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Cited by 44Digital Marketing and Social MediaMarketing and Advertising StrategiesConsumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification

Reputation Burning: Analyzing the Impact of Brand Sponsorship on Social Influencers

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Cheng, Mengjie (Magie), Zhang, Shunyuan·2025·Management Science
DOI 10.1287/mnsc.2023.00193
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Abstract

The growth of the influencer marketing industry warrants an empirical examination of the effect of posting sponsored videos on influencers’ reputations. We collected a novel data set of user-generated YouTube videos created by prominent English-speaking influencers in the beauty and style category. We extracted a rich set of theory-driven video features and used DiNardo-Fortin-Lemieux reweighting to construct comparable treatment and control groups matched at the influencer-video level. The empirical analysis of the matched sample revealed a reputation-burning effect; that is, posting a sponsored video, compared with posting an equivalent organic video, cost the influencers 0.19% of their reputation (operationalized as the number of subscribers). The reputation-burning effect was stronger among the influencers with larger audiences. An analysis of likes, comments, and comment texts revealed a larger gap in audience response between sponsored and organic videos among the influencers with larger (versus smaller) audiences. The reputation-burning effect was mitigated when a high fit existed between the sponsored content and the influencer’s “usual” content and when the promoted brand was less well known. Our study empirically tested the assumption of several theoretical works. Moreover, it contributes to the literature on influencer marketing and celebrity endorsements and provides managerial implications for influencers, brands, and social media platforms. This paper was accepted by D. J. Wu, information systems. Funding: This research was supported by funding provided by Harvard Business School. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.00193 .

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Evans NJ, 2018, Internat. J. Advertising, 38, 1
  2. Quoc L, 2014, Proc. Machine Learning Res., 32, 1188
  3. Schwemmer C, 2018, Soc. Media Soc., 4, 1
  4. Zhang S, 2022, Management Sci., 68, 5557

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Authors
Cheng, M. (., & Zhang, S.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Management Science
Publisher
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
Published
2025-07
Volume
71
Issue
7
Pages
5910-5932
ISSN
  • 0025-1909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1526-5501
DOI
10.1287/mnsc.2023.00193
OpenAlex
W4403538279
Semantic Scholar
48bd1f3e55c811d3620de14c53a7c58a37ca04ba
Cited by
43
References
83
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2020: 1
FWCI
26.49
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Management Science (publishedVersion)
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Marketing and Advertising Strategies
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Keywords
influencer marketing, brand sponsorship, social media influencers, reputation, sponsored content, YouTube, audience response, celebrity endorsement, audience size, brand familiarity

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