prevailing view that authenticity is always best to achieve positive consumer outcomes (e.g., Kowalczyk and Pounders, 2016;Shoenberger and Kim, 2023). The findings of this study can serve as a basis for offering practical insights into SMI effectiveness and impression management. ...
... Personal authenticity embraces the idea that people remain true to their core identities (Abidin, 2017;Alhabash et al., 2015;AlRabiah et al., 2022;Audrezet et al., 2020;Balaji et al., 2021;Bandura, 1977;Batra and Ahtola, 1991;Belk, 2014;Berger and Heath, 2007;Beverland and Farrelly, 2010;Bhatnagar et al., 2000;Böttger et al., 2017;Breves et al., 2019;Campagna et al., 2023;Casaló et al., 2018;Cheung et al., 2020;Djafarova and Rushworth, 2017;Donath, 2007;Duffy and Hund, 2015;Erdogan et al., 2001;Fernandes et al., 2022;Guignon, 2004;Hart, 2000;Hayes, 2017;Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982;Honea and Horsky, 2012;Hoyt and Blascovich, 2003;Hsieh, 2023;Huber et al., 2018;Hugh et al., 2022;Huo and Onghena, 2012;Insider, 2021;Instagram, 2021;Janssen et al., 2022;Kamins and Gupta, 1994;Kast, 1991;Kavanoor et al., 1997;Kees et al., 2017;Kelman, 1961;Khamis et al., 2017;Ki et al., 2020Ki et al., , 2022Kim and Kim, 2020;Kim and Lee, 2011;Klein and Melnyk, 2016;Kowalczyk and Pounders, 2016;Kupfer et al., 2018;Kwon and Kwon, 2014;Leary and Allen, 2011;Lee et al., 2022;Lee and Eastin, 2021;Leung et al., 2022a,b, Lim et al., 2015Liu and Perrewe, 2006;Lynch and Schuler, 1994;Mathew, 2018;Mudambi and Schuff, 2010;Napoli et al., 2014;Nunes et al., 2021;Ohanian, 1990;Okada, 2005;Ouwerkerk and Johnson, 2016;Park et al., 2021;Peer et al., 2014;Pillai et al., 1999;Pöyry et al., 2013;Robinson et al., 2019;Salisbury and Pooley, 2017;Schallehn et al., 2014;Schwarz, 2019;Shoenberger and Kim, 2023;Sokolova and Kefi, 2020;Spence, 1974;Statista, 2021Statista, , 2023Thrash et al., 2014;Thrash and Elliot, 2003;Tolson, 2010;Voss et al., 2003;Vrontis et al., 2021;Wood et al., 2008;Yoon, 2002Batra andAhtola, 1991;Erkan and Evans, 2016;Salisbury and Pooley, 2017). In contemporary culture, the need to be true to one's identity has become important in the face of corrupting external pressures (Schallehn et al., 2014). ...
... Online consumers seek recommendations from authentic and credible personalities other than celebrities (Djafarova and Rushworth, 2017;Sokolova and Kefi, 2020). Kowalczyk and Pounders (2016) and Shoenberger and Kim (2023) also show that increased overall authenticity of online opinion leaders enhances consumers' purchase intentions. Accordingly, we assume that SMI personal authenticity leads to positive consumer behavior. ...
This study explores whether and how varying levels of social media influencers (SMIs) personal authenticity affect consumer behavior in four experimental studies. Though consumers who perceive SMIs as being authentic express greater intention to purchase products endorsed by the SMIs, authenticity does not influence non-purchase behaviors. SMI authenticity also affects purchase intentions through trustworthiness and inspirational capacity. However, authenticity is not always necessary to influence consumer behavior. Inauthentic SMIs still can inspire consumers and positively influence their intentions to purchase hedonic products. These findings add value to existing literature and can inform effective SMI marketing strategies for various product categories.
... Influencers can not only shape public opinions (Janssen, Schouten, and Croes 2022) and use social media platforms to persuade followers regarding their thoughts and behaviors (Rosengren and Campbell 2021) but also effectively deal with negative comments using accommodative strategies (Hudders, Lou, and de Brabandere 2022). Consumers may follow these influencers for a variety of reasons (S. S. Lee and Johnson 2022), such as perceived value homogeneity (Shoenberger and Kim 2023), authenticity (Jung and Im 2021;Hudders, Lou, and de Brabandere 2022), and creative inspiration (Pangarkar and Rathee 2022). ...
... Live streaming selling acts as an extension of influencer marketing, wherein both practices encourage the intensive usage of social media networking sites to promote products and brands to a mass audience (Shoenberger and Kim 2023) and offer the ability to interact with followers (Hudders and De Jans 2022). Unlike traditional influencer marketing, live streaming commerce is an emerging marketing approach by which influencers and brands can promote sales and bolster a high level of engagement in real time (Arora et al. 2019;Lin, Yao, and Chen, 2021). ...
... The majority of micro influencers maintain small but active and sticky groups of followers. In essence, people tend to associate with people who show similar tendencies in social status and values (Shoenberger and Kim 2023) and are more easily influenced by people who are similar to themselves (Bandura 1994). Since the content surrounding micro internet celebrities is closer to user-generated content, micro influencers are more relatable to their followers and have a greater level of perceived authenticity ). ...
... The association comes after the knowledge or awareness stage, which means that for a consumer to evoke his perceived source homophily, he/she needs to be exposed to the source of information rst. Shoenberger and Kim (2023) argued that the type of perceived homophily depended on the reason one followed an in uencer. The reason implies that one is aware of the in uencer's content, therefore, resulting in the perceived homophily. ...
... The existence of others precedes one's feeling of being similar to others and his tendency to connect. The higher the perception of similarity with the nano in uencers in the skincare category, the stronger the homophily effect the consumer has with the nano in uencer (Bu, Parkinson, and Thaichon 2022;Ladhari, Massa, and Skandrani 2020;Lawrence and Shah 2020;Shehzala, Vemireddy, and Angeli 2024;Shoenberger and Kim 2023). ...
... Homophily refers to individuals' tendency to associate with others who are similar to themselves in terms of various characteristics (Ertug et al., 2022;Shoenberger & Kim, 2022). Homophily can be observed in online environments, where individuals may seek out or be more likely to interact with others who share similar characteristics or interests (Bu et al., 2022). ...
... We used a comprehensive framework to examine the impact of metaverse dimensions (control, immersiveness, synchronicity, personalization, and homophily) on user engagement in the metaverse. Findings suggest that individuals tend to stay engaged with the metaverse platform if they perceive the platform to be immersive, which aligns with the prior literature (Vishwakarma et al., 2020a;Vishwakarma et al., 2020b;Shoenberger & Kim, 2022). Immersiveness could create a sense of presence that makes users feel as if they are transported into the virtual environment, making the experience more realistic and engaging, and increasing users' desire to stay and explore the metaverse. ...
In this research, we examine user engagement with the metaverse platform using the stimulus-organism-response theory. We used a mixed-methods approach that involved a qualitative study and a quantitative study to answer several research questions. We found that immersiveness, personalization, and homophily are associated with user engagement in the metaverse. We also found that parasocial interaction meditates the relationships from control, immersiveness, personalization, and homophily to user engagement in the metaverse. Self-platform connection plays a crucial moderating role in the mediating effect of parasocial interaction for immersiveness and homophily. This research contributes to the existing literature on metaverse interactivity and user engagement while offering valuable insights into consumer behavior in virtual environments. This study can help organizations enhance their metaverse platforms to increase user engagement in the metaverse.
... This is because perceived homophily assesses how individuals categorize others, which provides a benchmark for self-comparison against influencers (Chu & Kim, 2011;Han & Balabanis, 2024;Ladhari et al., 2020). Homophily has been applied to assess the consumer behavior outcomes of individuals who share demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, race, income) (Pezzuti et al., 2018;Risselada et al., 2014;Simpson et al., 2000), but can also capture more subjective perceptions of attributes, values, moral, and behaviors (Han & Balabanis, 2024;Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). ...
... Indeed, the literature emphasizes the role of the source in improving the perception of authenticity (Orazi & Newton, 2018) and the perceived similarity between the sender and receiver of the message in increasing trust in the message (Han & Balabanis, 2024). Since consumers' evaluation of authenticity is influenced by whether the influencer's values are aligned with theirs (i.e., homophily) (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023) and authentic messaging is important in influencing consumers' socially responsible behavior (Shoenberger et al., 2021), we propose that perceived homophily between influencers and followers increases the ...
Heeding the rising popularity of virtual influencers on social media, many established brands are beginning to collaborate with them. Although virtual influencers are perceived as novel and exciting, their effectiveness in different areas of consumer behavior has not been examined. While previous research has compared several attributes of virtual and human influencers, our research is specifically motivated to answer: how can marketers increase the effectiveness of virtual influencers in promoting prosocial causes? Across four experiments employing different prosocial contexts, we compared the effectiveness of virtual and human influencers in increasing consumers' prosocial intentions and behaviors. Findings suggest that although human influencers are more persuasive in promoting prosocial behaviors, this effect only occurs when a virtual influencer is perceived as a standalone influencer (i.e., not affiliated with a brand). Overall, our results imply that marketers can substantially increase the effectiveness of virtual influencers by making the cues of brand affiliation salient in influencers' posts.
... Homophily is a phenomenon that pertains to the resemblance observed in demographic attributes, lifestyle choices, and personal interests (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). This implies that those who follow influencers are enthusiastic and receptive to interacting with them when they possess similar attributes, share shared interests, or find themselves in parallel circumstances. ...
