#Ad: How influencer marketing appeals to a new

generation of audiences
Laura Kim
Intern/Mentor
Ms. Dungey
Jason Schriml
May 2022
Abstract (157 words)

People are bombarded with advertisements and promotions that are integrated into their
timelines. The average person is exposed to 4,000 to 10,000 digital advertisements a day
(Simpson, 2017). With the prevalence of digital marketing, companies utilize a social media
marketing tool known as influencers, individuals that promote sponsored products on their social
media channels. Research indicates that influencers are able to shift consumer behavior through
perceived authenticity and perceived credibility as it strongly resonates with the Net Generation.
In order to see if this also proves to be true at Long Reach High School, ultimately shifting
buying behavior, a survey was conducted. The research found that people definitely consider
buying something after seeing an influencer promotion, and although it may not always lead to
purchase, it significantly raises the probability of purchase. Companies should continue to
integrate more and more influences into their marketing strategies to boost exposure and foster
positive reception from respective audiences.
Literature Review

Everyday, millions of people take out their phones and click on Instagram, Tik Tok, and Youtube
to name a few. This increasing use of social media is not projected to stop since so many people
have access to the technology, with 4.48 billion users worldwide as of July 2021- more than
double from 2015 (Dean, 2021). With the shift to a technological age, an era of rapid
technological innovation and application, the general population has overwhelming use of the
internet. Furthermore, the 21st century, referred to as the digital age, has made former methods
of communication obsolete as people prioritize speed and reliability. Businesses and marketers
alike need to find new ways to reach a new younger and more tech-savvy audience. If companies
fail to adapt to this new environment, they are quickly left in the past. This has forced the
businesses to change the way they communicate. A new digital marketing tool in the form of
influencers, which involves an individual with an online presence advertising products and
services to their audience. Influencers are able to shift consumer behavior through perceived
authenticity and perceived credibility as it strongly resonates with the Net Generation.
​
First, the perceived authenticity and relationship of influencers promotes consumer consumption.
More specifically, the self-congruity theory leads consumers to mirror others. Self congruency is
the match between consumers' self- concept and brand personality (Arnold et al., 2019). As
influencers are viewed as role models who reflect brand personality, their audience is willing to
change behaviors, emotions, and values to match influencers, following this theory. Through
research on social learning, it was found that the role model’s relevance was a key factor in a
person's desire to imitate. Relevance, alongside congruence to the person’s beliefs, affects
consumption and brand affection. In other words, congruence makes a consumer feel associated
and consumers want to buy products endorsed by their role models (Xiao et al., 2021). When a
consumer follows an influencer they resonate with, the products the influencer endorses is seen
as a projection of their beliefs. To the consumer, the influencer is someone who is to be looked
up to, so if an influencer likes a product, the person who looks up to the influencer should too.
By utilizing self-congruence theory, brands are able to manipulate the way audiences want to
match the person they look up to. Furthermore, the reflection of self perception makes audiences
follow and listen to influencers who audiences see themselves in and share common values.
Research on social learning found that the factors that affect consumption, such as wishful
identification and self congruence, are reliant on common beliefs (Xiao et al., 2021). When a
consumer feels a connection to the influencers' expressed characteristics and values, the research
found that it boosted their self esteem and perceived congruence, and increasingly so with
association to cultural values, therefore creating a role-model relationship (Xiao et al., 2021).
Because of the willingness to match the influencer, the audience is easily targeted and receptive
to advertisements.

Additionally, relationships between consumer and influencer are created through relatability.
From the research done to review the impact of social media advertisements in the beauty
industry, it was found that brands need to maintain relatability in influencers to maintain a
Millennial audience (Sundaram et al., 2020). Without relatability, the consumer does not see
themselves in the influencer, therefore not seeing themselves needing to buy the product. An
extensive model of advertising that explored the influence of several factors, one being
relatability, found interrelation on social media advertising value (Arora & Agarwal, 2019) .
Value in ad refers to its efficiency in directing a consumer to its product. Since relatability is a
value that consumers hold, it is important the influencer represents this, and if they do, it is a
solid starting point of the relationship.

Furthermore, the perceived relationship between the influencer and consumer creates a sense of
connection and fulfillment, which draws audiences. One reasoning behind this relationship is
wishful identification, which creates the desire to mimic. From research done on
consumer-related motives leading to self-influencer congruence, it was found that one intrinsic
motivation was the desire to be like the person they are fascinated with. So the person in the
audience will use psychological matching to reflect the influencer. It’s hypothesis that wishful
identification is a reason for self congruence was also proved (Xiao et al., 2021). The positive
relationships reveal positive attitudes towards and even support for products. Through this
intrinsic motivation, influencers create online companionship. From the research done on the
intentions for following influencers, it was found that since influencers are able to comment,
react, and interact with their audience, relationships between the two are able to be formed
(Croes & Bartels, 2021). Interactivity creates a personalized digital environment for the
consumer, creating a sense of realness and intimacy. These elements naturally draw people, and
with this emotional connection, consumers are more likely to be receptive to marketing because
they may not even realize it to be deceptive.

