The Association of Influencer Marketing and Consumption of Non-Alcoholic Beer with the Purchase and Consumption of Alcohol by Adolescents.

In this study, we examined influencer marketing and consumption of non-alcoholic beer by adolescents to determine how these factors could affect the intentions of adolescents to purchase and drink alcohol. A total of 3121 high-school students recruited from 36 schools in Taiwan completed a self-administered questionnaire during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. The results indicate that 19% of these adolescents consumed non-alcoholic beer and 28% consumed alcohol in the past year. Multivariate analysis positively associated adolescents' exposure to influencer marketing with their purchase and consumption of non-alcoholic beer. Adolescents' exposure to influencer marketing of non-alcoholic beer combined with lower levels of parental restrictive mediation was associated with increased odds of the purchase and consumption of alcohol. For individuals who did not purchase alcohol in the past year, both the exposure to influencer marketing and the consumption of non-alcoholic beer were associated with intending to purchase alcohol in the future. Similarly, individuals who previously abstained from the consumption of alcohol, both the exposure to influencer marketing and the consumption of non-alcoholic beer were associated with intending to consume alcohol. In conclusion, when adolescents were exposed to influencer marketing of non-alcoholic beer they were more likely to consume it, which resulted in an increased likelihood that they would then purchase and consume alcohol.

THE ROLES OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS ON ONLINE FUNDRAISING IN INDONESIA

[...]this study aims to understand the roles of SMIs in fundraising activities, to identify the influencers' attributes which affect their followers' willingness to donate, and to explore the motivation of the followers to donate. [...]few studies use social media influencers and their attributes as an object. [...]the researchers are interested in using Rachel Vennya, who is an online celebrity, to engage with potential donors through her social media outlet and get them to make donations. [...]the aims of this study are to understand the roles of social media influencers in contributing to fundraising activities, to identify the influencer's attributes that affect the willingness of his/her followers to donate money and to discuss the motivation for the followers' intentions to donate. The influencers are potentially effective because they have some personal factors and content that is commonly preferred by people, proven by their large numbers of followers (Tafesse & Wood, 2021). [...]the researchers aim is to understand the roles of social media influencers in contributing to fundraising activities and to identify the influencers' attributes that affect the willingness of their followers to donate money. 2.

Consumption, production, and entrepreneurship in the time of coronavirus: A business perspective of the pandemic

This book examines the impact of the continuing COVID-19 crisis on consumers and businesses. With stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures mandated by governments worldwide, businesses have made significant adjustments to adapt to the sudden changes caused by the pandemic. The book aims to understand what settling and thriving in the "new normal" have meant for businesses around the world. This book is divided into sections on production, consumption, and entrepreneurship and explores how consumer psychology has changed while also evaluating new digital business opportunities afforded by the pandemic. By bringing together psychology and marketing scholars, this interdisciplinary book will inform research on how businesses adapt to crises. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights reserved.

"We Are in Control": Instagram Influencers and the Proliferation of Conspiracy Narratives in Digital Spaces

Female spiritual influencers on Instagram engage with conspiracy content and appeal to the issue of control over female bodies to bridge the gap between mainstream and fringe online spaces. I use the concept of "third space" to analyse the dynamics of Instagram communities around spiritual influencers and highlight how these communities operate as spaces for political discussion while simultaneously appearing apolitical from the outside. Analysing data from participant observation and interviews with six female Czech spiritual influencers, I place their online communication and presentation within the context of the conspirituality movement (Ward, Voas, 2011). Furthermore, I present ethnographic evidence on how the influencers moved from spiritual to conspiritual content within their everyday online performances.

Young People Under ‘Finfluencer': The Rise of Financial Influencers on Instagram: An Abstract

Under the shadow of the covid-19 pandemic, millions of young people have the resulting consequences (e.g., increased uncertainty regarding their careers and economic prospects: McGrindle, 2020;Yuesti et al., 2020) started to think more seriously about how to manage their financial resources. As a result, personal finance has become trendy to speak about. Rather than proactive actions coming through the formal financial services industry to address the increasing demand for accessible financial information that does not require an advisor or costs a fortune, we are witnessing the uprising of personal finance influencers. These financial influencers (a.k.a. Finfluencers) talk about how to manage various aspects of financial life and do so by promoting their advice on a broad scope of money related topics (ranging from dealing with student loans, buying a house, how to ask for a pay raise, budgeting tips, and tricks, filing for tax returns, stock investment opportunities, and portfolio management) in short, light-hearted video formats that are posted on Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube and other social media platforms. Although currently, these Finfluencers can be regarded as a niche influencer marketing group, it is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years – especially now that designated sections on social media platforms are taking off (e.g., #FinTok, #FinTwit, #Finmeme, #StockTok, #Findependence). In line with this trend, this research explores how consumers consume social media influencers when they offer utilitarian (rather than hedonic) oriented products, services, and advice. Using text-mining techniques, we examine the content of personal finance influencers on Instagram to investigate how consumers respond to the recommendation of more utilitarian-oriented products. In addition, gender and race are an integral part of the consumer's perception of financial expertise. This research looks at the moderating role of gender and race on influencers' financial expertise on consumer response. We found that influencers with financial accreditations generate a more positive affective response compared with financial influencers who mainly share information stemming from personal experience. In addition, we found that influencers' gender and race moderate the relationship between financial expertise and consumers' affective responses significantly. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Instagram Influencers in Health Communication: Examining the Roles of Influencer Tier and Message Construal in COVID-19-Prevention Public Service Announcements

