Neue Publikation im Journal of Marketing

”Finding Goldilocks Influencers: How Follower Count Drives Social Media Engagement"

Die Marketing Abteilung freut sich außerordentlich, über die folgende Publikation im Journal of Marketing zu berichten:

Wies, Simone / Bleier, Alexander / Edeling, Alexander (2020), “Finding Goldilocks Influencers: How Follower Count Drives Social Media Engagement”, Journal of Marketing, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00222429221125131.

Herzlichen Glückwünsch an die Autoren!

Abstract:

Influencers’ follower count, or indegree, is a key criterion that advertisers use when devising influencer marketing campaigns. However, whether influencers with lower or higher follower count are more effective in generating engagement remains an open question. This multimethod research effort—involving an observational field data analysis, based on 802 Instagram marketing campaigns featuring more than 1,700 influencers, together with an eye-tracking study and laboratory experiments—establishes conclusive evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between influencers’ follower count and engagement with sponsored content. A higher follower count implies broader reach but also cues a weaker relationship that reduces followers’ engagement likelihood. That is, engagement increases, then decreases, as influencer follower count rises. The authors further test the potential moderating effects of two campaign properties: Campaign content customization and brand familiarity. Higher content customization and lower brand familiarity signal that influencers value their relationships with followers and thereby flatten the inverted U-shaped relationship. Managers can leverage these novel results and the related actionable guidelines to improve their influencer marketing strategies.

Keywords

influencer marketing, social media engagement, influencer indegree, content customization, brand familiarity, multimethod study