IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i11p4392-d363676.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring How Influencer and Relationship Marketing Serve Corporate Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Carmen Berne-Manero

    (Department of Marketing, University of Zaragoza, 50005 Zaragoza, Spain)

  • Mercedes Marzo-Navarro

    (Department of Marketing, University of Zaragoza, 50005 Zaragoza, Spain)

Abstract

Influencer marketing furthers the goals of relationship marketing. Companies use influencers to advertise their products through social networks such as Instagram. This digital advertising is aimed at shifting the company’s goals from customer acquisition to retention and commitment. While several articles provide interesting advances analyzing social media and sustainability goals, research about influencer types and their impact on engagement preserving corporate sustainability is limited. Thus, the objectives of this study are: (1) Select general influencer traits as positive characteristics in promoting a product; (2) analyze them for micro and macro influencer scenarios; (3) explore potential differences in their adequacy determining customer engagement and preserving corporate sustainability. Credibility, pleasantness, and emotions are the criteria analyzed through multivariate analysis applied over two independent samples of followers. Pleasantness and appearance in the macro influencer scenario and perceived integrity in that of the micro influencer appear to conflict with the desired transparency of the message, while transmission of emotions plays an essential role in both scenarios. This is a very important finding. Companies should assess candidate influencers’ emotional projection skills, in addition to evaluating the brand sponsorship costs and defining the target audience for the advertisement, always under the premise of preserving corporate sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Carmen Berne-Manero & Mercedes Marzo-Navarro, 2020. "Exploring How Influencer and Relationship Marketing Serve Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-19, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4392-:d:363676
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4392/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4392/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Esther Calderon-Monge & Ivan Pastor-Sanz & Pilar Huerta-Zavala, 2017. "Economic Sustainability in Franchising: A Model to Predict Franchisor Success or Failure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Berthon, Pierre R. & Pitt, Leyland F. & Plangger, Kirk & Shapiro, Daniel, 2012. "Marketing meets Web 2.0, social media, and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing strategy," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 261-271.
    3. Moon Young Kang & Byungho Park, 2018. "Sustainable Corporate Social Media Marketing Based on Message Structural Features: Firm Size Plays a Significant Role as a Moderator," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-14, April.
    4. Sally Baalbaki & Francisco Guzmán, 2016. "A consumer-perceived consumer-based brand equity scale," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(3), pages 229-251, May.
    5. Wang, Zhan & Kim, Hyun Gon, 2017. "Can Social Media Marketing Improve Customer Relationship Capabilities and Firm Performance? Dynamic Capability Perspective," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 15-26.
    6. Batra, Rajeev & Ray, Michael L, 1986. "Affective Responses Mediating Acceptance of Advertising," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(2), pages 234-249, September.
    7. Trainor, Kevin J. & Andzulis, James (Mick) & Rapp, Adam & Agnihotri, Raj, 2014. "Social media technology usage and customer relationship performance: A capabilities-based examination of social CRM," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 1201-1208.
    8. Andrea N. Geurin-Eagleman & Lauren M. Burch, 2016. "Communicating via photographs: A gendered analysis of Olympic athletes’ visual self-presentation on Instagram," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 133-145, April.
    9. Oana Țugulea, 2017. "City Brand Personality—Relations with Dimensions and Dimensions Inter-Relations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-22, December.
    10. Gupta, Suraksha & Kumar, V., 2013. "Sustainability as corporate culture of a brand for superior performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 311-320.
    11. Ali Alshehhi & Haitham Nobanee & Nilesh Khare, 2018. "The Impact of Sustainability Practices on Corporate Financial Performance: Literature Trends and Future Research Potential," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-25, February.
    12. Geurin-Eagleman, Andrea N. & Burch, Lauren M., 2016. "Communicating via photographs: A gendered analysis of Olympic athletes’ visual self-presentation on Instagram," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 133-145.
    13. K. Jöreskog, 1971. "Statistical analysis of sets of congeneric tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 36(2), pages 109-133, June.
    14. Sokolova, Karina & Kefi, Hajer, 2020. "Instagram and YouTube bloggers promote it, why should I buy? How credibility and parasocial interaction influence purchase intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    15. Lafferty, Barbara A. & Goldsmith, Ronald E., 1999. "Corporate Credibility's Role in Consumers' Attitudes and Purchase Intentions When a High versus a Low Credibility Endorser Is Used in the Ad," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 109-116, February.
    16. Mizerski, Richard W & Golden, Linda L & Kernan, Jerome B, 1979. "The Attribution Process in Consumer Decision Making," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 6(2), pages 123-140, Se.
    17. Edell, Julie A & Burke, Marian Chapman, 1987. "The Power of Feelings in Understanding Advertising Effects," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(3), pages 421-433, December.
    18. Hanna, Richard & Rohm, Andrew & Crittenden, Victoria L., 2011. "We're all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 265-273, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Warinrampai Rungruangjit & Kitti Charoenpornpanichkul, 2022. "Building Stronger Brand Evangelism for Sustainable Marketing through Micro-Influencer-Generated Content on Instagram in the Fashion Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-27, November.
    2. Lianren Wu & Jinjie Li & Jiayin Qi & Deli Kong & Xu Li, 2021. "The Role of Opinion Leaders in the Sustainable Development of Corporate-Led Consumer Advice Networks: Evidence from a Chinese Travel Content Community," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, October.
