The Effects of Instagram Advertising on Brand Awareness, Ad
Intrusiveness, Brand Attitude and Purchase Intentions
Lidwine de Jong (11586540) Master’s Thesis
Graduate School of Communication Master’s Programme Communications Science
Supervisor: Susanne Baumgartner Date: 2 February 2018
Abstract
Instagram is becoming an increasingly popular social media platform and it is continuously creating new means to advertise. To date little is known about the effects that these different advertising methods have on consumers. This study sought to investigate how story
advertisements, picture advertisements and influencer marketing on Instagram differ in the effect they have on brand awareness, perceived ad intrusiveness, brand attitude and purchase intentions. The effect of persuasion knowledge on influencer marketing was also investigated. These effects were assessed using an online experiment with a randomized between-subjects design with four experimental conditions. A total of 100 participants (N=100) were taken into analysis that were recruited through Whatsapp and Facebook. Results showed a significant effect between the experimental conditions and brand awareness; however, after doing a post-hoc test this effect showed a significance of p= .07. No significant effects were found
between the advertising conditions and the other three dependent variables. Also, no significant correlations were found for persuasion knowledge in the influencer marketing condition.
Keywords: advertising, Instagram, brand awareness, ad intrusiveness, brand attitude, purchase intentions, persuasion knowledge
Introduction
Instagram is an increasingly popular social media platform that is dedicated to sharing pictures and videos either privately or publically. It was launched in 2010 and now has over 800 million users worldwide. Of these 800 million worldwide accounts, over 500 million users are believed to be active on Instagram every day (Instagram Business: Marketing on Instagram | Instagram for Business, n.d.). In the Netherlands Instagram has also become increasingly popular with over 3.2 million users in 2017, a 50% increase compared to the year before. It has become one of the five most popular social media platforms and its popularity continues to grow (van der Veer, 2017)
This rise in popularity makes it an extremely interesting and relevant social media platform to study. Especially when it comes to advertising, as Instagram keeps creating new means in which it can sell ad inventory. It started in November 2013 with the introduction of sponsored post advertising in the United States. These were picture ads that popped up in between user’s news feed. In September 2015 these ads went global and were available for all advertisers. New features have continuously been added, creating even more room for
advertising. For example, the Instagram story advertisements that were only just introduced in January 2017. Today businesses can buy four different types of advertising inventory on Instragram: photo ads, video ads, multiple photos/videos in one post ads (“carousel ads”) and stories ads (Instagram Business: Marketing on Instagram | Instagram for Business, n.d.). Another very important and less explicit way of advertising on Instagram is through influencer marketing. This type of marketing entails that brands pay influencers (e.g. celebrities, bloggers) to market their product on Instagram. This can, for example, be in the form of the influencer posting a picture on Instagram using a certain product or service. However, this form of advertising is often criticized as individuals tend not to recognize the persuasive nature of this type of advertising (Evans, Phua, Lim & Jun, 2017).
It is important to look at how these different types of advertising affect individuals, as how an advertisement is experienced is an important determinant of its success (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017). This success if often measured by consumers’ brand attitude and purchase intentions. However, advertisements are also generally experienced as annoying and intrusive (Verlegh, Fransen & Kirmani, 2015). The problem here is that if persuasion attempts are experienced as too intrusive they may also backfire (Burgoon, Alvara, Grandpre & Voulodakis, 2002). Studies have shown that the more individuals feel like they are being persuaded, the more likely they will be resistant to this persuasive attempt (Burgoon et al., 2002; Verlegh et al., 2015; Voorveld & van Noort, 2014). Thus, it is important to distinguish between different types of advertising, as the effect they can have on consumers may differ.
In this study I will look at how individuals respond to different types of
advertisements on Instagram and see whether these advertising strategies have different effects when it comes to brand awareness, ad intrusiveness, brand attitudes and purchase intentions. I will focus on three types of advertisements on Instagram: influencer
advertisements, picture advertisements and story advertisements. This leads to the following research question:
RQ: How do story advertisements, picture advertisements and influencer marketing on Instagram differ in the effect they have on brand awareness, perceived ad intrusiveness, brand attitude and purchase intentions?