Next, Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) is perceived as credible, especially when an influencer
is knowledgeable in their field. eWOM is consumer-generated communication directed to other
consumers through digital tools. eWOM is directly related to communal trust and with limited
expertise, consumers turn to the internet and social media for information. The analysis done on
the impact of eWOM usefulness, network connectedness, and innovative products found that
consumers are willing to familiarize themselves with new products, but lacking expertise, they
will turn to the internet. In turn, they will be prone to agree with online social decisions (Han,
2020). When a consumer is prone to agree with online social decisions it creates an opportunity
for an influencer to come in and offer input on something they are knowledgeable on. It is
important to note that influencers that promote products in their specific field of expertise are
viewed in a positive light while influencers who promote products that are not in their expertise
are seen as ingenuine and sold off to a company. Moreover, an influencer is trusted since they are
perceived as authentic and knowledgeable about the product. When purchasing an item out of
one’s expertise, the person turns to someone knowledgeable to direct them to the best decision.
In the case of influencers, they act as the expert. The source credibility model from research done
in a study on behavioral responses to influencers found that knowledge on a topic or product is
translated as trustworthiness. Trustworthiness makes the consumer more likely to listen to
recommendations and reviews, positively influencing their public perception and directing
consumers to buy a certain product (Belanche et al., 2021). The influencer’s act of expertise,
whether professional or not, directs the consumer to buy what they are advertising.

Continuing the importance of credibility, consumers rely on reviews for transparency and
information. This reliance in reviews on social media attracts high traffic as consumers are
actively seeking out information. This journal found that electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is
so important because consumers rely on each other and online leaders for reliability, thus
creating product reputation, not individually, but through an entire community, which is opposite
of the pre-connectivity era (Han, 2020). With so much access to reviews and information on the
product the consumer is looking for, they need to decide what is credible. With the trust they put
in online leaders (infeluncers), they decide that their words are reliable, and therefore helpful.
Likewise, the personalization of the social media experience encourages positive relationships
within the online community, which fosters positive eWOM. It was found that brands go beyond
basic promotions with tools such as personalization or private messages and image-enhancing
content to reinforce consumer’s brand relationship, which is the best way to maximize profits
and future intentions to continue shopping with the brand (Simon, 2017). The way a consumer
interacts with a brand is crucial in its success. As influencers act as a form of personalized
media, they deliver the messages that the company expects of them.

In addition, an influencer’s attributes such as lifestyle and personality appeal specifically to the
Net Generation. The Net Gen refers to the generation of people who grew up with the internet
(generally people born from 1990 to 2010). For instance, following and interacting with
influencers acts as entertainment, which the Net Gen seeks out. Influencers alleviate boredom
and act as a habitual pastime, which draws in the Net Gen. The results of the study in Brown
(2019) found that millennials have the shortest attention span compared to other generations. To
effectively target this tech-savvy generation, marketing needs to match their fast-paced lives, and
influencer promotion fits the guidelines. Research done investigating why people are motivated
to follow social media influencers found six reasons: information sharing, information seeking,
trend-following, relaxing entertainment, companionship, and boredom/habitual pass time and the
effects on buying behavior, and finds that it positively affects consumers. Furthermore, it was
found that the motivation to follow influencers relies most on boredom and entertainment value
(Croes & Bartels, 2021). Also, influencers hold a unique power to create authentic and beautiful
content, which is an important ability in the entertainment industry (Goldfrach, 2022). The
creative and engaging content influencers create appeals to short attention spans of Net Gen
consumers who seek out short videos and visually appealing content. By fulfilling this need,
influencers have found a unique way to link entertainment to advertisements, advertisements
traditionally seen as corporate and stale. Expanding on entertainment, social media serves as an
escape to daily life, which draws in the Net Gen. A study on social media motivations states that
media gratifications include information, entertainment, social interaction, personal identity,
escape from daily life, and cool and new trends factors. It is stated that escape from daily life is a
common reason for social media use, and the social media influencer acts as an instructor of
escape (Croes & Bartels, 2021). By linking the two, escapism and social media, it essentially
connects the Net Gen to influencers, who can use that space to push advertisements.

