ABSTRACT Media coverage of influencer marketing abounds with ethical questions about this emerging industry. Much of this coverage assumes influencers operate without an ethical framework and many social media personalities skirt around the edges of legal guidelines. Our study starts from the premise that influencer marketing is not inherently unethical but, rather, the ethical principles guiding production of sponsored content are not well understood. Through a case study of the travel and tourism media industry, our findings demonstrate that influencers use the concept of authenticity as an ethical framework when producing sponsored content. This ethics of authenticity is premised on two central tenets: being true to one’s self and brand and being true to one’s audience. This framework puts the influencers’ brand identity and relationship with their audience at the forefront while simultaneously allowing them to profit from content designed to benefit brands and destinations.

中文翻译：

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真实性伦理：社交媒体影响者与赞助内容的产生

摘要媒体对影响力营销的报道充满了关于这一新兴行业的道德问题。大部分报道都假设影响者在没有道德框架的情况下运作，并且许多社交媒体人物都在法律准则的边缘徘徊。我们的研究从这样一个前提开始，即影响者营销并非天生就不道德，而是，人们对引导赞助内容生产的道德原则还没有很好的理解。通过对旅行和旅游媒体行业的案例研究，我们的发现表明，影响者在制作赞助内容时会使用真实性的概念作为道德框架。这种真实性伦理的前提是两个主要原则：忠于自己的自我和品牌，以及忠于听众。