The impact of disclosing a sponsorship on the credibility of an influencer on Instagram
Reitzer, Silja (2023)
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202303143587
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202303143587
Tiivistelmä
As social media has seen a fast increase in usage, companies have started to utilize the platforms for online advertising. Influencers, people with engaged followers, have started to promote products as a means of online advertising for companies. Research into how consumers view the credibility of these influencers, with different advertising disclosure, is still an under researched area.
The study’s objective was to find out how credible influencers are seen through four dimensions of credibility, with the moderating variable of disclosure type, through effect on purchase intention. This could help companies as well as influencers to understand, which dimensions are important to the consumer and how disclosure of advertisement affects these.
A deductive research method which suited the quantitative approach, was used in the research. For this, two versions of the survey were created, in order to compare the moderating effect of disclosure type. These were then randomly assigned to respondents, in order to get sufficient responses to both. The survey had a total of 187 respondents, with most respondents being from Europe.
The results indicated that with both, no disclosure as well as simple disclosure, similarity had a positive correlation to purchase intention. With no disclosure, trustworthiness had a positive correlation to purchase intention. Disclosure type had no moderating effect on credibility through purchase intention.
Thus when choosing an influencer to market a product, the similarity of the influencer and the target market should be researched and considered by the marketer. A company should not merely rely on the expertness, or the popularity of the influencer as a sign of credibility. The perceived trustworthiness of the influencer should be considered, especially if the advertiser would not be disclosed.
The study’s objective was to find out how credible influencers are seen through four dimensions of credibility, with the moderating variable of disclosure type, through effect on purchase intention. This could help companies as well as influencers to understand, which dimensions are important to the consumer and how disclosure of advertisement affects these.
A deductive research method which suited the quantitative approach, was used in the research. For this, two versions of the survey were created, in order to compare the moderating effect of disclosure type. These were then randomly assigned to respondents, in order to get sufficient responses to both. The survey had a total of 187 respondents, with most respondents being from Europe.
The results indicated that with both, no disclosure as well as simple disclosure, similarity had a positive correlation to purchase intention. With no disclosure, trustworthiness had a positive correlation to purchase intention. Disclosure type had no moderating effect on credibility through purchase intention.
Thus when choosing an influencer to market a product, the similarity of the influencer and the target market should be researched and considered by the marketer. A company should not merely rely on the expertness, or the popularity of the influencer as a sign of credibility. The perceived trustworthiness of the influencer should be considered, especially if the advertiser would not be disclosed.