... First, the current study empirical investigate and validates that integrating followers' engagement and social attractiveness as mediators provides theoretical insights into the intricate mechanisms by which influencer qualities influence brand loyalty, enhancing our holistic comprehension of consumer behavior. Scholars comprehensively researched the digital influencers homophily as a key determinant of the user's behavioral decision making (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). Similarly, Filieri et al. (2023) influencers homophily plays a significant role in the individual buying behavior, which leads to the positive behavioral outcomes. ...
This study explores the relationship between social media influencers (SMIs) and followers' engagement, social attractiveness, and establishing brand loyalty. The study seeks to redefine current theoretical frameworks and provide practical insights for mar-keters by investigating the mediating role of followers' engagement (FE) and social attractiveness (SA) and the moderating influence of parasocial interactions. The present study utilized a quantitative research methodology. The researchers employed the Smart PLS 4 structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to analyze the data. The data was obtained from the participants using the convenience sampling technique. This study's findings reveal that the sole influence of social media influencers' homophily on brand loyalty was insignificant; the presence of a substantial mediator, namely consumer engagement, suggests that engagement plays a role in channeling the impact of homophily on brand loyalty. Furthermore, the SA played a crucial role in mediating, emphasizing the significance of aesthetic and emotional appeal. The study revealed that parasocial relationships did not have a significant moderating effect on FE. However, they significantly modified the association between SMIs' homophily and brand loyalty. These study findings highlight that marketers operating within the laptop industry specifically utilize engagement activities, emphasize visual harmony, and foster parasocial relationships to maximize the influence of influencers on brand loyalty. Plain language summary The study seeks to redefine current theoretical frameworks and provide practical insights for marketers by investigating the mediating role of followers' engagement (FE) and social attractiveness (SA) and the moderating influence of parasocial interactions. The present study utilized a quantitative research methodology. The researchers employed the Smart PLS 4 structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to analyze the data. The data was obtained from the participants using the convenience sampling technique. This study's findings reveal that the sole influence of social media influencers' homophily on brand loyalty was insignificant; the presence of a substantial mediator, namely consumer engagement, suggests that engagement plays a role in channeling the impact of homophily on brand loyalty
... Homophily is a phenomenon that pertains to the resemblance observed in demographic attributes, lifestyle choices, and personal interests (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). This implies that those who follow influencers are enthusiastic and receptive to interacting with them when they possess similar attributes, share shared interests, or find themselves in parallel circumstances. ...
... First, the current study empirical investigate and validates that integrating followers' engagement and social attractiveness as mediators provides theoretical insights into the intricate mechanisms by which influencer qualities influence brand loyalty, enhancing our holistic comprehension of consumer behavior. Scholars comprehensively researched the digital influencers homophily as a key determinant of the user's behavioral decision making (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). Similarly, Filieri et al. (2023) influencers homophily plays a significant role in the individual buying behavior, which leads to the positive behavioral outcomes. ...
This study explores the relationship between social media influencers (SMIs) and followers’ engagement, social attractiveness, and establishing brand loyalty. The study seeks to redefine current theoretical frameworks and provide practical insights for marketers by investigating the mediating role of followers’ engagement (FE) and social attractiveness (SA) and the moderating influence of parasocial interactions. The present study utilized a quantitative research methodology. The researchers employed the Smart PLS 4 structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to analyze the data. The data was obtained from the participants using the convenience sampling technique. This study’s findings reveal that the sole influence of social media influencers’ homophily on brand loyalty was insignificant; the presence of a substantial mediator, namely consumer engagement, suggests that engagement plays a role in channeling the impact of homophily on brand loyalty. Furthermore, the SA played a crucial role in mediating, emphasizing the significance of aesthetic and emotional appeal. The study revealed that parasocial relationships did not have a significant moderating effect on FE. However, they significantly modified the association between SMIs’ homophily and brand loyalty. These study findings highlight that marketers operating within the laptop industry specifically utilize engagement activities, emphasize visual harmony, and foster parasocial relationships to maximize the influence of influencers on brand loyalty.
... Social media influencers must project authenticity to maintain this close and trustworthy relationship with their audience (Zhu et al., 2022). Research has established authenticity as a cornerstone for influencer endorsements, as it can drive engagement (Steils et al., 2022), lead to favorable attitudes toward brands and products (Zhang et al., 2023) and encourage purchase intention (Shoenberger and Kim, 2023). Another established mechanism defining the effectiveness of influencer endorsements is the fit between the influencer and the endorsed product (Lee et al., 2021;Schouten et al., 2020). ...
... Research in influencer marketing consistently highlights the importance of authenticity in consumer decision-making (Ilicic and Webster, 2016;Lee et al., 2021). The perceived authenticity of influencers affects the effectiveness of endorsements, impacting attitudes toward the post, endorsed product and affiliated brand (Zhang et al., 2023;Zniva et al., 2023) and purchase intentions (Shoenberger and Kim, 2023). Similar findings have been observed with virtual influencers, where their perceived authenticity can impact brand reputation (Yang et al., 2023) and word-of-mouth intentions (Kim and Baek, 2023). ...
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the rising trend of virtual influencers – digitally created characters with human-like attributes. It aims to evaluate and compare their effectiveness with human influencers in terms of brand attitudes and purchase intentions. It uncovers the mechanisms underlying the differences in effectiveness observed between virtual influencers and their human counterparts.
Design/methodology/approach
The research uses a 2 (influencer type: human vs virtual) × 3 (product type: functional vs symbolic vs experiential) between-subjects design. Through a pilot study ( n = 334) and a main study ( n = 352), the research examines the interactive effects of influencer and product type on brand attitude and purchase intentions. Hypotheses were developed and tested using moderating mediation models centered on authenticity and product–endorser fit.
Findings
Virtual influencers are perceived as less authentic than human influencers across all product types, negatively influencing brand attitude and purchase intention. However, the extent to which influencer type affects brand attitudes and purchase intentions, mediated by product–endorser fit, varies based on the product type.
Originality/value
This research emphasizes two key mechanisms – authenticity and product–endorser fit – influencing the effectiveness of virtual influencers. It suggests that aligning virtual influencers with suitable product types can offset their perceived authenticity deficit, significantly affecting their endorsement effectiveness.
... Yildiz et al. demonstrated that both object-based and existential authenticity mediate the relationship between tourists' cultural travel motivation and satisfaction [40]. Shoenberger and Kim have verified that consumers' perceived authenticity towards an influencer would mediate the relationship between their perceptions of homophily and subsequent purchase intentions [55]. However, in the context of traditional and cultural apparel consumption, such as Hanfu, the mediating role of consumers' perceived object-based and existential authenticity in the relationship between their motivation or identification with Hanfu and their purchase intentions has received limited attention. ...
... Therefore, further efforts and research are needed to refine the conceptualization of object-based authenticity to comprehensively capture its impact on consumers' purchase intentions [40]. Moreover, different from prior studies which examined perceived authenticity as a whole to verify its mediating role on the association between consumers' perceptions of homophily and subsequent purchase intentions [55], the present study has testified the mediating roles of perceived authenticity from two different dimensions. The discrepancy concerning the mediating effects of perceived object-based authenticity and existential authenticity could provide empirical evidence for future research to further explore the conceptualization of perceived authenticity. ...
With the trend of national cultural confidence and the growing appreciation for aesthetic diversity, traditional apparel from different countries or regions has become a driving force in the clothing industry. Hanfu, an emerging trend that industrializes traditional culture, has garnered increasing attention from consumers. Thus, with the objective of exploring the psychological antecedents of Hanfu consumers’ purchase intentions from the perspectives of product identification, cultural motivation, and consumers’ perceived authenticity, the present study was empirically conducted with a sample of 823 respondents. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to examine the proposed research model. The results demonstrate that consumers’ identification with Hanfu and cultural motivation positively influence object-based and existential authenticity, as well as purchase intention. Furthermore, the mediating effect of perceived object-based authenticity is confirmed, indicating its significance in shaping consumers’ purchase intentions, while the mediating effect of existential authenticity is found to be insignificant. Research findings could contribute to the understanding of the psychological mechanisms driving consumers’ purchase intentions towards traditional clothing and highlight the importance of consumers’ perceived object-based authenticity in the market of traditional cultural clothing.
... According to Euromonitor (2021), consumers are increasingly values driven, with personal values being prominent in decision making. Perceived similarity to influencers based on outward similarities has been linked to increased purchase intention, but shared moral values do not necessarily encourage purchase intention (Shoenberger and Kim 2022) a relationship between consumer and influencer is required. These social bonds create parasocial influence which helps communicate shared values within the blogger community. ...
... This perception of knowing a blogger/influencer is viewed as a parasocial relationship (PSR) with its origin in parasocial interactions can lead to parasocial relationships developing over time resulting in the potential for parasocial influence. Reader's perceived authenticity of influencers and perceived homophily with influencers has been linked to purchase intention among followers (Shoenberger and Kim 2022). Even when consumers feel a parasocial link to influencers, this must be combined with consumers being able to evaluate influencer promotions based on their own needs and experiences (Lou and Yuan 2019). ...
