Celebrity vs.

Influencer
endorsements in advertising:
the role of identification,
credibility, and Product-
Endorser fit
Abstract:
In their marketing efforts, companies increasingly abandon traditional celebrity
endorsers in favor of social media influencers, such as vloggers and Instafamous
personalities. The effectiveness of using influencer endorsements as compared
to traditional celebrity endorsements is not well understood. Therefore, the
present research investigated the impact of celebrity vs. influencer endorsements
on advertising effectiveness (attitudes toward the advertisement and product,
and purchase intention), moderated by product-endorser fit. Moreover, this
research investigated two potential mediators underlying this relationship:
identification (perceived similarity and wishful identification) and credibility
(trustworthiness and expertise). Two experiments (N = 131, N = 446) investigated
celebrity vs. influencer endorsers with good vs. poor fit with a beauty and a
fitness product (Study 1), or a food and a fashion product (Study 2). Overall, our
results showed that participants identify more with influencers than celebrities,
feel more similar to influencers than celebrities, and trust influencers more than
celebrities. In terms of advertising effectiveness, similarity, wishful identification,
and trust mediate the relationship between type of endorser and advertising
effectiveness. Product-endorser did not explain the relationship between type of
endorser and any of the mediating and dependent variables. In all, our results
show the added value of using influencer endorsers over celebrity endorsers and
the importance of similarity, identification and trust in this process.
Disclosing sponsored Instagram
posts: the role of material
connection with the brand and
message-sidedness when
disclosing covert advertising

Abstract:
Regulation prescribes that sponsored social media posts should clearly disclose
their material connection with brands. However, research on the impact of such
disclosures is limited. This study used an experimental 4 × 2 between-subjects
design (N = 414), reflecting different types of material connections between the
influencer and the brand and two kinds of message sidedness, to investigate how
the sponsorship disclosure affects consumers' responses to sponsored
Instagram posts. Findings show that including a sponsorship disclosure
(compared to no disclosure) negatively affects brand attitude through enhanced
ad recognition, which activates ad skepticism, which, in turn, negatively affects
the influencer's credibility. Further, results show a significant moderated
mediation effect in that source's credibility and, consequently, brand attitude was
only negatively affected when the influencer used a one-sided message and not
when the message was two-sided. Also, influencers who post genuine product
recommendations and thus have no commercial relationship with the brand, do
well by explicitly mentioning this. Iincluding a statement that a post is not
sponsored, rather than leaving thisit unclear whether their post is sponsored,
may generate more positive brand responses through lowered ad recognition
and skepticism.
Influencer Marketing: How
Message Value and Credibility
Affect Consumer Trust of
Branded Content on Social
Media
Abstract:
In the past few years, expenditure on influencer marketing has grown
exponentially. The present study involves preliminary research to understand the
mechanism by which influencer marketing affects consumers via social media. It
proposes an integrated model—the social media influencer value model—to
account for the roles of advertising value and source credibility. To test this
model, we administered an online survey among social media users who
followed at least one influencer. Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling results
show that the informative value of influencer-generated content, influencer’s
trustworthiness, attractiveness, and similarity to the followers positively affect
followers’ trust in influencers’ branded posts, which subsequently influence brand
awareness and purchase intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are
discussed.

The Effect of Social Media on

Perceived Information
Credibility and Decision Making
Abstract
Studies have found that information from celebrities, social media influencers,
and people whom they know in real life affects millennial consumers’ purchasing
decisions. This study investigates how celebrities, influencers, and people whom
consumers know personally impacts the ways in which millennials utilize social
media information to gain information about consumer products. The study also
addresses factors that contribute to trusting that information. Using data from
millennial college students, the authors found that Instagram was most utilized
for apparel information, while YouTube was most relevant for cosmetic and hair
products. However, information from people whom they knew personally was still
deemed more trustworthy than that from other sources. Although research
suggests that celebrities and social media influencers’ have a positive impact on
raising product awareness, marketers should be cognizant that consumers still
trust endorsements from people whom they know personally, above all else,
regarding their purchasing decisions. Relying on celebrities and social media
influencers to promote products does not substitute for or replace targeted
marketing efforts to build consumers’ trust. Implications for research and practice
are discussed.

Investigating Consumer
Engagement with Influencer- vs.
Brand-Promoted Ads: The Roles
of Source and Disclosure
Abstract
Brands’ investments in influencer marketing have been escalating over the past
few years. This study proposes and explicates how two similar and comparable
sets of advertisements, namely influencer- versus brand-promoted ads (i.e.,
influencer-generated ads and brands’ reposting/featuring of influencer ads), can
affect consumer engagement, consumer sentiment, and topics of comments
differently. Results of text analysis show that influencer-promoted ads enjoy
significantly higher engagement in terms of consumer liking and commenting
than that of brand-promoted ads among apparel brands on Instagram.
Consumers express a significantly higher percentage of negative sentiment and
a lower percentage of positive sentiment in their comments on brand-promoted
ads than on influencer-promoted ads. Consumers demonstrate cultlike
appreciation for influencers’ product sharing and show high involvement in the
advertised products in influencer-promoted ads. Nonetheless, brand-promoted
ads also positively affect consumers’ interests in the online stores and/or the
advertised products.
The Effect of Influencer
Marketing on Consumers’ Brand
Admiration and Online Purchase
Intentions: An Emerging Market
Perspective
Abstract
This paper focuses on consumer electronics products and observes the comparative
effect of celebrity vis-à-vis expert influencers on consumers' online purchase intentions.
The mediating role played by brand admiration and brand attitude between influencer
marketing and online purchase intentions are tested. The moderating role played by
message involvement between influencer marketing and brand attitude is also
observed. The survey method was employed to conduct this research, and data were
collected from 438 respondents. The proposed hypotheses were tested using structural
equation modeling, hierarchical regression analysis, and Hayes process method. The
results submit that there is a definite advantage in choosing an expert influencer over
an attractive celebrity influencer while planning the marketing communications of
consumer electronics products. The mediating role of brand attitude and brand
admiration is empirically evident. The moderating effect of involvement is also
established.

Instagram Stories versus Facebook Wall: an advertising

effectiveness analysis
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate advertising effectiveness in Instagram and
Facebook, the two most important social media platforms. It helps to
understand which should be chosen depending on the target audience of the
campaign.
Design/methodology/approach
The study examines advertising effectiveness in these social media in terms
of ad attitude, ad intrusiveness and loyalty intentions. An online survey was
conducted with 303 social media users. Age and gender are proposed as
moderators.
Findings
The results indicate that Instagram Stories not only enhances consumer
attitude toward ads but also increases perceived intrusiveness, compared to
Facebook Wall. Millennials are more disturbed by Facebook Wall ads than
non-millennial users. A triple interaction effect reveals that non-millennial men
are more loyal toward Facebook Wall ads, whereas millennials of both
genders and non-millennial women are more loyal to ads on Instagram
Stories.
Practical implications
Advertisers should be aware of the differential features and segmentation
possibilities in social media to better address their target audiences. More
precisely, the research findings suggest that professionals should focus on
Instagram Stories when targeting millennials and non-millennial women, and
on Facebook Wall when targeting non-millennial men.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to contribute to the literature on Instagram Stories
as an advertising platform and compare its differential features with those of
more established social media, such as Facebook Wall.

Limitations and further research

Despite the novel contribution of this study, it has several limitations that open new avenues for future
research. First, our research design does not control for the specific ads broadcast in each social media
platform. Although testing effectiveness during real users’ navigation in their social media profiles
increases the external validity of the research, the results could be affected by additional factors, such as
the product; further research should replicate the study in lab settings (Belanche et al., 2017a) and with
a probabilistic sample design. Second, we study Facebook and Instagram, currently the two leading
social media platforms. The inclusion of other social media could help corroborate our hypotheses in
different contexts. Indeed, further measures should be incorporated to better assess the persuasiveness
of the advertising messages in each platform. Third, more detailed research into users’ profile
characteristics might help professionals to examine not only the demographic factors presented in this
study but also other personal or situational factors, such as lifestyles. Fourth, it would be also interesting
to compare the effectiveness of “Paid ads” versus “Non-paid ads” (e.g. stories presented to followers of
the brand’s profile) in Instagram Stories. Finally, a longitudinal study examining the evolution of
advertising effectiveness in both social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook, might help academics
and researchers better understand how changes in social media influence advertising over time.
Some other topics:
1. How do companies use corporate social responsibility to strengthen brand equity?
2. Celebrities and influencers: Have they changed the game of online marketing?
3. consumer-generated advertising:
4. Are religious customers skeptical toward sexually appealing advertising?
5. How fashion blogs function as a marketing tool to influence consumer behavior: Evidence from
Norway
6. Social media reviews influence on buying behavior
7. Endorsement and visual complexity in food advertising on Instagram