Lastly, human desire for social situations and engagement are met by influencers, especially
because of the accessibility of social media. Influencers are able to connect consumers to
companies, creating relationships between the two. Research that reviews brand engagement
finds that brand relationships highly affect media gratification and brand commitment. Brand
relationship with a consumer is similar to a human relationship as it relies on not only the
benefits that it poses to a given person, but how they can also reciprocate their appreciation
(Simon, 2017). As earlier mentioned, influencers carry the ability to create relationships with
their audience. So, they will be able to manipulate these relationships into brand engagement by
leading consumers to the product through reviews and sponsored content. Since a brand
relationship is formed, with the influencer as the middleman, a gateway to brand commitment
and purchase is opened. Furthermore, the prevalent use of social media brings attention to
influencers, and, ultimately, the brand(s) they are promoting. For instance, the average person is
exposed to 4,000 to 10,000 digital advertisements a day (Simpson, 2017). In general, digital
advertisements are everywhere, and amongst these, is influencer-started viral marketing. This
popular form of viral marketing, which is created through creating buzz, network marketing, and
leveraging media draws major attention. Influencers play a major part of viral marketing and
hold a lot of power over brand perception and visibility (Sundaram et al., 2020). Brand
perception is important in the success of e-commerce, as it is dependent on the reputation of a
company, as well as the creative strategy adopted and consumer’s involvement.

Data Collection and Methods

In order to see if influencers are able to shift consumer behavior (specifically of the Net
Generation) through perceived authenticity and perceived credibility, a survey was conducted
among high school students of Long Reach High School. An anonymous online survey was
passed out to students in all grades during March 15-25th and elicited 125 responses in total. Its
anonymity encouraged students to answer honestly and reflect on their preferences. However,
only 94 responses were viable, as the rest did not follow influencers, so their responses were not
considered. This survey contained questions regarding their social media use, incluencer
following, and consumerism behaviors as they relate to influencer advertisements.

Results and Analysis

Figure 1

62.5% 2-4 spend hours, 18.8% spend 5-7 hours, and 5.2% spend 8 or more hours. The graph
establishes that students spend prominent time on social media on a daily basis. This shows that
the Net Gen is at a position to be exposed to ads as they are online.

Figure 2
Students follow influencers most for their personality (75%), lifestyle (61.5%), and talents
(56.3%). Numbers added to over 100% because respondents could check all that apply. The
appeal of the influencer to a specific niche is what draws audiences, which creates a “bond”
between the two.

Figure 3

The results show that social media advertisements are very prevalent, as only 5.2% of
respondents rarely see advertisements. This means that many companies have already been
utilizing social media advertisements.

Figure 4
Going off of the previous question that asked what kind of products the influencers they follow
promotes, 3/5 people say that the products endorsed by influencers align with their interests. This
shows that the influencers ads can be well targeted and serves as one step in understanding if
relevant advertisements will encourage purchase.

Figure 5

1(never) 5(definitely)

Results show that seeing an advertisement endorsed by an influencer does encourage purchase
with 43.8% of responses falling under a 3 or 4 on the scale, but is not enough to definitively
persuade someone (only 2.1%).

Figure 6
 1(never) 5(definitely)

Although trust in an influencer varies, most people are in the middle (44.8%) of never and
definitely trusting an influencer on a scale of 1(never)- 5(definitely). Trusting an influencer
creates reliability and credibility to the younger audience.

Figure 7

Nearly 4/5 people consider buying something after seeing an influencer advertisement. This
shows that the ads do have an effect on consumers and have the ability to sway minds.

Figure 8
Suprisilny, only 37.5 people have bought something after seeing an advertisement, while 62.5%
do not purchase. Although a person may buy from the ad alone, it does not fully convince the
strong majority.

Discussion/Conclusion
How do your findings contribute to the greater research audience for this topic?
● What implications do your findings have?
● What are the limitations?
● Where might this go from here?

In conclusion, although a person does not definitely buy something after seeing an influencer
advertisement, most people consider purchasing after seeing the advertisement. On the contrary,
it can also be seen that the influencer advetisemtn does raise purchase intention, just not to as
much as expected. The data shows a trend, connecting how products that aligns with a consumer
interests creates a positive response to the advertisement. The survey responses show the effects
of influencer advising, starting from how the consumer relates to the influencer and if the
consumer sees the influencer as an online leader. These questions aim to understand why an
influencer has influence over their audience, and if they do in the first place.

This research sheds positive light on the influence of influencers, and this is important because it
establishes the value that this digital marketing tool may pose to businesses. It impacts how
businesses may establish relationships with consumers online, which is crucial for exposure and
rapid growth. Understanding influencers, a new type of digital marketing tool, will help the
markers and researchers implement successful and innovative digital marketing strategies.. From
here, researchers can continue to develop these strategies and begin to research the deeper
implications of influencers, such as the psychology behind them.
Appendix A
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