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. © 2022 American Academy of Advertising.

Instagram Influencers in Health Communication: Examining the Roles of Influencer Tier and Message Construal in COVID-19-Prevention Public Service Announcements

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. © 2022 American Academy of Advertising.

Remodeling Digital Marketplace through Metaverse: A Multi-Path Model of Consumer Neuroticism, Parasocial Relationships, Social Media Influencer's Credibility, and Openness to Metaverse Experience

Drawing on extensive data of social media active users (N=1861) and covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM), the novel findings revealed that parasocial relationships and social media influencers' credibility positively trigger intentions to use the Metaverse digital marketplace. [...]a higher tendency of openness to Metaverse experience intensifies the effect of parasocial relationships on the intentions to use the Metaverse digital marketplace. According to the company, Roblox has around 50 million games, with a monthly use duration of 3 billion hours. The outcomes of this work provide significant advances in theoretical understanding. Because of this, it goes on to use the notion of PSR to explain that there is research on media psychology and the attractiveness of influencers among followers, laying the theoretical groundwork for future studies on the effect of influencers. With this understanding, Metaverse technology may better satisfy the needs of its customers and allow them to connect with the technology more naturally. Because of the new level of engagement, people who use social media can build strong relationships with those who follow them.

The Impact of Influencer Marketing on Online Advertising Click and Buying Behaviour during COVID-19

We Are Social reports the development of Social Media year by year. It means social media is very influential for every person. Recently, marketing used influencers as part of its marketing strategy. However, several previous studies found the negative impact of using influencers. Therefore, this study, which uses a qualitative method with the SEM-PLS technique, will look at the factors that influence influencers and the impact on whether customers are interested in buying the product or not. The qualitative study facilitates by Google Form and using the snowball sampling technique to collect data due to the limitation of social access in COVID-19. Eleven factors use as the research model. The study used 227 respondents, but only 64.7% of people were interested in buying products after seeing influencers. Furthermore, 35.3% of people do not buy products for various reasons. The results of this study are beneficial for developing the use of influencers in marketing in the future. © 2022 IEEE.

Growth Communication Strategies in the Digital Age

This article analyzes growth strategies in the context of digital transformation in all political, social, and economic scopes that were accelerated by the pandemic. The article also focuses on the specific case of digital native brands which have emerged in a disruptive way. The study was carried out by using electronic surveys from April 2020 to November 2021 of 50 professionals in leading technology companies and startups. The study takes into account the results obtained in research carried out during the last 8 years by combining both the methods of in-depth interviews and documentary analysis in tracking the strategies of technology companies. The results show that growth strategies in digital economy are focused on decision making based on data combined with creative actions such as digital content, influencer marketing, media, events, and newsjacking. This growth strategy is applicable to all areas, especially politics.

The Effect of Influencer Marketing on Online Purchase During Covid-19

Buying Behaviour of an online consumer can change according to their needs and circumstances. This paper focuses on the consumer’s online buying behaviour with respect to influencer marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research is conducted to study the factors that have influenced the consumers of India to buy the product/services during this coronavirus crisis in India. An online questionnaire was designed to conduct the research and data from different respondents were obtained. Data was analysed through Google sheets (spreadsheets). The results showed that the products promoted by social media influencers throughout the COVID-19 lockdown in India have impacted the consumers to buy the featured products and the factors that influenced them were reliability, discounts, influencer’s credibility and trust.

Mapping the Romanian Facebook Misinformation Network

Social media is widely considered to be a breeding ground for misinformation and disinformation. The current paper looks at some of the most important Romanian influences on Facebook to analyze their networks - how many followers engage with the content they are posting how active their followers are, and to what extent are followers shared among different influences. To perform the analysis, 360 posts have been downloaded, together with comments and shares;there have been 126,784 comments and shares in the final analysis from 75,519 distinct followers. Results show that overlap of followers is not significant, with only a few clusters (i.e., influences sharing many of theirfollowers) being visible. Graphical visualization of some networks and clusters are also provided, using the Gephi specialized software.

