Abstract

A growing body of research has examined the efficacy of influencer marketing and how social media influencers (SMIs) produce influence through strategically manufacturing authenticity and relatability. Less clear, however, is what benefits consumers derive from influencers and how they incorporate influencer content into their own identity projects. In other words, advertisers and influencers do not know how consumers actually “consume” influence. The current research addresses this gap through developing a novel perspective on influencer marketing that highlights how consumers actively incorporate influencer content into their own practice performances. Based on a market ethnography of millennial and gen Z beauty consumers, this research uncovers six distinct actions through which consumers consume influence. Findings also challenge and update another core assumption of influencer marketing: that consumers generally perceive influencers to be similar to them. Altogether, this research introduces the Influencer Marketing Dartboard as a conceptual and managerial tool to better leverage influencers for marketing. Three contributions are offered that advance the influencer marketing and practice theory literatures: a deeper understanding of how companies can effectively utilize SMIs, a clearer differentiation between SMIs and celebrity endorsers, and insights into how mediated practices facilitate consumers’ identity projects.

摘要

越来越多的研究调查了影响者营销的有效性以及社交媒体影响者 (SMI) 如何通过战略性地制造真实性和相关性来产生影响。然而，不太清楚的是，消费者从影响者那里获得了什么好处，以及他们如何将影响者的内容整合到他们自己的身份项目中。换句话说，广告商和影响者并不知道消费者实际上是如何“消费”影响力的。当前的研究通过对影响者营销开发一种新颖的观点来解决这一差距，该观点强调了消费者如何积极地将影响者的内容融入他们自己的实践表现中。根据千禧一代和 Z 世代美容消费者的市场民族志，这项研究揭示了消费者消费影响力的六种不同行为。调查结果还挑战并更新了网红营销的另一个核心假设：消费者通常认为网红与他们相似。总而言之，这项研究介绍了影响者营销飞镖作为一种概念和管理工具，以更好地利用影响者进行营销。提供了三个促进影响者营销和实践理论文献的贡献：更深入地了解公司如何有效利用 SMI，更清楚地区分 SMI 和名人代言人，以及深入了解中介实践如何促进消费者的身份项目。本研究介绍了影响者营销飞镖作为概念和管理工具，以更好地利用影响者进行营销。提供了三个促进影响者营销和实践理论文献的贡献：更深入地了解公司如何有效利用 SMI，更清楚地区分 SMI 和名人代言人，以及深入了解中介实践如何促进消费者的身份项目。本研究介绍了影响者营销飞镖作为概念和管理工具，以更好地利用影响者进行营销。提供了三个促进影响者营销和实践理论文献的贡献：更深入地了解公司如何有效利用 SMI，更清楚地区分 SMI 和名人代言人，以及深入了解中介实践如何促进消费者的身份项目。