    3. Sesar, Vesna & Martinčević, Ivana & Hunjet, Anica, 2022. "How Influencer Credibility and Advertising Disclosure affects Purchase Intention," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2022), Hybrid Conference, Opatija, Croatia, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Hybrid Conference, Opatija, Croatia, 17-18 June 2022, pages 248-263, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
    4. David Vrtana & Anna Krizanova, 2023. "The Power of Emotional Advertising Appeals: Examining Their Influence on Consumer Purchasing Behavior and Brand–Customer Relationship," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-18, September.
    5. Xian Gao & Choy-Leong Yee & Wei-Chong Choo, 2022. "How Attachment and Community Identification Affect User Stickiness in Social Commerce: A Consumer Engagement Experience Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    6. Manveer Mann & Sang-Eun Byun & Whitney Ginder, 2021. "B Corps’ Social Media Communications during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Through the Lens of the Triple Bottom Line," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-21, August.
    7. Marcela Korenkova & Milan Maros & Michal Levicky & Milan Fila, 2020. "Consumer Perception of Modern and Traditional Forms of Advertising," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-25, November.
    8. David Vrtana & Anna Krizanova & Eva Skorvagova & Katarina Valaskova, 2020. "Exploring the Affective Level in Adolescents in Relation to Advertising with a Selected Emotional Appeal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-16, October.
    9. Christina Sabbagh & Emma Boyland & Catherine Hankey & Alison Parrett, 2020. "Analysing Credibility of UK Social Media Influencers’ Weight-Management Blogs: A Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-17, December.
    10. Akawut Jansom & Siwarit Pongsakornrungsilp, 2021. "How Instagram Influencers Affect the Value Perception of Thai Millennial Followers and Purchasing Intention of Luxury Fashion for Sustainable Marketing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hyun Gon Kim & Zhan Wang, 2019. "Defining and measuring social customer-relationship management (CRM) capabilities," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 40-50, March.
    2. Witek-Hajduk Marzanna K. & Zaborek Piotr, 2022. "Social media use in international marketing: Impact on brand and firm performance," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 58(2), pages 121-142, June.
    3. Ulrike Baumöl & Linda Hollebeek & Reinhard Jung, 2016. "Dynamics of customer interaction on social media platforms," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 26(3), pages 199-202, August.
    4. Simona VINEREAN, 2017. "Importance of Strategic Social Media Marketing," Expert Journal of Marketing, Sprint Investify, vol. 5(2), pages 28-35.
    5. Wang, Zhan & Kim, Hyun Gon, 2017. "Can Social Media Marketing Improve Customer Relationship Capabilities and Firm Performance? Dynamic Capability Perspective," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 15-26.
    6. Dominik M. Wielgos & Christian Homburg & Christina Kuehnl, 2021. "Digital business capability: its impact on firm and customer performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 762-789, July.
    7. Sikandar Ali Qalati & Dragana Ostic & Gu Shuibin & Fan Mingyue, 2022. "A mediated–moderated model for social media adoption and small and medium‐sized enterprise performance in emerging countries," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 846-861, April.
    8. SZIKSZAI-NÉMETH Ketrin, 2020. "Personal Branding In Team Sports Marketing," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 416-424, July.
    9. Rydén, Pernille & Ringberg, Torsten & Wilke, Ricky, 2015. "How Managers' Shared Mental Models of Business–Customer Interactions Create Different Sensemaking of Social Media," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-16.
    10. Perez-Vega, Rodrigo & Hopkinson, Paul & Singhal, Aishwarya & Mariani, Marcello M., 2022. "From CRM to social CRM: A bibliometric review and research agenda for consumer research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1-16.
    11. Brewis, Claire & Dibb, Sally & Meadows, Maureen, 2023. "Leveraging big data for strategic marketing: A dynamic capabilities model for incumbent firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    12. Marjeta Marolt & Hans-Dieter Zimmermann & Andreja Pucihar, 2022. "Social Media Use and Business Performance in SMEs: The Mediating Roles of Relational Social Commerce Capability and Competitive Advantage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-14, November.
    13. Moro, Sérgio & Rita, Paulo & Vala, Bernardo, 2016. "Predicting social media performance metrics and evaluation of the impact on brand building: A data mining approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3341-3351.
    14. Sonia Capelli & William Sabadie & Olivier Trendel, 2009. "Président, fais moi rire ! La communication politique entre peur et humour," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) halshs-00467982, HAL.
    15. Holak, Susan L. & Havlena, William J., 1998. "Feelings, Fantasies, and Memories: An Examination of the Emotional Components of Nostalgia," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 217-226, July.
    16. Coulter, Keith S. & Punj, Girish, 1999. "Influence of Viewing Context on the Determinants of Attitude Toward the Ad and the Brand," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 47-58, May.
    17. Gong, Heming & Bian, Xuemei & Zheng, Chundong, 2024. "Leveraging celebrities with inconsistent attractiveness and credibility for charitable endorsement: A cue diagnosticity perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    18. Lijuan Bai & Xiangbin Yan, 2023. "Impact of social media capability on firm performance: new evidence from China," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 118-136, February.
    19. Marcela Korenkova & Milan Maros & Michal Levicky & Milan Fila, 2020. "Consumer Perception of Modern and Traditional Forms of Advertising," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-25, November.
    20. Muhammad Ishtiaq Ishaq & Eleonora Di Maria, 2020. "Sustainability countenance in brand equity: a critical review and future research directions," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(1), pages 15-34, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4392-:d:363676. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.