Marketing through Instagram influencers: the impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude
Open accessAbstract
Findings of two experimental studies show that Instagram influencers with high numbers of followers are found more likeable, partly because they are considered more popular. Important, only in limited cases, perceptions of popularity induced by the influencer's number of followers increase the influencer's perceived opinion leadership. However, if the influencer follows very few accounts him-/herself, this can negatively impact popular influencers’ likeability. Also, cooperating with influencers with high numbers of followers might not be the best marketing choice for promoting divergent products, as this decreases the brand's perceived uniqueness and consequently brand attitudes.
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The interactive relationship between influencers and their respective followers encourages the need in the mind of the followers to utilize or follow what the influencer does.
“The interactive relationship between influencers and their respective followers encourages the need in the mind of the followers to utilize or follow what the influencer does (De Veirman et al., 2017;Taillon et al., 2020;X. W. Wang et al., 2019).”
From Welcome to the destination! Social media influencers as cogent determinant of travel decision: A systematic literature review and conceptual framework (2023) · cites this paper as De Veirman et al., 2017
The Introduction describes influencers as trusted tastemakers whose product posts can affect their audience, and the theoretical background discusses social influence on consumption. Neither section establishes that an interactive influencer–follower relationship creates a need for followers to use products or imitate the influencer. (LLM, conf=0.78)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLikeability is an essential quality for the influencer.
“Likeability is an essential quality for the influencer (De Veirman et al., 2017).”
From Welcome to the destination! Social media influencers as cogent determinant of travel decision: A systematic literature review and conceptual framework (2023) · cites this paper as De Veirman et al., 2017
The number of followers is an indicator of popularity and reflects an SMI's network and group size.
“The number of followers is an indicator of popularity and reflects an SMI's network and group size (De Veirman, Cauberghe, and Hudders 2017).”
From Influencer Marketing on Instagram: Empirical Research on Social Media Engagement with Sponsored Posts (2022) · cites this paper as De Veirman, Cauberghe, and Hudders 2017
People in larger groups feel less responsible and addressed and then stand by rather than act.
“Despite macroinfluencers' sponsored posts being exposed to a larger number of users (De Veirman, Cauberghe, and Hudders 2017), people in larger groups feel less responsible and addressed and then stand by rather than act (Darley and Latan e 1968).”
From Influencer Marketing on Instagram: Empirical Research on Social Media Engagement with Sponsored Posts (2022) · cites this paper as De Veirman, Cauberghe, and Hudders 2017
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“…expertise, attractiveness, and perceived homophily of the SMIs (Ladhari, Massa, and Skandrani 2020), the size of their social media audience (De Veirman, Cauberghe, and Hudders 2017), and the engagement SMIs generate (Kay, Mulcahy, and Parkinson 2020) play a relevant role for the…”
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- Authors
- De Veirman, M., Cauberghe, V., & Hudders, L.
- Affiliations
- ,
- Venue
- International Journal of Advertising
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-07-14
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 798-828
- ISSN
- 0265-0487 (ISSN-L)
- 1759-3948
- OpenAlex
- W2461399145
- Cited by
- 2,548
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 323 · 2025: 461 · 2024: 436 · 2023: 368 · 2022: 313 · 2021: 297 · 2020: 210 · 2019: 104 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 243.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- International Journal of Advertising (publishedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Marketing and Advertising Strategies
- Keywords
- Instagram influencers, influencer marketing, follower count, perceived popularity, likeability, opinion leadership, brand attitude, brand uniqueness, social media marketing
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