International Journal of Advertising

The Review of Marketing Communications

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The urgent need for more research on influencer

marketing

Charles R. Taylor

To cite this article: Charles R. Taylor (2020) The urgent need for more research
on influencer marketing, International Journal of Advertising, 39:7, 889-891, DOI:
10.1080/02650487.2020.1822104

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2020.1822104

Published online: 09 Nov 2020.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING
2020, VOL. 39, NO. 7, 889–891
https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2020.1822104

EDITORIAL

The urgent need for more research on

influencer marketing
Charles R. Taylor
Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA

Journal editors are often asked at ‘Meet the Editor’ sessions at conferences to identify what
current hot topics in the field are. It is true that as editors, we have some inside informa-
tion on what is being submitted to our journal, so we are well equipped to provide a
decent answer. However, in a field like advertising it is very important to follow the popu-
lar press, especially advertising trade publications and various business periodicals in order
to know what industry trends are creating a need for additional research that can help
inform real world managers in addition to advancing theory. While it is not very frequent,
every once in a while, a convergence of trends makes an area especially ripe because of
new developments in industry coupled with the ability to build on an ongoing stream of
research. The current situation with influencer marketing is one of these rare cases where
academic interest and industry needs/developments are making the need for additional
research urgent.
While already a hot topic of sorts to academic research, the COVID-19 pandemic
coupled with trends in youth media consumption habits have created even greater influ-
ence in influencer marketing. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were seeing consider-
able debate as to the degree of effectiveness of influencers in an advertising/promotion
context. A major study by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) conducted in 2018
for example, found that while 75% of consumers engaged in influencer marketing, only
36% were convinced it was effective. Moreover, a study by market research firm Stackla
found that consumers believed that family and friends has much greater impact on their
purchase decisions than celebrities and social media influencers.
Still, it is clear that influencer marketing is far from dead and, in fact, appears to be
going through a renaissance during COVID-19, and one that may hold longer-term at that.
A study by Stackla found that by a wide margin, consumers felt family and friends have
more impact on their consumer behaviour than celebrities and influences. A 2018 study by
the Association of National Advertisers found that while 75% of companies engaged in
influencer marketing and more were planning on using it going forward, only 36% of users
convinced that it was effective for them (ANA 2018). Part of the reason for marketers
reporting issues with influencer marketing pertain to three common problems companies
have faced when using this tactic: (1) the presence of ‘fake followers’ making audience
verification and measurement difficult; (2) single influencers diluting impact by sponsoring
too many brands; and (3) regulatory issues relating to disclosure requirements as a result
of the cover nature of some of the ads/endorsements (Tobin 2019). It appears that some
progress has been made on the three issues cited above, as evidenced by renewed invest-
ment and enthusiasm for influencer marketing campaigns. Nonetheless, academic research

CONTACT Charles R. Taylor charles.r.taylor@villanova.edu

ß 2020 Advertising Association
890 EDITORIAL

on measurement accuracy, effectiveness of various measures, impact of influencers taking

on multiple sponsors, and impact on disclosures can clearly be helpful and the time is ripe
for a focus on these issues. Addressing these issues will be an important driver of the
growth of influencer marketing post-pandemic.
It is clear that 2020 is seeing a resurgence of enthusiasm for influencer marketing
among practitioners (Taylor 2020). Youth marketing experts YPulse recently published a
report documenting that among youth consumers, influencers are, ‘as influential as ever’
(YPulse 2020). The report shows that 13–18 year olds are more likely to follow a celebrity
online (bloggers, vloggers, Instagram, Youtube and other social media) than a year before
by a 70% to 54% margin. Moreover, 58% of Gen Z and 48% of millennials report having
bought something as a result of a celebrity recommendation. The report also observes that
young consumers have shown interest in how celebrities and other influencers are dealing
with COVID-19 and quarantines.
Indeed, COVID-19 has seen people spending more time at home, leading to more inter-
net time and less social interaction for many. A survey of 1000 influencers by influencer
marketing experts Amra and Elma Beganovich of A þ E (not to be confused with the televi-
sion network) found that the influencers were observing three trends favourable to the
growth of influencer marketing during COVID-19. The first of these trends is increased
engagement during the COVID-19 with only a modest increase in price. A big part of the
reason for this trend is that many influencers did not see their lives disrupted by COVID-
19, as they typically prepare and record their online content at home and are in a position
to quickly adjust to consumer interests such as cooking, healthy eating, self-help, or hob-
bies. As a result, there have been substantial increased in likes and comments for
top users.
A second key trend cited by A þ E is a general increase in social media traffic, a devel-
opment that clearly bodes well for influencer. Kantar reports that Instagram and Facebook
has recently risen by 40% for those under 35 and viewing of content on topics such as
meditation, cooking, an fitness is way up as well, in large part because of consumers look-
ing to fill time in an interesting way and doing so on social media channels that inter-
est them.
A final trend cited by A þ E is how influencers are increasingly offering high value do
their ability to deliver very targeted messages. In this way, influencer marketing becomes
efficient on a cost per thousand exposures (CPM) basis. Especially with micro-influencers,
many of their audiences have followers with similar interests. Higher engagement contrib-
utes to the possibility of a well-crafted message to resonate with substantial numbers of a
target audience in a meaningful way.
In light of these recent positive trends toward influencer marketing, this journal has
issued a call for papers to be edited by Liselot Hudders and Chen Lou with a submission
deadline of November 30, 2020 (see call here: https://www.ugent.be/ps/communicatiewe-
tenschappen/cepec/en/news-events/news/influencermarketingspecialissue.htm). No doubt,
several papers have already produced substantial insight into this area of research, includ-
ing De Veirman, Cauberghe and Hudders (2017) paper that found an advantage for influ-
encers with large followings in perceptions of likeability and popularity, and thereby
creating opportunities for affect transfer in promoting brands Chen and Yuan’s (2019)
recent study also provided new insights on how ‘trusted’ influencers have followers who
view their posts to be genuine and hence, associated with high credibility.
As indicated in the call for papers, in addition to those mentions above, some key areas
ripe for research include influencer characteristics, general factors associated with effective-
ness, ethical issues including disclosure use, and segmentation in the use of influencers
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 891

(for examples of some key articles see De Vierman and Hudders 2020; Evans, Hoy and
Childers 2018; Stubb and Colliander 2019; Schouten, Janssen, and Verspaget 2020). It
would also seem timely for researchers to delve deeper into characteristics of different
forms of social media as well as the issue of micro vs. macro influencers. Studies focusing
on whether COVID-19 trends are likely to have longer-term impacts on influencer market-
ing are also of interest.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

References
Association of National Advertisers. 2018. Advertisers love influencer marketing: ANA study. https://www.ana.
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