These types of advertisements were chosen, as these advertising techniques seem to be the most distinct from each other on Instagram. Story advertisements focusing on video content, pictures advertisements on one single image and influencer marketing focusing on a less explicit type of advertising on Instagram. To date little research has been done comparing the effects these advertising methods have on consumers.
Theoretical background
When looking at the effects of the different advertising methods used on Instagram, and more specifically the success of these advertisements, different outcome variables can be taken into account. In this study I will focus on brand awareness, ad intrusiveness, brand attitude and purchase intentions. These variables were chosen, as previous studies have proven these to be valid measures in determining the effectiveness of advertisements (Dehghani, Niaki,
Ramezani & Sali, 2016; Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017; Hutter, Hautz, Dennhardt & Füller, 2013; Tutaj & Reijmersdal, 2012). The following section will focus on existing literature and theories relevant in determining how story advertisements, picture advertisements and
influencer marketing may differ in the effects they have on these variables. The final section will focus on the effect persuasion knowledge may have on influencer marketing.
Instagram Advertisement Effects on Brand Awareness
One important dependent variable taken into account in this study is brand awareness. Hutter et al. (2013) define brand awareness as a consumer’s ability to identify a brand and the strength of the brand’s presence in a consumer’s mind. This awareness can be produced through any experience with a brand. In this case I will focus on brand awareness produced through advertising. Creating brand awareness through advertising has become increasingly difficult now that advertising content is often blended into the format and design of a social media platform, making it harder for consumers to recognize the content as advertising (Evans et al., 2017). This type of advertising is called “native advertising” or “invisible advertising” and has become increasingly popular in our online media environment (Hyman, Franklyn, Yee & Rahmati, 2017). Brand awareness is an important variable to consider; as individuals generally tend to have more confidence and trust in a brand they have heard of than an unknown brand. Furthermore, it tends to be important for consumers to think about a
brand, and thus be aware of a brand, in order to consider purchasing it. Brand awareness can therefore be seen as a first step towards developing brand attitudes and purchase intentions (Hutter et al., 2013; Lu, Chang, W.P. & Chang, H. H., 2014).
The three types of Instagram advertisements (story advertisements, picture advertisements and influencer marketing) will possibly have different effects on brand awareness. A theory that can explain which of the three advertisement conditions on Instagram will lead to the most brand awareness is the motion effects theory (Sundar & Kalyanaraman, 2004). The motion effects theory states that individuals tend to have an innate preference for moving objects over static objects. This is because motion grabs our attention and induces arousal. This effect has also been seen within advertising, with studies showing that animated advertisements induce higher levels of arousal and higher memory of the advertising content (Diao & Sundar, 2004; Sundar & Kalyanaraman, 2004). This was also the case in Day, Shyi & Wang (2006) study on flash banners, which investigated whether flash banners were either distractors or that these types of banners induced arousal. The results showed that flash banners indeed led to arousal and also increased processing of the advertising content (Day et al., 2006).
According to these studies, the more motion and animation used in an advertisement the higher the brand awareness (Day et al., 2006; Sundar & Kalyanaraman, 2004). Thus, when it comes to advertising on Instagram, the video content of story advertisements is likely to induce more arousal, as this content involves more motion compared to influencer
marketing and photo advertisements which are static images. Therefore, the following hypothesis was developed:
H1: Story advertisements will lead to higher brand awareness compared to photo advertisements and influencer marketing.
Instagram Advertisement Effects on Ad Intrusiveness
Another important dependent variable to consider is ad intrusiveness. As mentioned above, advertising in general is often seen as annoying and intrusive. However, it is important to consider the extent to which an ad is perceived as intrusive, as advertisements that are experienced as too intrusive may have negative consequences (Tutaj & Reijmersdal, 2012). Advertisements are often perceived as intrusive when they interrupt a consumer during a particular activity. Thus, although advertisers often strive to catch consumers attention, this could potentially have harmful effects for their brand (Li, Edwards & Lee, 2002).
Why advertisements are often perceived as intrusive can be explained using the reactance theory. Reactance theory is a theory used to explain how individuals react when they feel like their freedom is being threatened, whilst engaging in a specific behavior. It is a reaction against what they feel like is an invasion of their autonomy (Evans et al., 2017). Reactance is thus a typical response to advertising, especially those advertisements that interfere with a consumer’s activity. How is a consumer likely to respond in such a situation? They can ignore the advertisement completely, they can form negative attitudes towards the brand, or their behavior may boomerang. The boomerang effect refers to a reaction in which individuals do the exact opposite of what was intended. So, in the case of advertising they might choose a product from a rival company instead of from the brand displayed in the advertisement (Burgoon, Alvaro, Grandpre & Voulodakis, 2002).
Taking the three different advertising conditions on Instagram into consideration, it seems most likely that story advertisements will be perceived as the most intrusive. This is because this type of advertisement pops-up full-screen, unlike the other two conditions in which you can just scroll past the advertisement. Story advertisements can therefore be seen as more invading when it comes to an individual’s freedom on Instagram. The advertisements
interrupt Instagram users whilst they are watching stories of other Instagram users. Therefore, the following hypothesis was developed:
H2: Story advertisements will be perceived as more intrusive compared to photo advertisements and influencer marketing.
Instagram Advertisement Effects on Brand Attitude & Purchase Intentions
Brand attitude and purchase intentions are the final two dependent variables taken into account in this study. Brand attitude can simply be defined as a consumer’s general attitude towards a specific brand and purchase intentions are the likelihood a consumer would consider purchasing a certain product (Lafferty, Goldsmith & Newell, 2002). These two variables are key variables in determining the success of advertising and are very much interrelated. Previous research on advertising has shown that brand attitude is a key predictor of an individual’s purchase intentions (Dehghani et al., 2016; Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017). This is quite logical as people tend to purchase products from a brand they have positive associations with. Taking the three advertisement conditions on Instagram into account, I believe that influencer marketing will lead to higher brand attitudes and purchase intentions than the other two advertising conditions. This effect can be explained through existing literature on celebrity endorsements and product placements.
Celebrity endorsement, also known as celebrity branding, is a theory used to explain how celebrities are used to promote a product or brand. It is a marketing strategy in which brands try to sell their products using the fame and mass communication skills of well-known individuals. Celebrity endorsements can be seen as a type of aspirational advertising
(Marshall, Na & Deuskar, 2008). This is because celebrities are often seen as role models. Different qualities like for example attractiveness and expertise are attributed to them and thus they are seen as ideal role models to use for advertising. Influencer marketing on
Instagram can also be seen as a type of celebrity endorsement; however, today an influencer no longer needs to be an actual celebrity but can be what is called “Insta-famous”. Evans et al. (2017) define “Insta-famous” as “a self-made micro-celebrity known for his or her work on Instagram only”. This type of advertising has become increasingly popular with the
simultaneous growth of Instagram users and followers of these micro-celebrities (Evans et al., 2017). The more followers these Instagram influencers have, the more they are perceived as trustworthy. Thus, the credibility of an influencer (e.g. number of followers) can also play a key role in determining the credibility of a brand (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017).
Influencer marketing can also be seen as a type of product placement. Product placement is a marketing strategy which involves ‘placing’ a product or brand into
entertainment content. It is also called branded entertainment as entertainment means, in this case Instagram, are used for advertising. Thus, for example when an influencer posts a picture displaying a certain brand. This can be seen as a product placement, as the advertised product is integrated into the editorial content of an influencer. Product placements are believed to effect brand awareness, brand attitudes and the intentions and behaviors of consumers (Gillespie & Joireman, 2016; Van Reijmersdal, Neijens & Smit, 2009). One of the alleged greatest success stories when it comes to brand placements was the placement of the
Hershey’s candy ‘Reeses Pieces’ in the movie E.T.. After the release of the movie the sales of the candy were said to have increased by 65% (Hudson, S. & Hudson, D., 2006).
The persuasive nature of celebrity endorsements and product placements are believed to be due to the fact that the advertising content is hidden within the editorial content.
