Is our well-being a motive for who we follow on social media? The role of self-discrepancy on consumer influencer portfolios
Keywords
Loading...
Authors
Issue Date
2022-07-01
Language
en
Document type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Title
ISSN
Volume
Issue
Startpage
Endpage
DOI
Abstract
Influencer marketing has been an important marketing strategy for brands to reach their consumers on social media. Social media influencers are relevant for brands as they can influence consumer behavior. Prior literature has focused on the effectiveness of influencers based on the characteristics of the influencers. Consumers’ motives for following specific influencers have received little attention in studies. While research has proven socio phycological motives to play a role in this, no research has been conducted so far. This research takes a ‘portfolio’ perspective and studies the characteristics of multiple influencers a consumer follows instead of only one influencer. The purpose of this research is to examine if influencer portfolios differ based on a consumer’s degree of actual-ideal self-discrepancy. An online questionnaire with a qualified sample of 452 respondents was used to perform the research. Findings of the research indicate that influencer portfolios do not differ based on a consumer’s degree of actual-ideal self-discrepancy. Interestingly, actual ideal self-discrepancy showed a significant effect for some influencer characteristics in the influencer portfolio of young consumers. This could be explained by the social identity theory and would serve as an interesting area for future research.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen