Name:

Student Number:

Module code: MK4025

Module title: Marketing Communications

Module lecturer: Maurice Patterson

Date submitted: 04/03/2022

I have read and accept the University’s policy on plagiarism. I confirm that this is entirely my own
work and that it has not been submitted for assessment as part of any other programme.
Introduction
The nature of Influencers and the means by which they might foster consumer involvement.
Influencers are fast becoming the go-to people for business marketing needs, whether
huge or small. However, it is imperative to understand who these influencers are to understand
their heavy involvement in consumer decision-making clearly. Generally, people use social
media sites often when they want to know something. Every aspect of people’s lives revolves
around what is trending and not. These social media sites include Instagram, YouTube, TikTok,
and Twitter, among others depending on countries. The stars of these sites, which users most
follow, are labelled as influencers. In the video apps like YouTube, they are called vloggers and
have many followers. They are then used by companies depending on the products being sold.
Businesses are keen to identify influencers that suit their specific marketing needs to facilitate
consumer involvement and drive sales and profit margins. We've known about influencers for a long
time, but we've never really defined what they are. Marilyn Monroe, for example, was a major
influencer in the past. Monroe, was a model who rose to fame in America and around the world as a
result of her acting, where she became a sex symbol in an era when sex was taboo. She became
extremely well-known, and audiences were willing to pay to see her films, which were always made
with her sex appeal in mind because that was what they wanted to see. She had a big impact on
popular culture and is still remembered today, but she never used social media because it didn't
exist at the time.

Influencers and Consumer Involvement

Influencers are famous people who could be celebrities in different fields or have
amassed a massive following through posting creative content. They cut across car enthusiasts,
models, musicians, actors, athletes, renowned professors or geniuses, among others. For instance,
in a movie where vehicles are being used, a car manufacturing firm like Tesla could strike a
partnership with the production company or a certain actor and ensure that it is always a Tesla
when he drives a car. These famous people have a short career, and thus, the many brands they
can partner with, the better since they can add up to their revenue. For example, Lebron James is
a professional NBA player and might retire before he turns 40. He has many partnerships with
major brands that go past his retirement, and his brand is well-built such that he can still
influence people even when not playing. If he advertises vehicles like a Volvo, he would
undoubtedly tilt sales in their favour. Various factors elevate influencers as the ignition key to
consumer engagement, such as their significant visibility across various social media platforms,
their position in society, and their appeal to their followers.

Influencers and Social Media Visibility

Depending on the social media site in use, the influencers or vloggers influence what
customers buy because they hold an essential place in the consumers' lives. For example, Lil
Wayne, a famous Hip Hop rapper, advertised a Samsung phone. He threw it in a fish tank then
poured liquor on it while still on call. This showed the power of the Samsung phone and pushed
its sales upwards because his video trended across various social media networks (Padhi, 2021).
His work influenced consumers because people were hunting for water-resistant phones; it was
an added advantage to withstand alcohol pouring. He was an influencer who attracted consumers
attention and prompted their involvement in purchasing the Samsung Phone. Influencers use
different methods in turning potential customers into loyal clients. They offer insights and leave
the consumer to decide; some take videos of themselves using the products in subsequent days
and show how the product is changing their lives. Some give advice on what products people should
use. For example, Nike recycles ocean waste and makes products from them, influencing their
followers.

The reason influencers advertise on behalf of different brands is because they are famous,
and a majority of populations admire their lives and lifestyles. Influencers accept these offers
because they are offered different forms of compensation. Depending on their popularity level,
some are offered free products for some time, others receive financial packages, while others are
given a share of the company and can receive dividends. Therefore, some influencers could gain
a lot from advertising a brand while others need to convince the parent company of their input to
boost their compensation package. For example, an upcoming comedian could be offered a
financial package like 500,000 euro for advertising a fast food restaurant, while an established
comedian like Dave Chappelle could be compensated a sum like 20million euro. However, it matters
less what the compensation package is than being offered the job. Some brands could build an
influencers brand to a point where they can negotiate for contracts with companies.
Influencers and firms enter into contracts that could be short or long-term and might
contain other instructions as per the partnerships. A company may ask an influencer to post about
its products several times a day until it is satisfied that consumers decisions have been
influenced. Influencers could be said to exist entirely in a world of their own. Their contracts are
entirely confidential and mainly do not involve the government like other agreements between
brands and advertising firms. People sometimes do not realize that the videos released by
influencers are advertisements. Since influencers release content regularly, they mistake ads with
regular content.

Influencer’s Position in Society

Influencers hold an important position in society because of their power when influencing
people to buy products or services. They have a crucial element that sets them apart from an
ordinary person, not because of their huge following, but because they are used to
communicating with people. Communication is essential, and an individual needs to hone their
skills. These skills allow them to recognize what message they want to send, what site or app
they will use, the target audience, and where this information is originating from or the source
(Haenlein et al., 2020). The source is essential for consumers because they can label the product
authentic. If the source is credible enough, customers are influenced to change their decisions to
buy the advertised product. For example, if Cristiano Ronaldo advertises a brand like Gucci,
people would be heavily influenced into buying products from the company because they trust
their favourite soccer player. The source is credible, trustworthy, and holds experience or
expertise in using the product (Belanche et al., 2021). Trustworthiness is a critical element
because customers believe, hold the person with a high moral compass, and see them honest.
Expertise and trustworthiness hold a significant influence in persuading followers in buying
products and services.

Influencers Appealing to their Target Market

Influencers use appealing methods to relate with their target group. For instance, if they
are advertising products for teenagers, they have to use certain methods like likeability,
similarity, and familiarity to invoke attractiveness. The influencer's likability relates to their
physical attractiveness and behaviour (Karaila, 2021). For example, if a model is advertising a
dress, the target group will look at how it fits the source and how beautiful they are when they
wear it. If her behaviour is good, the dress will appeal to an even larger group than initially
intended. Familiarity is the knowledge of the source through their work. It could be through
pictures, videos, word of mouth, or charity work. The similarity is the target audience striking a
connection with the source where they feel comfortable and relaxed when using the product.
When these three are mashed together, the source becomes an attractive figure, and their words
become appealing and persuasive to the market. The consumer identifies with the influencer, and
their likelihood of adopting their behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs increases (Młodkowska, 2019).
Crucially, sales go up because of this appeal.
Consumers buy products from influencers and observe their mannerisms and incorporate
them into their lives. Social learning is when one learns behaviours from another person. When
customers identify with the source, they learn to copy what they do and make it theirs. This is
especially essential because whatever the influencer advertises, the consumer purchases because
it has then become part of their behaviour (Govindan & Alotaibi, 2021). Customers develop
relationships with the stars, making them their primary data source. Clients change their product-
usage behaviour through this identification, and their overall behaviour changes copying their
beloved celebrities. Influencers are paid by their persuasiveness. The social media apps are
developed that followers can comment and buy products using links, and the more the purchases,
the higher the level of persuasiveness the influencer holds. The influencers show their followers
that they use the same product, which makes their followers realize that if they buy the same
product, they can feel closer to their favourite celebrity.

Knowledge of an advertiser’s target group is crucial because it can then be used to

channel to the necessary people. Influencers thrive in some social media apps more than others.
For example, Instagram and TikTok are the leading apps used in advertising. These apps are
popular with women; thus, products used by women are primarily advertised. In a statistic, over
80% of women were seen to go to social media to know what purchases would be suitable
(Digital Marketing Institute, 2021). For instance, any product or service would be heavily
influenced by what is trending or what a certain influencer is wearing. According to the buyer,
the influencer resembles them and whatever brand they wear suits them best. In addition,
consumer trends have changed, and almost half of the buyers depend on recommendations from
the influencers. A significant percentage of customers have bought products or used services
after seeing them on social media. Consumer behaviour has changed and is becoming heavily
influenced by social media and will continue to grow with the rise in the usage of the internet.

Conclusion
Consumer behaviour relies on the trending topics at a particular time, which has seen the
growth of people making their purchases online after seeing their favourite influencer using the
product. Customer decision-making has been put on an influencer rather than on research and
finances. It is becoming an excellent way for people to make money and reach their clients
without approaching their traditional marketing partners.
References

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Digital Marketing Institute. (2021, October 19). 20 Surprising Influencer Marketing
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Govindan, P., & Alotaibi, I. (2021, January). Impact of Influencers on Consumer Behaviour: an
empirical study. In 2021 2nd International Conference on Computation, Automation and
Knowledge Management (ICCAKM) (pp. 232-237). IEEE.
Haenlein, M., Anadol, E., Farnsworth, T., Hugo, H., Hunichen, J., & Welte, D. (2020).
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