... Prior SMIM studies have found a significant effect of attitude homophily on influencer trust (Kim & Kim, 2021), parasocial relationship (Masuda et al., 2022), and purchase intention (Bu et al., 2002;Shoenberger & Kim, 2023;Wong & Wei, 2023). From the context of the T&H industry, Machado Carvalho (2024) found that attitude homophily significantly influences the intention to travel and purchase tourism products while its effect on content usefulness, credibility and enjoyability was not supported. ...
... Additionally, it encompasses the disclosure of contractual terms associated with the partnership and the publication of unedited content, contributing to a more open and genuine representation. When assessing influencer authenticity, a key factor is the alignment between their content, their genuine selves, and the persona they have carefully developed over time (Kapitan et al. 2022;Shoenberger and Kim 2023). This alignment plays a pivotal role in determining how well an influencer's core identity resonates with the sociopolitical issues they support, significantly shaping followers' perceptions of the authenticity of their activism. ...
Influencers can effectively promote products and brands but are also leading personalities who might inspire others to support polarizing and/or prosocial issues (e.g., against gender‐based violence, social inequality, and racism). This research analyses the impact of influencer activism on perceived authenticity and prosocial behaviors, focusing on collaborations with brands and nonprofit organizations. Drawing on social influence theory and signaling theory, two key factors are examined: the influencer‐partner congruity, and the influencer‐sociopolitical issue alignment. The research consists of a preliminary study, four experimental studies on behavioral intentions, two experimental studies on proxies of actual behavior, and a content analysis on Instagram comments. The results suggest that congruity and alignment significantly enhance perceived authenticity, which positively impacts attitudes toward the influencer and increases the intention to engage in prosocial behaviors. The article offers further insight into individual engagement in actual prosocial behavior, such as seeking information on an issue, subscribing to newsletters, and signing petitions. The research underscores the importance of selecting congruent influencers, whose values and advocacy efforts are consistent with the brand's or organization's characteristics, and aligned with relevant issues, to enhance perceived authenticity, foster genuine engagement and effectively drive prosocial behaviors through effective partnerships.
... Consumers often perceive certain influencers as ideal self-versions who share their common interests. Shoenberger and Kim (2023) found that perceived homophily, or the sharing of similar moral and value interests, influences followers' purchase intentions. Therefore, to measure the effect of internet celebrity similarity on purchase intention, the following hypothesis has been proposed. ...
Internet celebrities are rapidly reshaping economics and marketing dynamics on online platforms such as live streaming. This trend has made influencers a crucial marketing technique for many businesses. This study focuses on influencers and their characteristics, engaging in a comprehensive discussion of their complex relationships. It hypothesizes that the three key characteristics of celebrity influencers—similarity, professionalism, and interactivity—directly influence attachment and purchase intention. Additionally, the research explores how attachment mediates the relationship between influencer factors and purchase intention on live streaming platforms. A cross-sectional design and statistical analysis were employed, using a sample of 130 online consumers. The results suggest that similarity, professionalism, and interactivity directly effect on purchase intention. However, while professionalism and interactivity have a direct effect on attachment, they do not significantly influence the relationship with similarity. However, when mediated through attachment, similarity gets partially mediated whereas professionalism and interactivity have observed full mediation. The total effect is highest for similarity. Overall, the study found attachment to be a significant mediator among these influencer characteristics. These findings suggest that celebrities, product developers, advertisers, and online platform owners need to prioritize influencer credibility and competency to succeed in online marketing through live streaming platforms. This study provides new insights into marketing approaches, contributing to the field of consumer behaviour research both practically and theoretically.
... Controlled experiment Shoenberger and Kim (2023) Analyse homophily, social attractiveness, similarity, and mobile lifestyle about viewers' purchase behavior, considering the impact of mobile social media. ...
Social media influencers (SMIs) have a significant impact on consumer decisions, and research in this area comprises a substantial portion of the literature. Despite marketing firms' attention to SMIs, a comprehensive evaluation of their impact on the consumer decision literature is lacking. Therefore, this study offers a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the impact of social media influencers on consumer decisions. Using a framework‐based approach, the TCM framework provides a structured exploration of the theories, contexts, and methods found in 106 relevant articles. Concurrently, the ADO framework examines the determinants of consumers' decisions. This review identifies 62 distinct antecedents categorized into seven broad groups and explores why specific factors positively or negatively affect purchase decisions and outcomes. This study highlights key gaps in the current influencer marketing literature and provides insights for future research and practical implications in the fields of psychology, marketing, and consumer behavior.
... Perceived authenticity theory is a concept in marketing science that highlights the importance of conformity between the values announced by a brand or product and the real actions taken by the company. The concept of authenticity is defined by Taylor (1991) as something considered genuine or real (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). This theory emphasizes that consumer trust in a brand or product depends greatly on the conformity between what the brand promises and what the company does. ...
This study explored the relationship between perceived authenticity and consumer purchase intention in green products, especially in the context of increasing awareness of sustainability among consumers. Using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method, this research explores the dynamics of the relationship between perceived authenticity and consumer intention for green products. Analysis of key findings reveals that perceived authenticity is not just a concept but is a key element that forms the basis of consumer trust in brands and products. The results of this study highlight the important role of perceived authenticity as the main instrument in forming positive relationships between brands, consumers and green products. The implications are particularly relevant in a marketing context, where strategies that establish and maintain product authenticity are crucial. This study provides in-depth insight into how perceived authenticity not only influences consumers' perceptions of the sustainability of green products but also directly impacts purchase intention. This study also emphasizes the importance of marketing strategies that build and maintain perceived authenticity. This strategy not only helps brands win consumer trust but also becomes a catalyst in driving change towards more sustainable and responsible consumption. Thus, this study significantly contributes to business practitioners and academics in understanding the dynamics of the green product market amidst the shift in consumer values towards sustainability.
... Multiple regression results revealed that homophily considerably impacted purchase intention, which is consistent with earlier studies. The homophily one shares with their chosen influencer is linked to why one follows that influencer, which promotes purchase intention (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). As Sponsored Content is a kind of advertisement, it was assumed that it would negatively influence the individuals. ...
Social media platforms in the digital age have revolutionized how brands engage with consumers, with YouTube standing out as a potent tool for influencer marketing. Influencers on YouTube engage audiences through diverse content formats, including vlogs, reviews, tutorials, and sponsored advertisements, making it an ideal platform for promoting products. Influencers play a pivotal role in modern marketing strategies due to their ability to build genuine relationships with their target audiences. The paper investigates the impact of YouTube influencers on consumers' buying intentions. Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire to achieve the above goal. The study considered Tamil YouTube Influencers and their impact on Tamil audiences. This study considered the role of Homophily, Sponsored Advertisements, and the Likability of influencers on purchase intentions. The researcher used purposive sampling to collect the data from 201 Tamil audiences who follow Tamil YouTube influencers. The statistical tools used to attain the objectives of this study are frequency analysis, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The study results revealed that both Homophily and Sponsored Advertisements significantly impact purchase intentions. Moreover, the likability of an influencer varies across different occupational backgrounds, suggesting that the professions of the influencers influence consumer perceptions. The study also highlights how customer perceptions are shaped by the frequency and types of content influencers share. The researcher suggests to marketers the necessity for personalized marketing strategies that cater to diverse consumer preferences for successful campaigns. Ultimately, the study encourages marketers to effectively utilise YouTube influencers to capture consumer engagement to drive maximum impact on revenue within the Tamil audience segment.
... Through a sequential mediation process involving perceived authenticity and message acceptance, individuals exhibited a greater willingness to engage with virtual influencers on social media when these influencers were perceived as possessing social agency. Recent research has identified authenticity as one of the primary motivators for following social media influencers (Lee et al., 2022;Shoenberger and Kim, 2023). Nevertheless, a notable weakness of virtual influencers, in contrast to their human counterparts, is a lack of authenticity, which leads to diminished persuasive power (Lou et al., 2023). ...
The rise of virtual influencers is reshaping the landscape of social media, extending even to the promotion of social causes. Yet, lingering doubts persist regarding the authenticity of their motives. This research delves into the impact of both the racial identities of virtual influencers and those of their creators when linked to the support of racial movements. In terms of source credibility, results find that a creator's racial background, but not that of a virtual influencer, plays a substantial role, and an interaction effect between these factors was identified. The results also show that individuals' assessments of a virtual influencer and their message are influenced by the perceived social agency. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
... Given its importance, firms recruit celebrities as influencers to promote their products (Dinh & Lee, 2022). Many past studies document that social interaction generated by social media influencers positively affects consumers' attitudes and behaviors toward goods and services (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). Social media influencers' credibility, expertise, and trustworthiness are important to motivate consumers to listen to their advice about goods and services (Sharma et al., 2022). ...
Social media in the prevailing era has changed the attitudes and lifestyles of all
individuals, especially university students. Given its importance, this study examines
the impact of discount pricing, bundle pricing, and purchase intention on consumer
buying behavior. It also examines the impact of social media influencers and awareness
on purchase intention and the moderating effect of gender on purchase intention.
The study extended the Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Comparison Theory to
develop a model. We empirically tested the model based on 385 responses collected
from the target population. The study found that discount pricing, bundle pricing,
and purchase intention promote consumer-buying behavior. It also documented that
social media influencers and awareness positively affect purchase intention. We also
found gender moderates (i) social media influencer and purchase intention and (ii)
awareness and purchase intention. The study’s contribution to the body of knowledge
is that it has extended the Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Comparison Theory
to develop a new model. Since the “results support all the articulated hypotheses, the
study has increased the generalizability of these theories.” The study recommends that
firms spend resources and recruit social media influencers to promote their goods. It also proposes that firms must select credible and trustworthy social media influencers.
