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Exploring the Impact of Influencer Marketing on Ethical Discussions: A Business Model Innovation for Fashion and Beauty Startups

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Abstract

In recent years, influencer marketing has gained immense popularity in the fashion and beauty industries. Be that as it may, the moral ramifications of this marketing approach, its influence on administrative structures, and its effect on customer trust and prosperity have been underexplored in the scholastic writing. This chapter plans to address these examination holes by examining the degree to which influencer marketing shapes moral conversations and administrative systems around issues of transparency and authenticity as a business model innovation for fashion and beauty startups, and what this accordingly means for customer trust and prosperity. Through an extensive writing survey and exact examination, this study will evaluate business model innovation in influencer marketing and investigate the multi-layered connection between influencer marketing, morals, and their impact on moral conversations within the selected industries.

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Purpose Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use social media for communicating information with stakeholders with minimal cost. The ability to access and share information influences the SMEs' performance, but there is little scholarship on the association between the adoption of social media and SMEs' performance. This study aims to investigate the effects of technology-organizational-environmental (TOE) factors on the adoption of social media and SMEs’ performance in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach This study employed the TOE framework as determinants affecting the adoption of social media and SMEs' performance. The paper used a self-administered closed-ended questionnaire to gather data, from July 2019 to December 2019, from randomly selected respondents from SMEs operating in Pakistan. Partial-least- squares structural equation modeling was used for the path analysis of 423 responses from SMEs' owners, executives, and managers. It also examines the mediating role of social media between TOE characteristics and SMEs’ performance. Findings The findings revealed a direct positive relationship between TOE constructs, the adoption of social media, and SMEs' performance. Full mediation was found between technological factors and SMEs performance, and partial mediation was found between organizational and environmental factors and SMEs’ performance. Complementary mediation among the variables was also examined. Originality/value This paper has implications for practitioners and researchers interested in investigating social media adoption in SMEs. It builds an empirical, multi-dimensional hypothesized model, including several determinants that may influence the adoption of social media.
Article
Influencer marketing represents a $10 billion industry in 2020 and is becoming of increasing relevance for many firms, especially those operating in a business-to-consumer environment. Few firms in the fashion, beauty, travel, food, or beverage industries are running marketing campaigns these days that do not include, at least to some share, a collaboration with popular users on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. However, many marketing managers still have a less than adequate understanding of those platforms compared with their knowledge of more traditional media channels and often find it hard to make the right decision in this fast-moving environment. To provide some guidance in this respect, this article aims to give an introduction to the most critical platforms for influencer marketing. It then presents advice to firms who want to engage in influencer marketing as well as specific questions on identifying the right influencers to collaborate with.
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Purpose This paper aims to present a mechanism that explains how followers become loyal to social media influencers. It suggests influencer interactivity as a unique feature of influencer brands and investigates how it affects influencer authenticity, emotional attachment, and thus brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey of 282 social media users was conducted to estimate the conceptual model. Participants were asked to respond to the survey questions based on their perceptions of a specific influencer they follow on social media. The relationships among variables were tested via structural equation modeling. Findings The findings show that influencer interactivity is positively related to influencer authenticity and emotional attachment. Influencer authenticity mediates the effect of interactivity on emotional attachment and directly affects brand trust. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that followers’ emotional attachment to influencer brands increases brand loyalty through brand trust. Originality/value This study is the first to approach influencers as a brand, rather than a brand endorser. Specifically, this study conceptualizes the influencer brand’s interactivity and finds a link between influencer interactivity and the followers’ perception of influencer authenticity. It discusses why influencer interactivity and authenticity play key roles in shaping influencer brand equity. This study contributes to both the human brands and the influencer marketing literature by proposing a model to understand how the brand equity of the influencer brand is formed.
Article
Through in-depth interviews with 15 women in the United States, this pilot study contributes to filling the gap in scholarship on consumer perceptions of sponsored content posted by social media influencers (SMI). We found women may follow social media influencers because of prior topic interests, perceived relatability, and authenticity. Social exchange and relationship management theories do not sufficiently account for purchasing decisions despite negative views of consumers. We argue for a new theory called Influencer-Follower Relationship Management Theory.
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This study examines the moderating role of audience comments in influencer marketing. A YouTube vlog entry by a social media influencer featuring the endorsement of a brand was studied, and an experimental design featuring two conditions related to audience comments was created. The results indicate that a parasocial relationship with the influencer builds the perceived credibility of the influencer, while comments by other audience members moderate the effect. Influencer credibility positively affects brand trust and purchase intention. The findings enhance the understanding of the role of an active audience in influencer marketing.
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Given the prevalence of social media usage among consumers in China and the rise of social media endorsements, it is important to understand the effects of social media influencers and their product endorsements on consumers. The present study explores the effects of self-influencer congruence on brand attitude, brand engagement, and purchase intention in China’s dynamic social media context. The perceived motive of social media influencer’s endorsement behavior, parasocial identification with social media influencers, and their roles in the endorsement process were examined. The results of this study suggest that a high degree of congruence between the image of a social media influencer and the consumer’s ideal self-image leads to effective endorsement outcomes. Parasocial identification was found to mediate the relationship between self-influencer congruence and endorsement outcomes while perceived endorser motive was found to moderate the effects of self-influencer congruence on such outcomes through parasocial identification.
Article
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate fashion blogs’ influence on Spanish Millennials’ buying behaviour. Design/methodology/approach This research is quantitative in nature, utilising a mono method consisting of structured self-administered questionnaires. Data were exported to IBM SPSS Statistics, where different types of analyses were combined – such as frequencies, means, hypothesis testing analyses, principal components analysis or K-means cluster. Findings Findings show that the most important motivations to follow a fashion blog are entertainment and information seeking. Besides, consumers’ attitudes seem to be influenced by how consumers assess credibility, which is determined by trustworthiness, para-social interaction (PSI), expertise and message credibility. Finally, after showing covert and overt marketing posts, both trustworthiness and PSI were lower than before, identifying PSI as a possible moderator in these cases. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this study is the sample size, which does not make it possible to generalise conclusions. Practical implications From this research, it can be said that, due to the importance of establishing a strong relationship with the public, bloggers should try to connect with readers on an emotional level, and brands need to select bloggers very carefully. Originality/value This paper reveals Millennials’ attitudes whilst they are visiting a fashion blog and the influence that these attitudes can exercise on their purchase intention.
Article
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of perceived social media marketing activities (SMMA) on customer loyalty via customer equity drivers (CED) in an e-commerce context. Design/Methodology: The study surveyed 371 students from a large university in India. The data were analyzed via CFA and the research hypotheses were examined using SEM. Findings: The study revealed three key findings. First, perceived SMMA of e-commerce comprise five dimensions namely, interactivity, informativeness, word-of-mouth, personalization, and trendiness. Second, perceived SMMA of e-commerce have significantly and positively influenced all the drivers of customer equity (CEDs). Third, the CEDs of e-commerce exhibit a significant and positive influence on customer loyalty towards the e-commerce sites. Originality/Value: The study is the first to identify five dimensions of e-commerce perceived SMMA. The current study also introduces the S-O-R model as a theoretical support to connect perceived social media marketing activities (SMMA) of e-commerce to customers’ loyalty via CEDs. This is supposed to be the first study to examine the impact of perceived SMMA on customer loyalty towards the e-commerce sites via CEDs in the e-commerce industry. Managerial Implications: This study will help e-commerce managers to boost customer loyalty towards the e-commerce sites through perceived SMMA. Type of paper: Research paper Keywords: customer loyalty; customer equity drivers; e-commerce; e-commerce sites; social media, social media marketing
Article
The growth of Instagram continues, with the majority of its users being young women. This study investigates the impact of Instagram upon source credibility, consumer buying intention and social identification with different types of celebrities. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 female Instagram users aged 18–30 to determine the extent to which Instagram influences their buying behaviour. The research findings show that celebrities on Instagram are influential in the purchase behaviour of young female users. However, non-traditional celebrities such as bloggers, YouTube personalities and ‘Instafamous’ profiles are more powerful, as participants regard them as more credible and are able to relate to these, rather than more traditional, celebrities. Female users are perceptively aware and prefer to follow Instagram profiles that intentionally portray positive images and provide encouraging reviews.
Article
This paper presents a narrative review of celebrity endorsement research. The review identifies six areas of research on celebrity endorsements (celebrity prevalence, campaign management, financial effects, celebrity persuasion, non-evaluative meaning transfer, and brand-to-celebrity transfer). A review of the research in each area identifies key findings, conflicting results, and research gaps. In addition, this paper reviews the celebrity endorsement literature with a focus on the psychological processes underlying celebrity endorsement effects that has been put forward in the literature. Based on the review an agenda for future research is offered.
Article
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the responses of young consumers to suspected covert and overt product-brand recommendations in a blog. Design/methodology/approach – Experimental design was applied to investigate the effect of covert and overt marketing on young consumers’ perceptions of blogger credibility and their behavioural intentions. Findings – Overt marketing had a negative effect on behavioural intentions, such as future interest in the blogger, intention to engage in word-of-mouth, and purchase intention. Covert marketing did not affect the intended behaviour. Neither covert nor overt marketing influenced the blogger’s credibility. Research limitations/implications – The study was delimited to a small sample; one blog, one type of product recommendation, and a well-known brand. Young, well-educated consumers with experience in reading blogs may be able to filter the brand recommendations and focus on the content of the blog. Practical implications – This study has implications for bloggers, companies, and policy makers. Although overt marketing is the most open and the recommended form of blog marketing, the study showed that overt marketing has negative effects. Therefore, bloggers need to carefully consider how they present a sponsorship. Originality/value – The study makes three important contributions. First, it answers the call for research on consumer reactions to covert (deceptive) and overt marketing tactics. Second, it contributes to blog marketing research by studying a case of suspected covert marketing where consumers do not know whether the blog is sponsored or not. Third, the study contributes to knowledge around young consumers, demonstrating that covert and overt tactics do not affect blogger credibility.
Article
In light of a growing interest in the use of social media marketing (SMM) among luxury fashion brands, this study set out to identify attributes of SMM activities and examine the relationships among those perceived activities, value equity, relationship equity, brand equity, customer equity, and purchase intention through a structural equation model. Five constructs of perceived SSM activities of luxury fashion brands are entertainment, interaction, trendiness, customization, and word of mouth. Their effects on value equity, relationship equity, and brand equity are significantly positive. For the relationship between customer equity drivers and customer equity, brand equity has significant negative effect on customer equity while value equity and relationship equity show no significant effect. As for purchase intention, value equity and relationship equity had significant positive effects, while relationship equity had no significant influence. Finally, the relationship between purchase intention and customer equity has significance. The findings of this study can enable luxury brands to forecast the future purchasing behavior of their customers more accurately and provide a guide to managing their assets and marketing activities as well.
Article
This aricle examines the matchup hypothesis or the notion that the congruence in advertisements between spokesperson characteristics and product attributes is related to observed variations in source credibility, product evaluations, perceived product gender, and other measures of advertising and communication effectiveness. Schema theory is used to interpret the results of previous inquiries into the matchup hypothesis, and the results of two experiments that provide additional insight into how schema might be changed by a spokesperson/product match are reported. Areas of future research into the matchup hypothesis on schema theory implications are discussed. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Purchase Intention and the Mediation Effect of Customer Attitude.
  • L.Jean