The 3rd International Conference on Modern Management based on Big Data (MMBD2022)

Abstract: Influencer marketing has increasingly become a strategic communication tool for brands during the last years. Although recent literature has examined several persuasion cues related to the social media influencers (i.e., the source) and the contents they create (i.e., the message) that can impact on consumers’ emotional and behavioural responses, much remains to be explored about the process of influence, specifically, the role of the trade-off between the source and the message in explaining how consumers respond to brand endorsement. It has been shown that when influencers disclose their posts as an ad, their credibility can be damaged and, consequently, the attitude and interest in the recommended product can also decline. However, when followers perceive a strong connection and similarities with an influencer, they can be less concerned about his/her commercial interests, which can positively affect consumers’ behavioural outcomes such as purchase behaviour. This tension suggests that the psychological mechanisms underlying the process of influence are still an interesting area of research. In my presentation I will explain the importance of some determinants of the influential power of influencers which are related to the source and the message, to better understand consumers’ response toward the recommended brands. Also, I will explore how this power represents an opportunity for companies that have a green orientation when promoting sustainable products through influencers, which might also lead to shift users’ current behaviours towards more sustainable behaviours.

Keywords: Influencer marketing; persuasion; brand communication; consumer behaviour; sustainability.

Biography: David Jiménez-Castillo is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Department of Economics and Business at University of Almería, Spain. His current research interests include influencer marketing, market information processing in the international entrepreneurship domain, and corporate social responsibility. He has published in international refereed journals such as International Journal of Information Management, Information and Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Environmental Psychology, Journal of Marketing Management, and International Journal of Market Research, among others. He reviews papers for a number of leading journals of marketing and management fields. He has also contributed with numerous papers in international conferences and has been awarded several prizes during his academic career.