Although, this has proven to work, it does raise ethical concerns, as individuals may not notice the persuasive intent of the content (Hudson, S. & Hudson, D., 2006). Taking both celebrity endorsements and product placements into consideration, the following hypothesis was developed:
H3: Influencer marketing will lead to higher brand attitudes and purchase intentions compared to the story advertisements and photo advertisements.
The Effect of Persuasion Knowledge on Influencer Marketing
When it comes to influencer marketing, a great deal of its effectiveness can be
explained by the fact that consumers do not see it as advertising. Unlike story advertisements and photo advertisements on Instagram, they often do not contain any form of disclosure saying that it is sponsored content. Those who are not aware of the paid relationships between the brand and the influencer therefore perceive an influencer’s post as the influencers own unique opinion (Evans et al., 2017). As mentioned above, this is what we call “native advertising” or “invisible advertising”. This is advertising content that is blended into the format and design of a social media platform, in this case on Instagram (Hyman et al., 2017). However, once consumers do recognize the content as advertising, influencer marketing could have negative consequences (Evans et al., 2017; Gillespie & Joireman, 2016; Van
Reijmersdal et al., 2009).
Whether or not consumers recognize the content as advertising can be explained by their individual persuasion knowledge. Friestad and Wright introduced the persuasion
knowledge model in 1994. This model is used to explain how individuals react and cope with persuasion attempts from marketers. According to Friestad and Wright individuals have three types of knowledge: agent knowledge, persuasion knowledge and topic knowledge. Agent knowledge is the knowledge an individual has about the sender or the persuasive message, persuasion knowledge is the knowledge she/he has for the techniques used to persuade in the persuasion attempt and topic knowledge is the knowledge he/she has for the product that is being sold. Together this knowledge determines how individuals respond to a certain
see an advertisement as a persuasion attempt and the more likely they will react negatively towards it (Friestad & Wriight, 1994).
Persuasion knowledge is especially relevant when it comes to influencer marketing, as the strength of this marketing tactic lies in the fact that individuals are often not aware that this is a type of advertising (Evans et al., 2017; Tutai & Reijmerdal, 2012). However, those with high persuasion knowledge are more likely to identify the persuasive nature of influencer marketing. Persuasion knowledge can thus be seen as an important moderating variable, with those scoring high on persuasion knowledge having more negative feelings towards the influencer advertisement. Therefore, the following hypothesis was developed:
H4: In the case of influencer marketing, the higher the individual scores on persuasion knowledge the higher the brand awareness, the higher the ad intrusiveness and the lower the brand attitudes and purchase intentions will be.
Methods Research units
A total of 171 participants were recruited by distributing the survey on Facebook and Whatsapp. Of these 171 participants, only 100 (N=100) were taken into analysis, as those with missing data, those that did not see the advertised brand in the experimental conditions and those who did not know the brand in the control condition were excluded. This final sample consisted of 90% females, which spend an average of 10-30 minutes on Instagram a day(M=4.40), and the average age being 27, ranging from 18 to 59.
Research design
The design is a randomized between-subjects design with four experimental
condition. After receiving a short description of the study, participants were directed to Qualtrics where they were asked for their informed consent. The participants were then randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions in which they were asked to view their respective stimuli and then answer questions according to this experimental condition. The first three conditions (story advertisement, picture advertisement and influencer marketing) all contained a form of advertising for the brand Cluse watches. This brand was chosen as this product seems to appeal to all ages, is unisex, is still relatively new and not too well known and therefore individuals may not already have fixed attitudes about the brand.
In the story advertisement condition the participants were asked to watch a YouTube video of an Instagram story. The video started with two stories by the Dutch model Roos Marijn de Kok, this was then interrupted by a sponsored video advertisement from Cluse watches, and then continued with a story from 9gag. In the picture advertisement condition participants were asked to look at an Instagram news feed containing pictures from the following Instagram accounts: Linda (Dutch magazine), Bestvines, a sponsored picture from Cluse watches, Earthpix and Roosmarijn de Kok. In the influencer marketing condition participants were also asked to look at an Instagram news feed. Only now instead of the sponsored picture from Cluse watches, a picture of the Dutch influencer Claartje Rose was added who was promoting Cluse watches. These pictures were chosen because except for the sponsored picture ad and the influencer marketing ad, the other pictures were neutral and did not contain any form of advertising. The control condition contained no form of Instagram advertising. The respondents were merely asked if they knew the brand Cluse watches and what their overall impression of the brand was. After that individual’s psychological reactance(trait) was measured.
