Summary of key research on cues to decode the perceived authenticity of social media influencers in marketing
| Study | Category of cues | Key findings | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intrinsic | Extrinsic | |||
| SMI-related | Customer experience − related | Collaborative brand − related | ||
| Current study | Source factors, comment valence, post-service effectiveness experience alignment and customer materialism | Brand credibility, brand coolness, brand experience and influencer-owned brand | This study discovered the CueSphere model of influencer authenticity, including nine extrinsic cues: five customer experience-related cues and four collaborative brand-related cues | |
| Lee et al. (2022) | Materialistic customers | Materialistic customers have a strong desire for things and status symbols, which can influence how individuals perceive authentic influencers | ||
| Kennedy et al. (2021) | Brand is owned by SMIs | Macro influencers look more authentic when they promote their own brands | ||
| Abidin (2016) | Selfies | Influencers use selfies as a way to show they are authentic | ||
| Zniva et al. (2023) | Uniqueness, consistency | Influencers’ uniqueness and consistency raise their authenticity | ||
| Audrezet et al. (2020) | Passion, and transparency in disclosing sponsored content | Two influencer authenticity management strategies are passion and transparency in disclosing sponsored content | ||
| Valentinsson (2018) | Ethos of self | The influencer’s ethos of self is consistent throughout different contexts, affirming their persona’s authenticity | ||
| Ilicic and Brennan (2020) | Eye gaze | Eye gaze improves the perception of influencer authenticity | ||
| Miguel et al. (2022) | Asking for a fee or a gift in return for a post | Asking for things in return for a post, such as a fee or a gift, negatively influences influencer authenticity | ||
| Lee and Johnson (2022) | Two-sided reviews | Two-sided reviews increase influencer authenticity | ||
| Luoma-Aho et al. (2019) | Priming with positive introductory text | Priming with an influencer’s positive introductory text about the sponsored content can enhance the perceived authenticity of influencer | ||
| Moulard et al. (2015) | Talent, discretion, originality, consistency, candidness, morality | Talent, discretion, originality, consistency, candidness and morality positively influence influencer authenticity | ||
| Lee and Eastin (2021) | Truthful endorsements, sincerity, visibility, expertise, uniqueness | An authentic influencer is characterized by truthful endorsements, sincerity, visibility, expertise and uniqueness | ||
| Jun and Yi (2020); Chidiac and Bowden (2023) | Interactivity | Interactivity is a key determinant of influencer authenticity | ||
| Park et al. (2021); Kapitan et al. (2021) | SMI types (micro, middle and macro) | Endorsements by different influencer types present various perceptions of their authenticity. For example, micro-influencers (versus mega-influencers) bestow higher perceptions of authenticity | ||
| Study | Category of cues | Key findings | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intrinsic | Extrinsic | |||
| SMI-related | Customer experience − related | Collaborative brand − related | ||
| Materialistic customers | Materialistic customers have a strong desire for things and status symbols, which can influence how individuals perceive authentic influencers | |||
| Brand is owned by SMIs | Macro influencers look more authentic when they promote their own brands | |||
| Selfies | Influencers use selfies as a way to show they are authentic | |||
| Uniqueness, consistency | Influencers’ uniqueness and consistency raise their authenticity | |||
| Passion, and transparency in disclosing sponsored content | Two influencer authenticity management strategies are passion and transparency in disclosing sponsored content | |||
| Ethos of self | The influencer’s ethos of self is consistent throughout different contexts, affirming their persona’s authenticity | |||
| Eye gaze | Eye gaze improves the perception of influencer authenticity | |||
| Asking for a fee or a gift in return for a post | Asking for things in return for a post, such as a fee or a gift, negatively influences influencer authenticity | |||
| Two-sided reviews | Two-sided reviews increase influencer authenticity | |||
| Priming with positive introductory text | Priming with an influencer’s positive introductory text about the sponsored content can enhance the perceived authenticity of influencer | |||
| Talent, discretion, originality, consistency, candidness, morality | Talent, discretion, originality, consistency, candidness and morality positively influence influencer authenticity | |||
| Truthful endorsements, sincerity, visibility, expertise, uniqueness | An authentic influencer is characterized by truthful endorsements, sincerity, visibility, expertise and uniqueness | |||
| Interactivity | Interactivity is a key determinant of influencer authenticity | |||
| SMI types (micro, middle and macro) | Endorsements by different influencer types present various perceptions of their authenticity. For example, micro-influencers (versus mega-influencers) bestow higher perceptions of authenticity | |||
Source(s): Authors’ own work
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