Nathaniel J. Evans, Delia Cristina Balaban, Brigitte Naderer, Meda Mucundorfeanu (forthcoming), “How the Impact of Social-Media Influencer Disclosures Changes Over Time: Discounting Cues and Exposure Level Can Affect Consumer Attitudes and Purchase Intent,” Journal of Advertising Research.
Abstract: Despite substantial research on disclosure-related effects in social media influencer (SMI) advertising, less is known about the impact of varied exposure levels on SMI advertising outcomes over time. Through a mixed-factorial online experiment, the current study explores how evaluative persuasion knowledge expressed through skepticism mediates the effects of disclosures and exposure level on brand attitude and purchase intention measured at an initial data collection point (t1) and a second 20 days later (t2). Of specific interest to managers using SMI advertising, this article finds that multiple exposures to promotional SMI content has negative short-term effects for the brand that appear to dissipate over time.
Jooyoung Uhm (Grady MA alum) and Jooyoung Kim. “Sexualized Images of Female Influencers in Instagram Advertising: Do They Work?” Presented at the American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Annual Conference, St. Petersburg, FL, March 24 – 27, 2022.
Abstract: The primary purpose of the current study is to examine the effects of sexualized images of influencers on the effectiveness of advertising regarding both cognitive and motivational processing. Overall, the results indicate that the sexualized images of influencers negatively affect the evaluation of the influencer, which in turn affects attitude towards the ad and behavioral intention negatively. Although there was little influence found on motivational activation, this study adds understanding of how the sexualized images of influencers affects the overall ad effectiveness and performance.
Abstract: The diffusion of social networking platforms ushered in a new age of peer-to-peer distributed online advertising content, widely referred to as viral advertising. The current study proposes a social networks approach to the study of viral advertising and identifying influencers. Expanding beyond the conventional retweets metrics to include Twitter mentions as connection in the network, this study identifies three groups of influencers, based on their connectivity in their networks: Hubs, or highly retweeted users, are Primary Influencers; Bridges, or highly mentioned users who associate connect users who would otherwise be disconnected, are Contextual Influencers, and Isolates are the Low Influence users. Each of these users’ roles in viral advertising is discussed and illustrated through the Heineken’s Worlds Apart campaign as a case study. Providing a unique examination of viral advertising from a network paradigm, our study advances scholarship on social media influencers, and their contribution to content virality on digital platforms.