Female perceptions and attitudes toward social media influencers differ from males.
Therefore, we recommend that firms select social media influencers based on the
product categories.
... If consumers find similarities between their and social media influencers' characteristics, their attitudes and purchase intentions towards the brand will increase. In contrast, if consumers find dissimilarity between their personality traits and influencers, their attitudes and purchase intentions about the brand will decrease (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). ...
Social media has completely altered how businesses engage with their customers. Social media influencers have become an essential marketing tool for many industries. The consumption of conspicuous products is growing in today’s era. Therefore, most people prefer luxury products as a status symbol, ignoring what brands offer. Consequently, brands spend considerable resources on social media to promote their products and reach a wider audience. However, little research is available on how social media affects customer behavior and how to measure social media effectiveness. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the influence of social media influencers on customer attitudes, behaviors, and purchase intentions toward the consumption of conspicuous products in Pakistan. The study also examined the mediating effect of brand image on consumer attitude and purchase intention. The study used Smart PLS 4 for data analysis on a data set of 200 respondents. The results indicate that social medial Influencer positively affects brand image, consumer attitude and purchase intention.The findings also reveal that brand image mediates (i) social media influencer and consumer attitude and (ii) social media influencer and purchase intention. This research contributes to the current reservoir of knowledge by providing insights into the factors that make social media influencer successful in promoting conspicuous products. The study findings can benefit conspicuous/luxury brands in selecting suitable social media influencer and marketing strategies that enhance their brand image
... When audiences perceive an influencer as similar to themselves, they are more likely to find the influencer credible and trust their recommendations (Schouten et al., 2021). Homophily has consistently been proved as a significant factor influencing audiences engagement (Bu et al., 2022;Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). ...
Virtual influencers have great potential to shape the audience's perception and motivate behavioral change. Drawing upon anthropomorphism theory and social identity theory, this paper examined the interaction effect of anthropomorphism and racial homophily of virtual influencers in shaping audiences' trust and subsequently pro‐environmental behaviors in low‐ and high‐cost contexts. Two online studies employing experimental materials generated by artificial intelligence were conducted. Study 1 revealed that high anthropomorphism (human‐like virtual influencers) and high racial homophily (local‐like virtual influencers) are more effective for eliciting trust in the context of low‐cost pro‐environmental behaviors. The findings also showed that low racial homophily (foreign‐like virtual influencers) would further weaken the trust level of a virtual influencer in low anthropomorphism (animate‐like virtual influencers). Study 2 aimed to replicate the findings from Study 1 in the context of high‐cost pro‐environmental behaviors. The findings showed that low racial homophily (foreign‐like virtual influencers) enhanced the trust in a high anthropomorphism (human‐like virtual influencers) virtual influencer. The moderated mediation analyses confirmed the hypothesized relationships in the proposed research model. This research advanced our understanding on the moderating role of racial homophily that serves as a cognitive shortcut for low‐cost and quick decisions. However, a low racial homophily (foreign‐like) virtual influencer would be more effective for high‐cost and symbolic pro‐environmental behaviors. These insights provide valuable guidance to businesses, marketers, and environmental advocates aiming to leverage virtual influencers for encouraging sustainability practices.
... Homophily refers to the similarity in demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and interests (Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). This suggests that customers are enthusiastic and willing to engage with influencers with similar characteristics, share common interests, or reside in similar situations. ...
... Perceiving a sense of similarity with influencers fosters a stronger sense of connection and attachment (Jin et al., 2019;Lee & Watkins, 2016). It also influences followers' perception of the influencer's authenticity and sincerity in product reviews (Amos et al., 2008;Shoenberger & Kim, 2023). The concept of similarity further impacts the perceived trustworthiness of influencers (Naderer et al., 2021), which ultimately predicts purchase intention by enhancing perceived similarity and shared characteristics with social media users Schouten et al., 2020). ...
This study aims to determine the influence of content quality and attitude towards influencers on the purchase intention of beauty products, influenced by beauty influencer characteristics among Generation Z and Millennials in Indonesia. This research utilizes a quantitative method with a descriptive approach. The data will be analyzed using the CB-SEM method with IBM AMOS 24 software to process the 250 data obtained through a questionnaire. The findings reveal that content quality and attitude towards influencers mediate purchase intention. Variables such as perceived credibility, trustworthiness, expertise, likeability, and familiarity influence attitudes towards influencers for purchase intention in direct or indirect way. Additionally, trustworthiness indirectly affects purchase intention significantly through content quality. Simultaneously, similarity and parasocial interaction directly influence purchase intention. This study provides insights into the factors influencing consumer attitudes towards beauty influencers and content quality, positively impacting purchase intention. It is expected to assist entrepreneurs and marketers in understanding the contribution of beauty influencers on Instagram to purchase intention
... Based on influential informative content value, credibility, attractiveness, and influencer identification affect awareness Glover, 2009). to like Schoenberg et al., (2022) ;Jerslev, (2016), demonstrate homophilic and perceived genuineness (shared values and distinctiveness), and follow the influencer's advice. According to Raimondo et al. (2022), social groups attract persons who desire to disengage from relevant outgroups. ...
Examining and understanding the effectiveness, ramifications, and various dimensions of employing influencers as a marketing strategy is the goal of influencer marketing research. It entails examining the part played by influencers in influencing consumer behaviour, brand perception, purchasing decisions, and business advantages. It is well understood that the condition of prior information should be a predictor of the suitable study methodology. Our aim was to get in-depth knowledge about influencer marketing tactics. We undertake an organized search in the Scopus, WOS, and EBSCO database related to influencer marketing, the connected celebrities, E-communications pathways in online buying, the innovative marketing method, and proposed conceptual models. We used the period of 2017 to 2022, we also ensured the review was comprehensive. We intentionally limited our search to English language articles to maintain consistency. Influencer marketing has provided several crucial insights. First off, it has been discovered that influencer marketing initiatives raise brand exposure and recognition. Consumers exposed to influencer content frequently remember and recognise the brand more, increasing visibility and reach. Influencers are also seen as credible and trustworthy, which increases consumer confidence. Consumers regularly see influencer recommendations as genuine, which has a beneficial effect on their decision to make a buy, according to studies. Consumers' selection and purchase of goods or services are significantly influenced by the recommendations of influencers. What is truly distinct about this comprehensive literature study is that it has critically examined diverse research findings for influencer marketing in relation to its strategies utilization outcomes experiences and untapped potentials areas available for extra examination by researchers. By adopting an intricate mapping process robustly woven into data collation activities revealing timely insights unparalleled from existing analyses into pinpoint techniques leveraged widely by practitioners. This review necessarily unearths viable possibilities needed adding value collaboratively & gainfully going forward.
... Despite the term being mostly researched within sociology and communication research, it has recently been introduced to marketing, primarily in the area of social and virtual environments . More precisely, most studies have focused on examining homophily in human influencer marketing on social media (Bu, Parkinson & Thaichon, 2022;Kim, Kim, 2021;Ladhari, Massa & Skandrani, 2019;Pruyn & Galetzka, 2017;Shoenberger & Kim, 2022). Those findings suggest that homophily increases social ties and strengthens the trust between influencer and follower, which in turn leads to higher purchase intention. ...
In today’s rapidly evolving digitalised society, points of influence have branched out of the traditional human ways and entered the virtual world, with virtual, inanimate influencers acting as company endorsers of high-end brands. Since influencers play a vital role in the expansion and image of a brand, and with limited literature on the case of Virtual Influencers, this study examines how homophily created between Instagram Virtual Influencers and consumers, can influence the consumer’s purchase intention in the context of the fashion industry, through attributes of anthropomorphism and parasocial interaction. More specifically, this research investigates the construct of homophily between virtual influencer and consumer through three dimensions (attitude, background, appearance). The data was collected online among a sample of 156 women and men from different cultural backgrounds, both followers and non-followers of virtual influencers and their answers were based on two VI’s; Lil Miquela and Knox Frost. The results show that two out of the three homophily dimensions (attitude, appearance) have a significant effect on purchase intention, whereas background was found to not have an impact. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of homophily on the formation of social bonds that can lead to purchase intention.
Influence is a process in which individuals’ attitudes, emotions, intentions, and behaviors are shaped by others. In the virtual world, this is especially evident among social media influencers, who engage with their followers across various platforms in an attempt to affect their perceptions and actions. Digital influence results from the interaction between influencers and followers, where followers assess the influencer’s attributes while also reflecting on their emotional reactions to them. This study introduces an Integrative Scale of Digital Influence that encompasses both the assessment and self-assessment processes identified. Through six studies conducted within the context of influencer marketing, including item development, validation, and reliability testing, the scale’s dimensionality, reliability, and validity are confirmed. The research highlights two key dimensions of digital influence: followers’ evaluation of the influencer’s characteristics, such as similarity, authenticity, and attractiveness, and their emotional self-assessment, including attachment and envy. These factors drive positive outcomes, such as increased purchase intentions and transfer of emotional attachment. For practitioners, this scale offers a tool for evaluating influencer performance in marketing strategies.
The growing dominance of social media as a marketing platform underscores the importance of understanding how influencer credibility affects consumer behavior. Social media influencers, through effective personal branding and content creation, form strong connections with their followers, significantly impacting their audience’s perceptions, attitudes, and purchasing decisions. This study explores the effects of social media influencers’ source credibility, comprising trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness, on consumers’ purchase intentions and behaviors regarding beauty products in Vietnam. A quantitative approach was utilized, with data collected from 269 Vietnamese consumers through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results showed that all three components of source credibility, including trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness, significantly and positively influenced consumers’ purchase intentions for beauty products. Among these factors, expertise had the strongest effect on purchase intention (β = 0.289, p < 0.001), followed by trustworthiness (β = 0.216, p = 0.001), and attractiveness had the weakest influence on purchase intention (β = 0.195, p < 0.001). Moreover, purchase intention was found to have a significant positive impact on purchase behavior (β = 0.545, p = 0.004). These findings provide valuable insights for marketing managers and companies seeking to optimize their influencer partnerships by selecting influencers whose credibility aligns with their brand values and leveraging their expertise to build consumer trust, drive engagement, and influence purchase decisions. AcknowledgementThe researchers express sincere gratitude to all the participants who participate in this research study.
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.
Despite recent increases, women continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Using social identity theory as a framework, this study conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of 614 Instagram posts by 30 women in STEM influencers on Instagram to determine the extent to which and how they portrayed themselves as role models. Findings revealed that these influencers exhibited important role model traits: (a) favorable personality traits, (b) STEM expertise, and (c) personal connections with audience members, and they also displayed authenticity and knowledge of trending platform features in their posts. Implications for science communicators and STEM educators are discussed.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effect of homophily between trust in social media influencers (SMIs) and credibility of the post in influencer marketing by incorporating the similarity attraction theory (SAT) and analysing the effect of trust in SMIs on online purchase intention and credibility of the post. This study also explored the mediating role of influencers’ credibility of the post between trust in SMIs and online purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 417 respondents in Jaipur, India, using an online questionnaire via Google Forms. A convenience sampling technique was employed to collect the data. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the proposed hypotheses with the help of SmartPLS version 4.
Findings
The results exhibit a positive and significant influence of trust in SMIs on credibility of the post and online purchase intention. Also, this study found a positive and significant relationship between credibility of the post and online purchase intention. Additionally, credibility of the post had a positive and significant mediation role in the relationship between trust in SMIs and online purchase intention. In addition, homophily positively moderated the relationship between trust in SMIs and credibility of the post.
Practical implications
The findings of this study can be used by marketing professionals working in the e-commerce industry to ensure their continued in success using the right influencers for their specific target audiences and help them create and implement more effective promotional strategies, increasing brand awareness, announcing sales, using them for creative content and so on.
Originality/value
Until now, there has been no study in the Indian context that has tested the moderation effect of homophily between the trust in SMIs and credibility of the post by incorporating the SAT, according to the researchers’ knowledge. Furthermore, this novel piece of research explored the relationship between trust in SMIs and online purchase intention with credibility of the post as a mediator.
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.
Social media influencers have emerged as key intermediaries between brands and consumers, and many focus on specific topics, such as fitness. These influencers’ followers are often considered to be part of a community formed around shared interests. However, it remains unclear whether these communities are cohesive and organized. This study uses social network analysis to investigate the audience engagement structure of the top French YouTube fitness influencers (N=10), providing new insights for marketers, brands, and influencers themselves. Our findings indicate that the active community behind influencers is tiny compared to their audience. The actual community built around each influencer is very small when considering regular engagement over time. By analyzing the overlap between the influencers’ communities, we observe that the overlap is relatively small but increased by collaboration between influencers. Our results have implications for influencer marketing strategies and highlight the potential of social network analysis in the influence marketing decision-making process.
Purpose
The rise of social media has led to the emergence of influencers and influencer marketing (IM) domains, which have become important areas of academic inquiry. However, despite its prominence as an area for study, several significant challenges must be addressed. One significant challenge involves identifying, assessing and recommending social media influencers (SMIs). This study proposes a semantic network model capable of measuring an influencer's performance on specific topics or subjects to address this issue. This study can assist managers in identifying suitable SMIs based on their estimated reach.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from popular YouTube influencers and publicly available performance measures (views and likes) are extracted. Second, the titles of the past videos made by the influencer are used to develop a semantic network connecting all the videos to other videos based on similarity measures. Third, the nearest neighbor approach extracts the neighbors of the target title video. Finally, based on the set of neighbors, a range prediction is made for the views and likes of the target video with the influencer.
Findings
The results show that the model can predict an accurate range of views and likes based on the suggested video titles and the content creator, with 69–78% accuracy across different influencers on YouTube.
Research limitations/implications
The current study introduces a novel and innovative approach that exploits the textual association between a SMI's previous content to forecast the outcome of their future content. Although the findings are encouraging, this research recognizes various constraints that upcoming researchers may tackle. Forecasting views of posts concerning novel subjects and precisely adjusting video view counts based on their age constitute two primary limitations of this study.
Practical implications
Managers interested in hiring influencers can employ the suggested approach to evaluate an influencer's potential performance on a specific topic. This research aids managers in making informed decisions regarding influencer selection, utilizing data-based metrics that are simple to comprehend and explain.
Originality/value
The study contributes to outreach evaluation and better estimating the impact of SMIs using a novel semantic network approach.
z: Araştırmanın amacı sosyal medyadaki etkileyicilerin; algılanan popülerliği, uzmanlığı, güvenilirliği ile takipçilerin; homofili tutumu, para-sosyal etkileşimi ve bir ürünü veya hizmeti satın alma niyeti arasındaki ilişkinin ortaya çıkarılmasıdır. Araştırmada nicel araştırma yöntemlerinden betimleyici tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Literatür taraması ile değişkenler arasındaki ilişkiyi gösteren bir araştırma modeli geliştirilmiştir. Kolayda örnekleme yöntemiyle 390 kişiden çevrimiçi anket yöntemiyle veri toplanmıştır. Tüm değişkenler arasında olası etkiler ve ilişkiler yapısal eşitlik modellemesi kullanılarak test edilmiştir. Yapılan analizler sonucunda ilk olarak; etkileyiciler ile takipçiler arasındaki homofili, takipçilerin satın alma niyetini ve algılanan popülerliği olumlu bir şekilde etkilediği bulgulanmıştır. İkinci olarak, etkileyicilerin uzmanlığının, takipçilerin algıladığı popülerliği ve güvenilirliği pozitif yönde etkilediği ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Son olarak, etkileyiciler ile takipçiler arasındaki para-sosyal etkileşimin, etkileyicilerin güvenilirliğini pozitif yönde etkilediği görülmüştür. Abstract: The research aims to reveal the relationship between the perceived popularity, expertise, and credibility of social media influencers and the homophily attitude of the followers, their para-social interaction, and the intention to purchase a product or service. The descriptive survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. A research model was developed that shows the relationship between the variables using a literature review. Data were collected from 390 people by online survey method with the convenience sampling method. Possible effects and relationships among all variables were tested using structural equation modeling. As a result of the analysis, firstly, it has been found that homophily between influencers and followers positively influences followers' purchase intention and perceived popularity. Second, influencers' expertise has positively influenced followers' perceived popularity and credibility. Finally, money social interaction between influencers and followers has been shown to affect influencers' credibility positively.
Araştırmanın amacı sosyal medyadaki etkileyicilerin algılanan popülerliği, uzmanlığı, güvenilirliği ile takipçilerin homofili tutumu, para-sosyal etkileşimi ve bir ürünü satın alma niyeti arasındaki ilişkinin ortaya çıkarılmasıdır. Araştırmada nicel araştırma yöntemlerinden betimleyici tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Literatür taraması çerçevesinde değişkenler arasındaki ilişkiyi gösteren bir araştırma modeli geliştirilmiştir. Kolayda örnekleme yöntemiyle 390 kişiden online (çevirimiçi) anket yöntemiyle veri toplanmıştır. Tüm değişkenler arasında olası neden ile sonuç ilişkileri yapısal eşitlik modellemesi kullanılarak test edilmiştir. Yapılan analizler sonucunda ilk olarak; etkileyiciler ile takipçiler arasındaki homofoli, takipçilerin satın alma niyetini olumlu ve anlamlı bir şekilde etkilediği bulgulanmıştır. İkinci olarak, etkileyiciler ve takipçileri arasındaki homofoli, takipçilerin algıladığı popülerliği pozitif yönde etkilediği tespit edildi. Üçüncü olarak, etkileyicilerin uzmanlığı, takipçilerin algıladığı güvenilirliği pozitif yönde etkilediği ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Tüm bu bulgualar literatürde yapılan benzer çalışmalarla tartışılmıştır. Son olarak uygulamacılara öneriler ve gelecekte yapılması planlanan araştırmalara önerilerle araştırma son bulmuştur.
This study evaluates the efficacy of social media influencer endorsements for COVID-19-prevention public service announcements (PSAs) on Instagram and its underlying mechanisms. An online experiment (N = 239) tested how influencer tier (mega-influencer versus nano-influencer) and message construal (independent versus interdependent versus collective) of the PSA influenced individuals’ attitudes toward the PSA and their behavioral intentions regarding COVID-19 prevention. Participants perceived mega-influencers and nano-influencers to possess similar expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. However, participants regarded nano-influencers to possess greater homophily than mega-influencers. Participants exposed to a nano-influencer’s PSA displayed greater intention to engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviors than those exposed to a mega-influencer’s PSA. Participants’ perceived homophily with the nano-influencer also mediated its effect on participants’ attitudes toward the PSA and behavioral intentions regarding COVID-19 prevention. In addition, participants evaluated the PSA with collective message construal more favorably than the PSA with independent message construal. Theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and directions for future research are provided.
