When less is more: the impact of macro and micro social media influencers’ disclosure

ABSTRACT

There are growing discussions of social media influencers and their effectiveness in endorsing products. Further, recent policy regulations are requiring social media influencers to disclose sponsored content when using a form of native advertising. This research examined the effect of macro-influencers (high likes) and micro-influencers (low likes) and their disclosure of native advertising sponsorship on consumer evaluations of products. Results from a 2 × 2 experiment first show that consumers exposed to the micro-influencer condition report higher levels of product knowledge, and consumers exposed to the disclosure condition reported the products endorsed by social media influencers to be more attractive. The results also show that when exposed to micro-influencers who disclose, consumers have higher levels of purchase intentions than when exposed to macro-influencers who do not disclose, as well as higher purchase intentions than for posts where sponsorship is not disclosed by influencers. The important findings of this research for theory, practice and policy are discussed.     

Followers' engagement with instagram influencers: The role of influencers’ content and engagement strategy

Influencer marketing has emerged as an effective approach for brands to connect with customers through social media influencers. Although influencer marketing has attracted increased interest from marketing researchers in recent years, relatively little is known about influencers' content and engagement strategy and its links to followers' engagement behavior. The present study addresses this gap by examining how measures of influencers' content and engagement strategy (i.e., follower count, followee count, content volume, and domains of interest) are associated with followers' engagement behavior on Instagram both independently and interactively. The study leverages a unique dataset of Instagram influencers compiled by scraping an online influencer database to test its hypotheses. The findings indicate that follower count and content volume are negatively associated with follower engagement, while followee count is positively associated with follower engagement. However, these main effects are modified by influencers' domains of interest. The findings contribute to the literature by illuminating how elements of influencers' content and engagement strategy contribute to followers’ engagement behavior on Instagram.     

Utilitarian and Hedonic Motivators of Shoppers’ Decision to Consult with Salespeople

Many retailers face the questions of whether providing consultation services would enhance store performance and, if so, what the retailers could do to increase the number of shoppers seeking salesperson consultation. Despite its importance, prior research has not answered the question of what influences retail shoppers to consult with salespeople. We use motivation theory and recent theorizing on behavioral decision-making to develop a model of four utilitarian and hedonic motivators of shopper consultation with salespeople. This model, which includes the relationship between consultation and amount of money spent by shoppers, was tested with data from 425 shoppers. Our results demonstrate situational and individual influences, both utilitarian (i.e., shoppers’ purchase uncertainty and efficiency orientation) and hedonic (i.e., shoppers’ situation-related affect toward salespeople and shopping enjoyment), that prompt retail shoppers to consult with salespeople. As well, we find that salesperson consultation is positively related to the amount of money spent by shoppers and completely mediates the spending effects of the four motivators of consultation. This research shows that motivation theory is useful for better understanding salesperson consultation and can assist retailers that compete on service to better implement consultation-oriented strategies.     

Interactive effects of consumers’ ethical beliefs and authenticity on ethical consumption and pro-environmental behaviors

The current study examined the relationships of ethical beliefs (i.e., idealism and relativism) with pro-environmental behaviors (direct and indirect) and ethical consumption behavior. The study further examined the moderating role of consumer authenticity in these relationships. Data were collected from individuals (N = 302) using field surveys within three major metropolitan cities of Pakistan. The findings revealed that idealism had a positive relationship with ethical consumption behavior and pro-environmental direct behavior. However, it was not related to pro-environmental indirect behavior. Relativism was positively related to ethical consumption behavior but it was not related to both types of pro-environmental behaviors. Furthermore, consumer authenticity significantly moderated the relationships of idealism with all ethical outcomes. Finally, implications for organizations, marketers and policy makers are discussed.     

Social media marketing: Who is watching the watchers?