Participants in the three conditions that did contain a form of Instagram advertising (story advertisement, picture advertisements and influencer marketing) were asked a series of questions regarding: brand awareness, persuasion knowledge, ad intrusiveness, brand attitude, purchase intentions and psychological reactance. However, the prerequisite was that the participants were actually aware of the advertised brand (brand awareness) before progressing onto the next questions.
Measures
Brand Awareness. Brand awareness was measured with one simple yes or no question. This question was whether or not the participants remembered the name of the brand that was shown in the advertisement (Cluse watches). This variable was then recoded, so that a high score actually meant high brand awareness (M=1.39, SD= 0.49).
Ad Intrusiveness. To measure ad intrusiveness (Li et al., 2002) participants were asked: “When the ad was shown, I thought it was…”: distracting, disturbing, forced,
interfering, intrusive, invasive, obtrusive. The items used a 7-point Likert scale (1= strongly disagree, 7= strongly agree). A factor analysis was done to determine the factor structure. The 7 items all had a factor loading above 0.7 and the 7 items explained 70% of the total variance. (M=3.94, SD=1.26, α= .92).
Brand Attitude. Participants were asked: “What was your overall impression of the advertised brand (Cluse watches)?” This question was answered using three 7 point bi-polar scales: good/bad, favorable/unfavorable, satisfactory/unsatisfactory (Lafferty et al., 2002). This variable was then recoded to that high scores actually meant that individuals had a high brand attitude (M=4.60, SD=1.35, α= .956).
Purchase Intentions. Participants were asked: “Would you consider buying a Cluse watch the next time you purchase a watch?” This question was answered using three 7-point
bi polar scales: very likely/very unlikely, probably/improbable, possible/impossible (Lafferty et al., 2002). This variable was then recoded so that high scores actually meant that
individuals had high purchase intentions (M=3.71, SD=1.81, α= .965).
Persuasion Knowledge. Persuasion knowledge (Tutaj & van Reijmersdal, 2012) was measured by asking how participants felt about the following statements concerning an individual’s understanding of the persuasive and selling intent of an ad: “The aim of this ad was to sell products/services”, “The aim of this ad is to stimulate the sales of
products/services”, “The aim of this ad is to influence you opinion”, “The aim of this ad is to make people like a certain product/service”, “The aim of this ad is to give information about a product/service” and finally “the aim of this ad is to let people know more about the
product/service”. The items were measured using a 7-point Likert scale (1= strongly disagree, 7 strongly agree)(M=4.79, SD=1.00, α= .738).
Psychological Reactance. Psychological reactance was measured but, in the end, not taken into analysis.
Results
Main Effects
To test whether or not story advertisements led to higher brand awareness compared to the photo advertisement and influencer marketing condition, a one-way ANOVA was conducted. The one-way ANOVA indicated that there was a significant effect between the experimental conditions and brand awareness (F(2, 79) = 3.30, p = .04, partial ²= .08). Post-hoc comparisons using the Bonferroni test indicated that only the pairwise comparison of photo advertisement and influencer advertisement were approaching significance (p= .07).
To test whether or not story advertisements were experienced as more intrusive than photo advertisements and influencer marketing, a way ANOVA was conducted. The
one-way ANOVA indicated that there was no significant effect between the experimental conditions and ad intrusiveness (F (2, 81) = 1.29, p = .28). Therefore, no post-hoc test was done and hypothesis 2 was rejected.
To test whether or not influencer marketing led to higher brand attitudes than story advertisements and photo advertisements, a one-way ANOVA was conducted. The one-way ANOVA indicated that there was no significant effect between the experimental conditions and brand attitude (F(2, 78) = 0.53, p = .59). Therefore, no post-hoc test was done.
