Regulation stipulates that social media Influencers on Instagram need to disclose sponsorship information when a relationship exists between the brand and the influencer. While influencers may simply use the Instagram disclosure label “Paid partnership with brand X”, others add additional messages or hashtags which express that the opinions voiced in Instagram posts are honest. This study examines how emphasizing “honest opinions” in sponsored and not sponsored Instagram posts affects consumers’ responses. Second, it explores if the influencers endorsing multiple products moderates the relationship between impartiality disclosure and credibility or ad perception. The results found that compared to the no disclosure condition, “This is not a sponsored post” diminishes consumers’ purchase intention. Further, it can support that perceived source credibility relates positively to purchase intention and that the use of “#honestopinion” diminishes advertising perception. A central finding is the existence of an indirect positive mediation effect of the impartiality disclosure “#honestopinion”, advertising disclosure and trustworthiness on purchase intention. Lastly, this study can support that a consumer’s attachment to an influencer has a positive impact on that consumer’s purchase intention.
Author(s): Corina Oprea
Series: Innovatives Markenmanagement
Publisher: Springer Gabler
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 271
City: Wiesbaden
Foreword
Preface
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
Part I The Effects of Impartiality Disclosure on Brand Objectives as Research Objective
1 Introduction
2 Relevance of Instagram Traffic for Brand Management
3 Definition of Social Media Influencers and their Relevance for Brand Management
4 Impartiality Disclosure and Research Gap
4.1 Standard Instagram Disclosure Label “Paid Sponsorship with [brand]”
4.2 Impartiality Disclosure: Types and Basis for the Theoretical Gap
4.2.1 Hashtag #honestopinion
4.2.2 Added Text: “This is not a sponsored post”
4.3 Impartiality Disclosure—Practical Gap
4.4 Evaluation of the Current State of Research—Impartiality Disclosure—Theoretical Gap
4.5 Multiple Product Endorsements– Theoretical Gap
5 Derivation of Research Gaps and Research Questions
Part II Theoretical Foundations and Development of Research Model
6 Influencer Branding in Brand Management
6.1 The Identity-Based Brand Management Model
6.2 Influencer Branding within Brand Management
7 User-Generated-Content vs. Brand-Generated-Content in Influencer Marketing
8 Influencer Marketing and Sponsorship Disclosure
9 Research Strains Regarding Sponsorship Disclosures in Influencer Marketing
10 Effects of SMI-Branding on Brand Objectives
10.1 Effects of SMI-Impartiality Disclosure on Purchase Intention
10.2 Impartiality Disclosure Effects on SMIs Perceived Source Credibility
10.3 Perceived Influencer Source Credibility Effects on Purchase Intention
10.4 Effects of SMI-Impartiality Disclosure on Advertising Perception
10.5 Effects of Advertising Perception on Perceived Influencer Source Credibility
10.6 Mediating Effects of SMI-impartiality Disclosure, Advertising Perception and Perceived Source Credibility on Purchase Intention
10.7 Multiple Product Endorsements
10.8 Conceptual Foundations of SMI-Attachment
10.8.1 SMI-Attachment: Provenance and Conceptual Basis
10.8.2 The Concept of Brand Attachment
10.8.3 Attachment in SMI-Branding
11 Summary of Hypotheses
Part III Empirical Model Validation and Hypotheses Testing
12 Conceptualization and Requirements for the Experimental Research
13 Experimental Study Design
13.1 Selection and Manipulation of Independent Variables
13.1.1 SMI Selection and Preliminary Qualitative Examination
13.1.2 Brand Selection and Manipulation of Independent Variables
13.2 Operationalization of Dependent Variables, Mediators, Moderators
13.3 Operationalization of Control Variables
13.4 Additional Manipulation Checks
13.5 Questionnaire Design
13.6 Stimuli Pre-Test
13.7 Questionnaire Pre-Test
14 Research Findings
14.1 Sample Selection, Data Check and Cleansing
14.2 Manipulation Check and Realism Check
14.3 Research Methodology: Hayes PROCESS Macro Analysis
14.4 Control Variables
14.5 Hypothesis Testing
14.5.1 H1
14.5.2 H2
14.5.3 H3
14.5.4 H4
14.5.5 H5
14.5.6 H6
14.5.7 H7
14.5.8 H8
14.5.9 H9
14.6 Summary of Hypothesis Validation
Part IV Conclusion, Reflection and Outlook
15 Summary of Empirical Results and Discussion
15.1 H1
15.2 H2
15.3 H3
15.4 H4
15.5 H5
15.6 H6
15.7 H7
15.8 H8
15.9 H9
16 Limitations
17 Implications for Further Research
17.1 Outlook for Further Research
17.2 Managerial Implications for Brands and SMIs
17.3 Implications for Public Policy Makers
References