The ready access to and availability of social media has opened up a wealth of data that marketers are leveraging for strategic insight and digital marketing. Yet there is a lack of professional norms regarding the use of social media in marketing and a gap in understanding consumers’ comfort with marketers’ use of their social media data. This study analyzes a census-balanced sample of online adults (n = 751) to identify consumers’ perceptions of using social media data for marketing purposes. The research finds that consumers’ perceived risks and benefits of using social media have a relationship with their comfort with marketers using their publicly available social media data. The research extends the applicability of communication privacy management theory to social media and introduces marketing comfort—a new construct of high importance for future marketing research. Marketing comfort refers to an individual's comfort with the use of information posted publicly on social media for targeted advertising, customer relations, and opinion mining. In the context of the construct development, we find that targeted advertising is the strongest contributing component to marketing comfort, relative to the other two dimensions: opinion mining and customer relations. By understanding what drives consumer comfort with this emerging marketing practice, the research proposes strategies for marketers that can support and mitigate consumers’ concerns so that consumers can maintain trust in marketers’ digital practices.     

Bridging the online offline gap: Assessing the impact of brands’ social network content quality on brand awareness and purchase intention

Social media is shaping the way companies and brands engage and interact with consumers, particularly Millennials. In light of this growing trend, this study aims to understand the influence of content quality and brand interactivity within social media on consumers' brand awareness and purchase intentions by proposing an empirical model which is tested using structural equation modeling. The study also explores whether the relation between social media stimuli and offline purchase intention is mediated by hedonic motivation, consumer engagement and brand awareness. Results reveal that the quality of content provided by brands on social media and company-users' interactivity are of major importance to Millennials. They increase the hedonic motive derived by these users from social media, strengthen their online engagement and intensify their brand awareness. This heightened online consumer engagement coupled with an increased online consumer brand awareness leads to an increase in the purchase intention of these brands offline. Consequently, companies are encouraged to invest in producing high-quality content on their social media pages, deploy all possible strategies to enhance brand users’ interactivity given the important role these variables play in entertaining, engaging users online, building brand awareness and influencing their offline purchase intentions.     

Consumer social voice in the age of social media: Segmentation profiles and relationship marketing strategies

Service failures, once handled quietly by customer service departments, are now played out on a highly public social media stage. These failures can result in not only the loss of a loyal consumer but also can negatively affect relationships with those watching the dialogue between disgruntled customers and organizations. The phenomenon of seeking resolution to service failures online is distinct from both traditional word-of-mouth and voice behaviors. This article introduces social voice: public complaining behavior that aims to change the behavior of the organization. A qualitative methodology defines eight dimensions of social voice and categorizes them by the strength of the relationship to the organization. Results indicate that appropriate response strategies differ based on social voice segment.     

Keep it,shave it,cut it: A closer look into consumers’ video viewing behavior

The convergence of communications, information, entertainment, commerce, and computing—combined with a rising number of new services—has caused changes in the way people access and consume media. In recent months, the phenomenon of viewing audiences shifting wholly or partially from cable TV providers to over-the-top (OTT) media, also known as cord cutting or cord shaving respectively, has gained much attention. Despite anecdotal evidence of cord cutting and cord shaving presented in the trade press and industry conferences, there has been little rigorous examination of the true effect that cord cutting or cord shaving may have on TV networks and the media industry at large. In this article, we use behavioral data from a leading cable operator in the U.S. to identify and describe the key viewer segments. We also conduct simulations to examine the effects and implications of cord cutting and cord shaving from a customer lifetime value perspective for content providers, content distributors, and advertisers.     

Strategic personal branding—And how it pays off

Unlike companies or products, individuals possess intrinsic personal branding as a result of personality qualities, past experience and development, and communication with others—whether they know it or not. In this sense, every person already has a personal brand of some kind. The challenge is to manage that brand strategically. We offer a process for doing so, beginning with self-analysis. Then we review published sources and summarize interviews about the personal brands of 33 U.S. and European sales executives and managers, salesforce members, and professionals who sell their own services. The interviews indicate roughly equal emphasis on competence and personal qualities in creating personal brands, as well as significant interest in distinctiveness, and the respondents provide a range of examples of how personal branding pays off. This investigation leads to our basic recommendation: Follow a strategic self-branding process based on one’s values and competencies, similar to the branding methods of companies and products, but with the understanding that personal branding will change as one’s career advances.