Characterizing Sponsored Content in Facebook and Instagram

In this work we present a comparative analysis of influencer marketing evolution on Facebook and Instagram, spanning the pre and post Covid-19 pandemic onset periods. We collected and characterized a large-scale cross-platform dataset, comprised of 9.5 million sponsored posts. We analyzed the relative growth rates of the number of ads and of user engagement within different topics of interest, such as sports, retail, travel, and politics. We discuss which topics have been most impacted by the onset of the pandemic, both in terms of sponsored content supply and demand. With this work we hope to expand the understanding of influence dynamics on social networks and provide support for the development of more contextualized and effective branding strategies. © 2022 ACM.

Who are social media influencers for luxury fashion consumption of the Chinese Gen Z? Categorisation and empirical examination

Purpose>Social media influencers (SMIs) play an increasingly important role in influencing youth and their shopping behaviours in digital marketing. Research has examined various but fragmented SMIs, which cause inconsistency in empirical results. This research seeks to categorise the most popular SMIs in luxury fashion and examine their distinctive effects on Gen Z consumption in China.Design/methodology/approach>The authors categorise SMIs into four groups based on two dimensions, i.e. network interactivity vs social connectedness. Drawing on the social network theory, the authors develop the research model. A sample of 400 survey data is collected and analysed using the PLS-SEM technique.Findings>The empirical results suggest that among the four popular SMIs groups, the effects of celebrities, opinion leaders and friends and peers on luxury fashion consumption of Gen Z are statistically significant while that of advertisers are insignificant;that friends and peers have the most substantial effect among the others.Originality/value>The study contributes to understanding SMIs and consumer behaviour in digital emerging markets. By categorising SMIs, this study reconciles inconsistencies in the concept. This study contributes to a better understanding of SMIs and their roles in the digital marketing of luxury fashion consumption.

Social Attachment Theory and the Relationship between Satisfaction, Luxury Brand Attachment, and Influencer Attachment: A Focus on Young Chinese Online Consumers under Quarantine: An Abstract

The rapid development of social media and influencer marketing has tremendously changed the way in which consumers collect information, make purchase decisions, and communicate with brands (Lou and Yuan 2019;Neal 2017;Scott 2015). Marketing practitioners, especially those from luxury brands, are explosively increasing their budget on influencer marketing more than ever for its payoff in sales performance (Lou and Yuan 2019). During the worldwide quarantine and social distancing due to the breakout of COVID-19 pandemic, influencer marketing has become one of the most prevailing marketing approaches. Researchers have revealed a variety of impacts of influencer marketing on both consumer behaviors and branding performance (Blackwell et al. 2017;Hollebeek et al. 2016;Schivinski et al. 2016;Vanmeter and Grisaffe 2015). However, there is a lack of evidence to answer whether consumers develop emotional attachment and to what extent towards the influencer and the brand involved in the brand-influencer collaboration. This research, founded on social attachment theory (Mawson 2005), adopts a mixed methodology approach to investigate the relationship between consumer satisfaction derived from influencer promoted purchases, influencer attachment, and luxury band attachment. In the context of influencer marketing, our research reveals positive relationships between consumer satisfaction, influencer attachment and luxury brand attachment respectively;furthermore, the positive impact of consumer satisfaction on influencer attachment is stronger than on luxury brand attachment. This research also identifies a positive moderating role of brand sponsorship on the relationship between consumer satisfaction and luxury brand attachment. Although the COVID-19 crisis has caused severe social and business isolation, it brings some exceptional opportunities for brands to bond with their target consumers through social media and influencer marketing. Our results show that consumers more autonomously engage in behaviors that enhance the development of attachment due to the social isolation under quarantine. This finding qualifies social attachment theory (Mawson 2005) to explain the occurrence of affiliation in the context of influencer marketing and identifies influencers as attachment figures to their online communities. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Conceptual Framework of Influencer’s Marketing Power

Consumers need to be constantly reassured in these times of the global Covid-19 pandemic. For this reason, brand marketing strategies must be well thought out to keep consumers closer. Influencers have become essential players in creating and strengthening this link between the brand and consumers. This paper, therefore, focuses on the effect of influencer marketing on consumers in relation to brand notoriety and the perception of the influencer. Regarding the literary review, we focus on influencer and brand marketing (notoriety and attitude) and the relationships that link these to other intermediate concepts (influencer credibility, consistency between source and product) leading to purchase intentions. We formulate the conceptual framework of influencers’ marketing power based on these findings. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The Role of Social Media Influencers in Public Health Communication: Case COVID-19 Pandemic