To test whether or not influencer marketing led to higher purchase intentions than story advertisements and photo advertisements, a way ANOVA was conducted. The one-way ANOVA indicated that there was no significant effect between the experimental
conditions and purchase intentions (F(2, 78) = 0.54, p = .59). Therefore, no post-hoc test was done, and hypothesis 3 was rejected.
Table 2. Sample Descriptives Using a One-Way ANOVA Brand Awareness M SD Ad Intrusiveness M SD Brand Attitude M SD Purchase intentions M SD Story ad 1.31 0.47 4.25 1.27 4.23 1.14 3.62 1.76 Photo ad 1.57 0.50 3.79 1.35 4.38 1.49 3.73 2.06 Influencer 1.26 0.45 3.79 1.10 4.61 1.30 3.23 1.46 Control - - 5.69 1.04 4.53 1.75
Note. M = Mean. SD = Standard Deviation. Brand awareness ranges from 1(low) to 2(high). Ad intrusiveness, brand attitude and purchase intentions all range from 1(low) to 7(high).
MANOVA for all four Conditions
A MANOVA was used with the four experimental conditions (story advertisement, photo advertisement, influencer marketing and control condition) as independent variables,
and brand attitude and purchase intentions as dependent variables. The other dependent variables, brand awareness and ad intrusiveness, were not taken into account as these variables were not measured in the control condition. There was no statistically significant difference in brand attitude and purchase intentions for the four different experimental conditions ( F (6,184) = 3.20, p = . 005, Wilk’s = 0.82, partial ²= .10). Because the results were not statistically significant, no further follow up test were done.
The Effect of Persuasion Knowledge on Influencer Marketing
To assess the effect persuasion knowledge has in the relationship between influencer marketing and the dependent variables, a bivariate Pearson correlation was computed. First, the data was filtered so that only the influencer marketing condition was assessed. Then the correlations between persuasion knowledge, brand awareness, ad intrusiveness, brand attitude and purchase intentions were tested. There was no correlation between persuasion knowledge and brand awareness (r = 0.13, n = 24, p = .56). There was no correlation between persuasion knowledge and ad intrusiveness (r = -.05, n = 24, p = .84). There was no correlation between persuasion knowledge and brand attitude (r = 0.13, n = 23, p = .54). There was no correlation between persuasion knowledge and purchase intentions (r = 0.37, n = 23, p = .08). Thus, hypothesis 4 was rejected.
Discussion
This study sought to discover how different advertising methods used on Instagram differ in effects they have on brand awareness, perceived ad intrusiveness, brand attitude and purchase intentions. In this case focusing on the advertising methods: story advertisements, photo advertisements and influencer marketing. The effect of persuasion knowledge on influencer marketing was also taken into account.
Hypothesis 1 suggested that story advertisement will lead to higher brand awareness compared to photo advertisements and influencer marketing. Although, story advertisements did not lead to higher brand awareness compared to the other two advertising methods, there was a significant effect found between the experimental conditions and brand awareness (p= .04). After doing a post-hoc test it became apparent that this effect was between the photo advertisements condition and influencer marketing, and that this effect was only approaching significance (p= .07). While this finding does not support the motion-effects theory, it does give partial support to the idea of native advertising, as the mean score for brand awareness was higher for the photo advertisement condition (M=1.57) than for the influencer condition (M= 1.26). This thus suggests that influencer marketing may not always be recognized as advertising.
Hypothesis 2 focused on the ad intrusiveness, which was expected to be the highest for the story advertisement condition; however, no significant effects were found and thus the hypothesis was rejected. In this case, the hypothesis was substantiated using the reactance theory. The reactance theory states that individuals may react negatively when they feel like their freedom is being threatened. Although, story advertisements may at first seem the most intrusive as they pop-up full screen whilst watching other stories, these advertisements can actually be clicked away when using Instagram in real life. Advertising on Instagram in general may not be as intrusive compared to other types of advertising, as users have the ability to click and scroll away. This could thus explain why no significant effects were found between all advertising conditions and ad intrusiveness. Another reason why Instagram advertisements may not be perceived as intrusive compared to other means of advertising, is its use of cookies. This is a technology that helps to provide advertising that is relevant to an individual’s interests (Ghost, Mahdian, McAfee & Vassilvitskii, 2015).
