How Do Influencers Impact Young Women’s Consumer Purchase Decision-Making?

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate how influencers impact young women’s consumer purchase decision-making. Influencer marketing has raised the interest of both marketers and consumers in the last decade. As fewer people are consuming traditional media, and instead are using social media in an increasing manner, marketers need to find new ways to communicate with consumers. Influencer marketing is one of the ways in which companies can have their online presence and communicate with the consumers.

The research topic was chosen based on the author’s interest in influencer marketing. In addition, interest in researching the peer group’s decision-making and behavior influenced the selection of the research topic. The primary research was conducted as qualitative research, and the primary data was collected through exploratory interviews. In total, five Finnish young women were interviewed.

The key findings of the research indicated that influencers indeed have a positive impact on female consumer purchase decision-making. In general, the interviewees perceived influencer marketing in a positive light and were delighted to see influencers promoting products on social media. However, the research results also indicated negative aspects of influencer marketing.

The sample size for the research was small due to limitations and the research results shouldn’t be generalized as they present only a minor proportion of the topic.

Future studies should research the topic with a larger sample size to present more reliable and generalizable results.