During public health crises, public organizations face a variety of strategic communication challenges, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 is an extreme example. In Finland, the Prime Minister’s Office initiated a communication campaign that utilized social media influencers to communicate timely instructions regarding the pandemic. However, it is uncertain how social media influencers adapt to briefings of public organizations given that they typically work with brands that align with their own interests and expertise, which rarely is epidemiology. We use the two-step flow of communication model and social influence theory to analyze research data that consisted of 96 Instagram posts, 108 Instagram Stories and 1097 comments. Qualitative content analysis was used to see how the influencers communicated about the pandemic and how their followers reacted. The results suggest that the influencers tried to adapt the messages to their own style, and, instead of committing to the wordings of the campaign, they shared general guidelines and, with their own example, showed how to behave during the pandemic. Their participation in the campaign helped affect social norms during the time of the crisis, which in the case of public health communication is a substantial, strategic goal.

Product placement by social media homefluencers during new normal

Purpose>The purpose of this study is to analyze how product placement through social media influencers (SMIs) during “new normal” can generate user-generated content (UGC) and determine the manners of product placement by SMIs who have become “homefluencers” by their skills.Design/methodology/approach>This research applies a qualitative approach of thematic content analysis of a total of 49 micro and nano-homefluencer's contents in beauty fashion, clothing, workout-yoga, food and lifestyle sectors on Instagram.Findings>The findings of this study identify the main five themes of homefluencers by analyzing UGC in the new normal portraying both positive and negative comments incorporating four manners of product placement as a framework backed by two identified skills: relevance and relationship.Research limitations/implications>This research pioneers the study on how SMIs as “homefluencers” can adapt product placement skills in crises strengthening UGC by proposing a framework in the existing influencer marketing literature, where research is scarce.Practical implications>The findings of this research represent a guideline for effective SMI marketing development in the new normal and post-COVID. Based on the findings, recommendations are provided for the brand managers and influencers uplifting UGC blending skill of relevancy and relationship in product placement.Originality/value>The author has contributed to the body of research by qualitatively analyzing how “homefluencer's” product placement in a crisis period can manage consistency and humanitarian association amplifying UGC and the practical implications in post-COVID.

Unreal influence: leveraging AI in influencer marketing

Purpose>This paper aims to examine how consumers respond to social media influencers that are created through artificial intelligence (AI) and compares effects to traditional (human) influencers.Design/methodology/approach>Across two empirical studies, the authors examine the efficacy of AI social media influencers. With Study 1, the authors establish baseline effects for AI influencers and investigate how social-psychological distance impacts consumer perceptions. The authors also investigate the role of an influencer’s agency – being autonomous or externally managed – to test the boundaries of the results and determine the interactive effects between influencer type and influencer agency. Study 2 acts as an extension and validation of Study 1, whereby the authors provide generalisability and overlay the role of need for uniqueness as a moderated mediator.Findings>The authors show that there are similarities and differences in the ways in which consumers view AI and human influencers. Importantly, the authors find no difference in terms of intention to follow or personalisation. This suggests that consumers are equally open to follow an AI or human influencer, and they perceive the level of personalisation provided by either influencer type as similar. Furthermore, while an AI influencer is generally perceived as having lower source trust, they are more likely to evoke word-of-mouth intentions. In understanding these effects, the authors show that social distance mediates the relationship between influencer type and the outcomes the authors investigate. Results also show that AI influencers can have a greater effect on consumers who have a high need for uniqueness. Finally, the authors find that a lack of influencer agency has a detrimental effect.Research limitations/implications>The studies investigate consumers’ general response to AI influencers within the context of Instagram, however, future research might examine consumers’ response to posts promoting specific products across a variety of category contexts and within different social media platforms.Practical implications>The authors find that in some ways, an AI influencer can be as effective as a human influencer. Indeed, the authors suggest that there may be a spill-over effect from consumer experiences with other AI recommendation systems, meaning that consumers are open to AI influencer recommendations. However, the authors find consistent evidence that AI influencers are trusted less than traditional influencers, hence the authors caution brands from rushing to replace human influencers with their AI counterparts.Originality/value>This paper offers novel insight into the increasingly prominent phenomenon of the AI influencer. Specifically, it takes initial steps towards developing understanding as to how consumers respond to AI influencers and contrast these effects with human influencers.

Impact of Influencer Market on Consumers of the Tourism Industry

This research has focused on the concept of influencer marketing and its impact on consumers of the travel and tourism industry. The goal was to find out whether travel and tourism companies through influencer marketing can attract consumers in this post-Covid situation or not. For this purpose, empirical data were collected from fifty social media users who are following at least one travel influencer on any social media site. From their responses collected by sharing survey questionnaire, it was found that most of the participants are not influenced by social media influencers in terms of deciding where they would travel. © The Electrochemical Society