The increasing presence of social media and digital technology in consumers’ lives has changed the way fashion brands work and communicate with their customers. In a consumer-driven market, a new genre of marketing has been created, where influencers and fashion bloggers act as mediators in the relationship between the customer and the brand. Bloggers gain more power as intermediaries than fashion brands have directly to influence consumers. Therefore, fashion companies seek to collaborate with bloggers to co-create and promote their products and set trends for the future. From a fashion consumer’s perspective, blogging is increasingly seen as an opportunity to join the fashion industry and build a personal brand.
This chapter focuses on Chiara Ferragni, a successful fashion blogger and entrepreneur who started her career as a fashion amateur and is now a fashion empress. Indeed, 13 years since it was launched, Ferragni’s blog has more than 27,2 million followers today through Instagram and has evolved into a successful lifestyle magazine. The brand Chiara Ferragni, which launched in 2013 as a fashion shoe brand, has now successfully extended to several other product categories including clothes, accessories and jewellery, leading a new fast-growing sector of fashion-blogger entrepreneur brands. This chapter explores how Ferragni was able to disrupt the traditional model of the fashion industry and become an integral part of it.
The chapter examines the essential skills, strategies and capital that enabled Ferragni to transform from a fashion amateur to a fashion icon and a successful fashion entrepreneur. <br/
This study seeks to examine under what circumstances brand advertising that advocated for socially desirable behaviors (e.g., mask wearing) during the COVID-19 pandemic may be successful in increasing the intention to engage in such behaviors. In doing so, we examine the effectiveness of real brands’ persuasive attempts via activist advertising, focusing on messages used in real advertisements that may cause psychological reactance. Using a 2 (message type: threat to freedom vs. no threat) × 2 (brand: Uber vs. Heineken) between-subjects design, our study confirms that threat to freedom messages lead to lower ad attitudes, lower intention to engage in socially responsible behaviors, and greater psychological reactance. Brands should be careful when using “threat to freedom” language in their advertising. Further, our results suggest that perceived authenticity of a brand’s messaging is key to the success of activist advertising.
In view of the burgeoning innovation in marketing practices on social media, the need to understand how consumers react to these practices is also on the rise. Drawing on the persuasion knowledge model and literature of sponsorship disclosure and advertising literacy, this study explicates the interaction effect of sponsorship disclosure and advertising literacy intervention on the activation of consumer persuasion knowledge. The results suggest that, among the participants who have viewed the advertising literacy intervention, sponsored influencer posts with a sponsorship disclosure (vs. no disclosure) are more likely to activate participants’ conceptual persuasion knowledge, which in turn, leads to serial reactions, including greater attitudinal persuasion knowledge, decreased electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), and attenuated purchase intentions toward the promoted product. Conversely, among participants who did not view the advertising literacy intervention, sponsorship disclosures did not trigger these serial responses.
This research suggests that perceived authenticity plays a significant mediating role for the effects of model image modification and body size on consumers' advertisement and product evaluations. Participants reported that they liked the advertisement more—and more likely would buy the advertised items in advertisements—with a not digitally enhanced plus-sized female model, because of the perceived authenticity of the model. The results of this investigation also suggest that attitude toward the advertisement and purchase intention were highest when a plus-size model who was not digitally enhanced was featured on a women's clothing brand's Instagram account.
Brands’ investments in influencer marketing have been escalating over the past few years. This study proposes and explicates how two similar and comparable sets of advertisements, namely influencer- vs. brand-promoted ads (i.e., influencer-generated ads and brands’ reposting/featuring of influencer ads), can affect consumer engagement, consumer sentiment, and topics of comments differently. Results of text analysis show that influencer-promoted ads enjoy significantly higher engagement in terms of consumer liking and commenting than that of brand-promoted ads among apparel brands on Instagram. Consumers express a significantly higher percentage of negative sentiment and a lower percentage of positive sentiment in their comments on brand-promoted ads than on influencer-promoted ads. Consumers demonstrate cult-like appreciation for influencers’ product sharing and show high involvement in the advertised products in influencer-promoted ads. Nonetheless, brand-promoted ads also positively affect consumers’ interests in the online stores and/or the advertised products.
In their marketing efforts, companies increasingly abandon traditional celebrity endorsers in favor of social media influencers, such as vloggers and Instafamous personalities. The effectiveness of using influencer endorsements as compared to traditional celebrity endorsements is not well understood. Therefore, the present research investigated the impact of celebrity vs. influencer endorsements on advertising effectiveness (attitudes toward the advertisement and product, and purchase intention), moderated by product-endorser fit. Moreover, this research investigated two potential mediators underlying this relationship: identification (perceived similarity and wishful identification) and credibility (trustworthiness and expertise). Two experiments (N = 131, N = 446) investigated celebrity vs. influencer endorsers with good vs. poor fit with a beauty and a fitness product (Study 1), or a food and a fashion product (Study 2). Overall, our results showed that participants identify more with influencers than celebrities, feel more similar to influencers than celebrities, and trust influencers more than celebrities. In terms of advertising effectiveness, similarity, wishful identification, and trust mediate the relationship between type of endorser and advertising effectiveness. Product-endorser did not explain the relationship between type of endorser and any of the mediating and dependent variables. In all, our results show the added value of using influencer endorsers over celebrity endorsers and the importance of similarity, identification and trust in this process.
The aim of this research is to synthesise findings from previous studies by employing weight and meta-analysis to reconcile conflicting evidence and draw a “big picture” of eWOM factors influencing consumers’ intention to buy. By using the findings from 69 studies, this research identified best (e.g. argument quality, valence, eWOM usefulness, trust in message), promising (e.g. eWOM credibility, emotional trust, attitude towards website) and least effective (e.g. volume, existing eWOM, source credibility) predictors of intention to buy in eWOM research. Additionally, the effect size of each predictor was calculated by performing meta-analysis. For academics, understanding what influences consumers’ intention to buy will help set the agenda for future research directions; for practitioners, it will provide benefit in terms of practical guidance based on detailed analysis of specific factors influencing consumers’ intention to buy, which could enhance their marketing activities.
In the past few years, expenditure on influencer marketing has grown exponentially. The present study involves preliminary research to understand the mechanism by which influencer marketing affects consumers via social media. It proposes an integrated model – social media influencer value model – to account for the roles of advertising value and source credibility. In order to test this model, we administered an online survey among social media users who followed at least one influencer. Partial least squares path modeling results show that the informative value of influencer-generated content, influencer’s trustworthiness, attractiveness, and similarity to the followers positively affect followers’ trust in influencers’ branded posts, which subsequently influence brand awareness and purchase intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
From a managerial standpoint, the important ques-tion about salesman-customer interaction is how the salesman's behavior affects the outcome. What can the salesman do to shape the course along which the interaction proceeds? Are certain selling strategies and techniques more effective than others in this regard [4]? Brock [2] partly examined this question by comparing the selling efficacy of a paint salesman perceived as similar but inexperienced against the same salesman perceived as dissimilar but experienced. In the similar-inexperienced condition, the salesman emphasized that the magnitude of his own consumption of paint was the same as the amount being purchased by the customer; in the dissimilar-experienced condi-tion, the salesman reported his own magnitude of consumption to be 20 times that of the customer's prospective purchase. The results indicated that simi-larity was more important than experience in the attempts to persuade customers to buy higher-as well as lower-priced paints than originally intended. Following Howard and Sheth's [7] concepts. Brock's findings would suggest that customers pur-chasing paint are following either "Limited Problem Solving" ' or "Routinized Response Behavior"^ deci-sion processes involving psycho-social versus prob-lem-solving game playing. Psycho-social game playing is the customer's reliance and use of the perceived power and attractiveness of the communicator in making purchase decisions. Problem-solving game playing can be defined as the customer's reliance and use of the perceived competence and trust, i.e., credibility, of the communicator in making purchase decisions, with experience and expertise being dimen-sions of competence [6, 8]. Thus, salesman attractive-ness manifested in similarity of paint consumption *Arch G. Woodside is Associate Professor of Business Ad-mi nstration, University of South Carolina; J. William Davenport, Jr. is Owner and Manager, Davenport Music Company. with the customer was more effective in producing successful influence attempts compared to a higher level of salesman competence which might be more effective for situations requiring the customer to adopt a problem-solving orientation. (The customer may be problem solving-oriented in most of the situations dealing with innovations, or, in short, in all situations where he is in the "Extensive Problem Solving stage" of decision making [7].') The research design used by Brock may have confounded the effects of salesman similarity and expertise. The conditions of similar-experienced and dissimilar-inexperienced were not included in his study. The effects of similarity versus experience needed to be compared under two or more levels for each variable before warranting any general conclu-sions. Evans has shown that the more similar in demo-graphic and life-style characteristics the parties in the selling dyad are, the more likely a favorable out-come—a sale of a life insurance policy. The attrac-tiveness of the salesman produced by the similarities between the salesman and customer has been used as the theoretical basis for Evans's findings [4, 5]. Power, attractiveness, and credibility characteristics of communicators have been formulated by Kelman [8, 9] to produce three respective types of influences on the customer: compliance, identification, and in-ternalization. Kelman has hypothesized that the great-' Limited Problem Solving is when the buyer's criteria for choosing brands are well defined and structured but the buyer is undecided about which of a set of brands is the best for him [7, p. 27]. -Routinized Response Behavior is where the buyer not only has well-defined and structured choice criteria, but also strong predisposition toward one brand [7, p. 27]. 'Extensive Problem Solving refers to the early stages of repetitive decision making, in which the buyer has not yet developed well-defined and structured choice criteria [7, p. 27].
