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When less is more : The impact of macro and micro social media influencers’ disclosure
Kay, Samantha Mulcahy, Rory Parkinson, Joy
Kay, Samantha
Mulcahy, Rory
Parkinson, Joy
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.
Keywords
social media influencers, native advertising, disclosure
Date
2020
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Marketing Management
Book
Volume
36
Issue
3-4
Page Range
248-278
Article Number
ACU Department
Faculty of Law and Business
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled