Using social media celebrities to advertise products – influencer marketing – is a lucrative and rapidly growing industry, projected to be ...
Using social media celebrities to advertise products – influencer marketing – is a lucrative and rapidly growing industry, projected to be worth up to $15 billion by 2022.
Influencers profit from their online fame by collaborating with brands, endorsing products to their followers in return for a payment (or free goods and experiences).
Some influencers are established stars seeking an additional income stream (the footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, charges up to $1.6 million for an endorsement on Instagram). Others may have recently found fame on reality TV shows like Love Island, an experience that can spark a barrage of endorsement deals.
But among the most successful influencers are ordinary consumers who have risen to fame on social media, often within a specific community. For instance, Zoella’s make-up hauls gained traction within the YouTube beauty community, earning her 11 million channel subscribers. “Cleanfluencer” Mrs Hinch, meanwhile, boasts 4.1 million Instagram followers eager for cleaning tips.
These community-based influencers develop high levels of audience trust, making them attractive as brand endorsers. Yet their particular origins have important implications for influencer marketing.
We studied consumer responses to brand endorsements by leading United Kingdom-based beauty vloggers on YouTube, including Zoella, Lily Pebbles and FleurDeForce. Our research revealed that because fellow members of a wider online community played a key role in their rise...