Social media influencers (SMIs) represent a new type of independent third party endorser who shape audience attitudes through blogs, tweets, and the use of other social media. A mature public relations literature has identified the characteristics of effective spokespersons, but relatively little is known about audience perceptions of the SMI. A q-sort technique identified core perceived attributes of four sample SMIs. A better understanding of the perceived personality of SMIs provides tools for optimizing an organization's SMI capital.
The problem of false consciousness and its relationship to the social structure of tourist establishments is analyzed. Accounts of travelers are examined in terms of Erving Goffman's front versus back distinction. It is found that tourists try to enter back regions of the places they visit because these regions are associated with intimacy of relations and authenticity of experiences. It is also found that tourist settings are arrenged to produce the impression that a back region has been entered even when this is not the case. In tourist settings, between the front and the back there is a series of special spaces designed to accommodate tourists and to support their beliefs in the authenticity of their experiences. Goffman's front-back dichotomy is shown to be ideal poles of a continuum, or a variable.
Although interpersonal word-of-mouth communication, by definition, takes place between two people, rarely has the phenomenon
of word of mouth been studied using both members of the dyad. Building on the literature, this article offers a model of active
interpersonal information search that is tested by using a method in which information seeker and source perceptions were
obtained. Source characteristics were important determinants of interpersonal influence, but seeker characteristics also played
an important role. Interestingly, it proved useful to distinguish between demographic and attitudinal homophily of seeker
and source as the former was inversely and the latter directly related to interpersonal influence.
ABSTRACT Weexamine,whether value fit-the degree to which ,brands reflect core motivating values attracting individuals to join sub- cultures- is associated with brand loyalty. We also examine how the core value driving involvement,in a sub-culture influences the way consumers,respond to social pressures exerted on it namely ,in- creased commercialisation and mainstreaming. We identify free- dom, belongingness, excellence and connection as core values driving involvement,in a sub-culture. Results are based on 19-depth interviews of consumers in the surf, snowboarding and skate sub- cultures.
Authenticity is a cornerstone of contemporary marketing. Yet how do firms develop brand positions based on authenticity when marketing, and in particular, advertising, is believed to be antithetical to such positioning? We examine how consumers assess the claims of Trappist and Abbey beer brands. We identify three forms of authenticity: pure (literal) authenticity, approximate authenticity, and moral authenticity. In each case, consumers draw on either indexical or iconic cues to form judgments of authenticity, although the type of cue and degree of abstraction differ across the three types. We also find that the informants are duped by careful advertisements, and explain this by proposing that the relationships between indexical and iconic cues are closer than previously thought.
In 2 studies, college students evidenced differing levels of the "Big-Five" traits in different roles, supporting social-contextualist assumptions regarding trait expression. Supporting organismic theories of personality, within-subject variations in the Big Five were predictable from variations in the degree of psychological authenticity felt in different roles. In addition, two concepts of self-integration or true selfhood were examined: 1 based on high consistency of trait profiles across roles (i.e., low-self-concept differentiation; E. M. Donahue, R. W. Robins, B. W. Roberts, & O. P. John, 1993) and 1 based on high mean levels of authenticity felt across roles. The 2 self-integration measures were found to be independent predictors of psychological and physical well-being indicating that both self-consistency and psychological authenticity are vital for organized functioning and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This paper reports the development of a measure of perceived homophily. In both an initial investigation and in four subsequent studies employing samples from diverse populations, four dimensions of response were observed. These dimensions were labeled Attitude, Morality, Appearance, and Background. Additional results indicated that opinion leaders are perceived as more homophilous than non-opinion leaders on the dimensions of Attitude, Morality, and Background. The scales found to measure these dimensions are suggested for consideration by researchers concerned with homophily or interpersonal similarity in human communication.
Drawing from image-elicited depth interviews, we investigate whether consumers pursue the consumption of authentic objects with specific personal goals in mind. We find that consumers are motivated to focus on those particular cues in objects that for them convey authenticity (what is genuine, real, and/or true) and that this decision-making process is driven by a desire to draw different identity benefits (control, connection, virtue) from authentic objects. Our interpretive analysis elaborates contributions to theorizing related to consumer agency in seeking authentic consumption experience. We provide cultural explanations for the desire to assert the authentic self in these particular ways. (c) 2009 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
This research illustrates how risk domain moderates the effects of priming the interdependent self versus the independent self on consumers' risk-taking. Experiment 1 showed that individuals whose interdependent selves were activated were more risk-seeking in their financial choices and less risk-seeking in their social choices than were those whose independent selves were activated. The size of the consumer's social network mediated these effects. Experiment 2 replicated these results using audiovisual movie clips as manipulations. Copyright 2003 by the University of Chicago.
Past research finds that consumers exhibit weak self-brand connections to brands associated with out-groups. We extend this work by demonstrating that products associated with dissociative reference groups have a greater impact on consumers' negative self-brand connections, product evaluations, and choices than do products associated with out-groups more generally. In addition, both situational priming and chronic identification with one's in-group moderate the avoidance of products associated with dissociative reference groups. Further, we demonstrate the conditions under which dissociative influence does not occur and discuss the implications of the research. (c) 2007 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
We position reality television within the broader category of consumer practices of authenticity seeking in a postmodern cultural context. The study draws on relevant perspectives from consumer research, literary criticism, sociology, and anthropology to argue that viewers of reality television encounter three elements of paradox in the process of constructing authenticity. The negotiation of each paradox exceeds the process of coping with or resolving their inherent contradictions to encompass the creation of new values. We argue that consumers blend fantastic elements of programming with indexical elements connected to their lived experiences to create a form of self-referential hyperauthenticity. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
A field experiment in the paint department of a large retail store supported the hypothesis: a recipient's behavior with respect to an object is modifiable by the communicator's appeal to the extent that the recipient perceives that he and the communicator have a similar relationship to the object. A salesman, who reported his own magnitude of paint consumption as similar or dissimilar to the purchaser's, attempted to induce the purchaser (N = 88) to switch to a different price level. The findings were ordered to theories of identification (Stotland) and social comparison (Festinger). (17 ref.)
Given the rise in influencer marketing on social media, this paper explores how homophily between influencers and their audiences affects customer value co-creation behaviour, resulting in increased expected brand value and purchase intention. A sample of 910 respondents from the United States completed an online investigation. The results indicate that homophily positively influences customer value co-creation behaviour as well as positively correlates with expected brand value and purchase intention. Customer value co-creation behaviour plays a multi-mediating role. Para-social relationship moderates the relationship between homophily and customer participation behaviour. Overall, this study encourages further research on value co-creation in influencer marketing and can constitute a valuable reference for marketing practitioners and influencers.
This research introduces “brand prominence,” a construct reflecting the conspicuousness of a brand's mark or logo on a product. The authors propose a taxonomy that assigns consumers to one of four groups according to their wealth and need for status, and they demonstrate how each group's preference for conspicuously or inconspicuously branded luxury goods corresponds predictably with their desire to associate or dissociate with members of their own and other groups. Wealthy consumers low in need for status want to associate with their own kind and pay a premium for quiet goods only they can recognize. Wealthy consumers high in need for status use loud luxury goods to signal to the less affluent that they are not one of them. Those who are high in need for status but cannot afford true luxury use loud counterfeits to emulate those they recognize to be wealthy. Field experiments along with analysis of market data (including counterfeits) support the proposed model of status signaling using brand prominence.
This study examines how homophily, emotional attachment, and credibility influence the popularity of a video blogger (hereinafter referred to as vlogger) and his/her viewers' purchase decision in the context of the beauty product industry. More specifically, the research investigates the effects of four dimensions of the homophily construct (i.e., attitude, value, background, and appearance), vlogger's expertise, and emotional attachment to the vlogger on his/her popularity. In turn, the vlogger's popularity influences viewers' purchase of recommended products. Data were collected online among a sample of 501 US women about beauty product vloggers. The results show that three dimensions of homophily (attitude, values, and appearance) have a significant effect on the vlogger's popularity. Emotional attachment has a significant effect whereas expertise has no significant effect. Vloggers' popularity has a significant effect on viewers' purchase of recommended beauty products. Overall, our findings highlight the role of homophily and emotional attachment for the study of vloggers' popularity.
Utilizing social media celebrities as a communication channel has become a strategic practice for many organizations. By using the concepts of celebrity endorsement and authenticity, the effect of celebrity and content characteristics on followers’ attitudes towards the content and, in the case of sponsored content, purchase intentions are scrutinized. Instagram followers (N = 592) of 45 celebrities responded to a survey on nine photos of the celebrities. The results show that both the perceived authenticity and attractiveness of the celebrity are positively related with photo attitudes, but only authenticity has an effect on purchase intentions. Photos of social media influencers, people who have become famous through social media, increase purchase intentions more than photos of general celebrities. Congruence between the photo and the celebrity has the strongest positive effect on photo attitudes and purchase intentions. Sponsored photos are less favorably perceived than non-sponsored photos, but, among sponsored photos, sponsor disclosure has no effect on purchase intentions. The perceived authenticity of both the celebrity and her content is said to explain favorable audience perceptions. The findings imply that organizations should seek authentic matches between their message and the endorsing celebrity and that the content should align with the usual style of the celebrity.
Marketing managers and creatives alike believe that authenticity is an essential element for effective advertising. However, no common understanding of authenticity in advertising exists, and empirical knowledge about its impact on consumer behavior is limited. In this study, the authors use a comprehensive literature review and qualitative studies to identify four dimensions of authenticity in an advertising context. By examining 323 television ads across 67 brands and four years, they investigate these dimensions’ effects on the sales performance of advertised products. Because the impact of authenticity may depend on brand or product characteristics, the authors also analyze how these effects vary with brand size or across hedonic and utilitarian products. The results suggest that authenticity influences consumer behavior in a more nuanced manner than previously recognized. For instance, whereas an ad congruent with the brand’s essence has a positive effect on sales in most cases, an overly honest advertising message can actually hurt performance; the latter is true especially for hedonic products, for which consumers rely more on subjective information when making purchase decisions.
In a series of three experimental studies, this research examines the effects of a retouch-free vs. retouched disclaimer on appearance satisfaction, advertising effectiveness, and evaluation of other women. Our results show the positive effect of a retouch-free disclaimer on appearance satisfaction, attitude toward the ad, and purchase intentions (Study 1) based on authenticity and its components: realism and meaningfulness of the ad (Study 2). Interestingly, results are in the opposite direction considering the evaluation of other women, who are evaluated as less attractive when exposed to a retouch-free disclaimer (Study 3). This study provides valuable insights from a theoretical and managerial perspective on how marketers can appeal to Millennials without overtly telling them they are authentic.
In 2 studies, college students evidenced differing levels of the "Big-Five" traits in different roles, supporting social-contextualist assumptions regarding trait expression. Supporting organismic theories of personality, within-subject variations in the Big Five were predictable from variations in the degree of psychological authenticity felt in different roles. In addition, two concepts of self-integrat ion or true selfhood were examined: 1 based on high consistency of trait profiles across roles (i.e., lowself-concept differentiation; E. M. Donahue, R. W. Robins, B. W. Roberts, & O. P. John, 1993) and 1 based on high mean levels of authenticity felt across roles. The 2 self-integration measures were found to be independent predictors of psychological and physical well-being indicating that both self-consistency and psychological authenticity are vital for organized functioning and health.
Authenticity is a potentially powerful yet elusive concept in the field of marketing. Recent research has determined that there are various forms of authenticity that can be communicated via contextual cues in advertising. This research builds on previous work by creating a measure of ad authenticity and assessing its influence on important advertising effectiveness measures. The results of two exploratory studies and one confirmatory study suggest that authenticity can be defined and measured at the individual ad level to quantitatively distinguish between high and low authenticity advertising. In addition, ad authenticity has a direct effect on ad credibility and attitude toward the brand.
Although brand authenticity is gaining increasing interest in consumer behavior research and managerial practice, literature on its measurement and contribution to branding theory is still limited. This article develops an integrative framework of the concept of brand authenticity and reports the development and validation of a scale measuring consumers' perceived brand authenticity (PBA). A multi-phase scale development process resulted in a 15-item PBA scale measuring four dimensions: credibility, integrity, symbolism, and continuity. This scale is reliable across different brands and cultural contexts. We find that brand authenticity perceptions are influenced by indexical, existential, and iconic cues, whereby some of the latters' influence is moderated by consumers' level of marketing skepticism. Results also suggest that PBA increases emotional brand attachment and word-of-mouth, and that it drives brand choice likelihood through self-congruence for consumers high in self-authenticity.
This study examined the antecedents of viewer relationships experienced with television characters. Based on social cognitive theory, we considered how trait aggression helped explain identification, homophily, and parasocial interaction with aggressive characters. Two hundred nineteen participants completed questionnaires measuring trait aggression and relationships with one of eight characters. We content analyzed portrayals of these characters to determine their levels of aggression. Results suggested viewer aggression predicted identification with aggressive characters, but did not predict homophily and parasocial interaction beyond the variance explained by gender. We also observed relationships among the dependent variables and differences between physical and verbal aggression.
This investigation assessed the relationship of the independent variables of perceived homophily to the dependent variables of: (1) level of uncertainty, (2) feeling good, and (3) safety. Also, the relationship of uncertainty level, feeling good, and safety was assessed to the dependent variables of self‐disclosure.Results indicated that perceived attitude‐value homophily has moderately high independent predictive power concerning level of uncertainty, feeling good, and safety. Perceived background homophily and perceived appearance homophily have little or no independent predictive power to those dependent variables. Also, the independent predictive power of uncertainty level, feeling good, and safety was low for self‐disclosure variables. Feeling good was the single best predictor of self‐disclosive communication, accounting for five percent of the variance in a self‐disclosure variable.
Prevention of infection with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) virus requires people to exercise influence over their own behavior and their social environment. Societal efforts designed to control the spread of AIDS have centered mainly on informing the public about how the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is transmitted and how to safeguard against such infection. It is widely assumed that if people are adequately informed about the AIDS threat they will take appropriate self-protective action. Heightened awareness and knowledge of health risks are important preconditions for self-directed change. Unfortunately, information alone does not necessarily exert much influence on refractory health-impairing habits. To achieve self-directed change, people need to be given not only reasons to alter risky habits but also the behavioral means, resources, and social supports to do so. Effective self-regulation of behavior is not achieved by an act of will. It requires certain skills in self-motivation and self-guidance (Bandura, 1986). Moreover, there is a major difference between possessing self-regulative skills and being able to use them effectively and consistently under difficult circumstances. Success, therefore, requires strong self-belief in one’s efficacy to exercise personal control.
Although interpersonal word-of-mouth communication, by definition, takes place between two people, rarely has the phenomenon of word of mouth been studied using both members of the dyad. Building on the literature, this article offers a model of active interpersonal information search that is tested by using a method in which information seeker and source perceptions were obtained. Source characteristics were important determinants of interpersonal influence, but seeker characteristics also played an important role. Interestingly, it proved useful to distinguish between demographic and attitudinal homophily of seeker and source as the former was inversely and the latter directly related to interpersonal influence.
deals with the manner in which viewers form impressions of media characters and respond to characters' experiences / the terms impression and perception are used to refer to a viewer's overall conception of what a character is like
the chapter is divided into three parts / the first part deals with the major sources of information about media characters and how each type of information affects impressions / the second part deals with how specific viewer characteristics influence the way viewers utilize the available information about media protagonists / the final section discusses implications of character perceptions for viewers' responses to depicted characters and events (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Purpose
The power of word of mouth (WOM) communication and its influence on consumer decision making is well established in academic literature. The recent adoption of online communication by many consumers has facilitated a fundamental change to the structure of many WOM interactions by exposing consumers to electronic WOM (eWOM) from virtual strangers. The current study seeks to uncover whether traditional findings on social ties and WOM communication hold for eWOM information.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 482 college students with varying levels of expertise with eWOM forums, specifically RateMyProfessors.com in the USA. Participants completed a 20‐question survey related to university professor and class choice.
Findings
The study finds that students seeking information on which professor to take weight the information they obtain from eWOM forums to be equally influential in their decision as their own primary experience with the professor. Furthermore, the information gained from the eWOM forum is more influential in their decision than speaking with friends in person (WOM). While existing research suggests that strong tie referral sources are more influential than weak tie information sources on decision making, this research finds that some weak tie information sources are rated as more influential.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of the study is the focus on one eWOM forum, RateMyProfessors.com. Future research would benefit from expanding the number and type of eWOM forums.
Originality/value
While the emergence of the Internet and social networking has spawned an interest in the overall study of eWOM, this study is the first to evaluate eWOM in the context of tie strength, homophily and decision making. The study also investigates whether existing theories of interpersonal communication hold in an online context.
The authors urge research attention to a neglected aspect of communication —namely, the relationship between source and receiver.
In the present article, they advance a number of propositions about the effects on communication of similarity or difference
between a communicator and the recipient of his message, summarize research bearing on these propositions, and point to needs
for further investigation.
Influencers are people, not media outlets
- C Curtis
Curtis, C. 2016. Influencers are people, not media outlets. Adage.com. From: http://adage.com/
article/digitalnext/influencers-people-media-outlets/305379/
American Eagle stops photoshopping models for new lingerie campaign
- E Dockterman
Dockterman, E. 2014. American Eagle stops photoshopping models for new lingerie campaign.
Time, January 18 2014. Retrieved from https://time.com/1187/american-eagle-ditches-photosho
p-for-new-lingeriecampaign/#:~:text=American%20Eagle%20has%20said,their%20teen%20
and%20preteen%20customers.
Gigi Hadidm Cara Delevingne earn outrageous paydays for pimping brands on Instagram - $300k Cashouts! From
- A Howard
- Jenner
Howard, A. Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadidm Cara Delevingne earn outrageous paydays for pimping
brands on Instagram -$300k Cashouts! From 2015. http://www.celebdirtylaundry.com/2015/
kendall-jenner-gigi-hadid-cara-delevingne-earn-outrageous-paydays-for-pimping-brandson-instagram-300k-cashouts/
Twitter says users now trust influencers nearly as much as their friends
- M Swant
Swant, M. 2016. Twitter says users now trust influencers nearly as much as their friends. ADWEEK.
com. Retrieved from: https://www.adweek.com/digital/twitter-says-users-now-trust-influencers-n
early-much-their-friends-171367/