Hypothesis 3 stated that influencer marketing would lead to higher brand attitudes and purchase intentions compared to the story- and photo advertisement conditions; however, here too no significant effects were found. This hypothesis was formulated based on existing literature on celebrity endorsements and product placements. Celebrity endorsement advocate that individuals tend to perceive certain celebrities, or in this case influencers, as a role model. The results of this is that when these influencers market a certain product this may lead to higher brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Products placements advocate the same kind of process only without using an influencer. It involves placing a certain brand into editorial content, thus for example on Instagram. Though for these methods to work, both the
product/brand and the influencer must be endorsed. In this study, the brand Cluse watches and the influencer Claartje Rose were used, which may have not been endorsed or relevant for the participants.
Hypothesis 4 suggested that in the case of influencer marketing the higher a person scored on persuasion knowledge the higher the brand awareness and ad intrusiveness will be and the lower the brand attitude and purchase intentions will be. However, no correlations were found between the dependent variables and persuasion knowledge, in the influencer condition. This hypothesis was substantiated by the fact that influencer marketing is often not recognized as advertising, and therefore persuasion knowledge would have an impact on its effectiveness. However, no significant effects were found between influencer marketing and all the dependent variables. This suggests that influencer marketing may not be recognized as a marketing strategy. Thus, the effect of persuasion knowledge on influencer marketing may not be that relevant at all.
Limitations and Future research
It is important to note that this study has several limitations, that could also have important implications for the results of this study. One major limitation of this study is the final sample size. Although a total of 171 participants were recruited for this study, only 100 participants were eventually taken into analysis. These 100 participants were distributed over the four different experimental conditions, leaving only approximately 25 participants per condition. This may also explain why almost no significant effects were found in this study. Future research should recruit more participants in order to have a decent test power.
One of the reasons why such a small number of participants were taken into analysis is the fact that those who did not see the advertisement were excluded from the analysis. Though this study wanted to measure brand awareness, this variable may need to be measured in a separate study than the other three dependent variables. This is because disclosures may be needed to point out that the experimental conditions did contain a form of advertising in order for more participants to be able to answer the questions referring to ad intrusiveness, brand attitude and purchase intentions. Disclosures were not used in this study as this would bias the results of brand awareness. Future studies may need measure these variables in separate studies.
Another limitation of this study is the fact that the experimental conditions (story advertisements, photo advertisements and influencer marketing) were self-constructed, thus not looking and not containing the exact features a participant would usually have on Instagram. The photo and influencer condition for example only contained six pictures, however on Instagram you can scroll through pictures endlessly on your news feed. The story advertisements also did not give the option of clicking away the advertisements, which is also normally possible on Instagram. And finally, the pictures and videos used were from random Instagram accounts. Although the pictures and videos used were relatively neutral, they may
not seem relevant to all the participants. Thus, future studies may need to manipulate the conditions to make them feel more like a participant’s own Instagram account.
Also, the fact that no significant effects were found between the advertising conditions and the dependent variable, may be due to the fact that these dependent variables are not so relevant to advertising on Instagram. Future studies may need to investigate whether these variables are good measures in determining the effectiveness of Instagram advertising or if there are indeed better measures available.
A final limitation of this study was the fact that no pre-tests were done on whether participants already had existing beliefs or attitudes towards the advertised brand, product and the influencer used in the influencer condition. Future studies should do pre-tests on whether or not the brand, product and influencer used are relevant to the participants, as this may have implications on the research results.
Conclusion
Although, no real conclusions can be drawn as to how story advertisements, picture advertisements and influencer marketing on Instagram differ in the effect they have on brand awareness, perceived ad intrusiveness, brand attitude and purchase intentions, Instagram remains an extremely relevant platform to investigate. This due to its growing popularity and increased use for marketing purposes. The marketing tactics used on Instagram may have become so blended into the format and design of Instagram, that users may not be as aware of them as one might of thought. Thus, less conscious processes of persuasion may be more relevant to study in the future.
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