HOW DOES THE CREDIBILITY OF AN INFLUENCER
DEPEND ON THE ENTERTAINMENT AND
EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF A POST AND THE TYPE
OF THE INFLUENCER?
Ezgi Genc
Master Thesis Defense Marketing Management
29 01 2019
‘‘Social media eliminates the middlemen, providing brands the unique
opportunity to have a direct relationship with their customers.’’
Bryan Weiner – CEO at Digital Agency 360i
‘‘Today, you are not behind your competition. You are not behind the
technology. You are behind your consumer.’’
INFLUENCERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
• Celebrity influencers
• Macro influencers
CELEBRITY INFLUENCERS
MACRO INFLUENCERS
• People on Instagram, next to celebrity influencers, who have a large following on social media (Bijen, 2017; Kalavrezos, 2016).
• Comparable to celebrity influencers (Bijen, 2017). • 100,000 + followers
MICRO INFLUENCERS
• An everyday consumer who possessed a follower-base of highly engaged, extremely attentive social media users (Kalavrezos, 2018; Mediakix, 2016).
• 1,000 - 100,000 followers
CREDIBILITY OF THE
INFLUENCER
Two main values that have an impact on the credibility of an influencer (Wu, 2016; De Vries et al., 2012; Dolan et al., 2006):
• Educational value:
• Resourceful and helpful information
• Entertainment value:
PROBLEM STATEMENT
How does the credibility of an influencer depend on the entertainment and educational value of a post and the type of influencer?
Contribution:
• Difference micro- and macro-influencer
• Effect of micro- and macro-influencer on credibility of the post
METHODOLOGY
Type of influencer • Micro/macro Educational value • High/low Entertainment value • High/low Manipulation check: ✔ • 99% sign difference Manipulation check: ✔ • 99% sign difference Manipulation check: ✔ • 99% sign differenceCredibility of the post:
• Uni-dimensionality: ✔
Susceptibility influencers:
• Uni-dimensionality: ✔
Social media usage:
RESULTS
ANOVA:
• Main effects significant and in the expected direction
• All interactions were not significant
Regression analysis:
• Main effects significant
• All interactions were not significant
RESULTS
H1: The higher the entertainment value, the higher the credibility of a post of a
macro- or micro-influencer.
H2: The higher the educational value, the higher the credibility of a post of a
macro- or micro-influencer.
H3: When entertainment value is low, credibility is higher when the educational
value is higher. When entertainment value is high, an enhancement of this effect is expected, so the increase in credibility is even higher.
✔
✔
RESULTS
H4: The micro-influencer has a higher credibility on a post than the
macro-influencer
H5: When the type of influencer is a macro-influencer, the credibility is higher
when the educational value is higher. When the type of influencer is a
micro-influencer, an enhancement of this effect is expected, so the increase in credibility is even higher.
H6: When the type of influencer is a macro-influencer, the credibility is higher
when the entertainment value is higher. When the type of influencer is a micro-influencer, an enhancement of this effect is expected, so the increase in credibility is even higher.
✔
x
RESULTS
H7: The higher the susceptibility towards the influencer, the higher the
credibility of the post
H8: The higher the social media usage, the lower the credibility of the post
H9: When the type of influencer is a macro-influencer, the credibility of the post
will be lower with higher social media usage. When the influencer is a micro-influencer, the credibility of the post will be higher with higher social media usage.
✔
MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
• Use of micro-influencers is highly recommended
• Educational and entertainment value lead to high credibility
• Best results: entertainment content
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
• Only Instagram as a social media platform
• Only female students at the university
