IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/manmar/v18y2023i4p556-576n3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who are Portuguese followers of social media influencers (SMIs), and their attitudes towards SMIs? An exploratory study

Author

Listed:
  • Leite Ângela

    (Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Braga, Portugal)

  • Lopes Silvia

    (CICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Rodrigues Anabela

    (Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Braga, Portugal)

Abstract

Influencers serve as crucial role models, influencing the behavior, aesthetics, and ideologies of their followers. This cross-sectional study aims to explore the perspectives of Portuguese social media users toward influencers. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from 759 participants obtained through snowball sampling. The majority (75.5%) were female, averaging 26 years in age. Descriptive statistics, mean comparisons, and correlations were utilized for analysis. Portuguese followers of social media influencers, primarily consisting of young women with lower formal education, are active on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. They spend considerable time on social media, engaging with influencers through actions such as liking or tagging friends. Fashion and beauty influencers are particularly favored. Followers value influencers who interact with them, appreciate personal posts and disclosures, and form parasocial relationships with influencers. While many express a willingness to purchase products promoted by influencers, a noteworthy portion hasn’t made such purchases. Participants express uncertainty about the guaranteed quality of products endorsed by influencers, yet 36.5% acknowledge the significance of influencers in discovering new products or trends.This study provides valuable insights for influencers and brands targeting a specific audience. It also underscores potential concerns for followers, emphasizing the link between excessive social media use and problematic behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Leite Ângela & Lopes Silvia & Rodrigues Anabela, 2023. "Who are Portuguese followers of social media influencers (SMIs), and their attitudes towards SMIs? An exploratory study," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 18(4), pages 556-576, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:manmar:v:18:y:2023:i:4:p:556-576:n:3
    DOI: 10.2478/mmcks-2023-0030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/mmcks-2023-0030
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/mmcks-2023-0030?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anjali Chopra & Vrushali Avhad & and Sonali Jaju, 2021. "Influencer Marketing: An Exploratory Study to Identify Antecedents of Consumer Behavior of Millennial," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 9(1), pages 77-91, January.
    2. van Laer, Tom & Feiereisen, Stephanie & Visconti, Luca M., 2019. "Storytelling in the digital era: A meta-analysis of relevant moderators of the narrative transportation effect," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 135-146.
    3. Aw, Eugene Cheng-Xi & Chuah, Stephanie Hui-Wen, 2021. "“Stop the unattainable ideal for an ordinary me!” fostering parasocial relationships with social media influencers: The role of self-discrepancy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 146-157.
    4. Gerrath, Maximilian H.E.E. & Usrey, Bryan, 2021. "The impact of influencer motives and commonness perceptions on follower reactions toward incentivized reviews," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 531-548.
    5. Mingli Liu & Kimberly E. Kamper-DeMarco & Jie Zhang & Jia Xiao & Daifeng Dong & Peng Xue, 2022. "Time Spent on Social Media and Risk of Depression in Adolescents: A Dose–Response Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Bush, Alan J. & Martin, Craig A. & Bush, Victoria D., 2004. "Sports Celebrity Influence on the Behavioral Intentions of Generation Y," Journal of Advertising Research, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 108-118, March.
    7. Ki, Chung-Wha (Chloe) & Cuevas, Leslie M. & Chong, Sze Man & Lim, Heejin, 2020. "Influencer marketing: Social media influencers as human brands attaching to followers and yielding positive marketing results by fulfilling needs," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    8. Belanche, Daniel & Casaló, Luis V. & Flavián, Marta & Ibáñez-Sánchez, Sergio, 2021. "Understanding influencer marketing: The role of congruence between influencers, products and consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 186-195.
    9. Bárbara Castillo-Abdul & Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez & Johana Balseca, 2021. "Hola Followers! Content Analysis of YouTube Channels of Female Fashion Influencers in Spain and Ecuador," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Farivar, Samira & Wang, Fang, 2022. "Effective influencer marketing: A social identity perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Barta, Sergio & Belanche, Daniel & Fernández, Ana & Flavián, Marta, 2023. "Influencer marketing on TikTok: The effectiveness of humor and followers’ hedonic experience," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    3. 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.
    4. Boman, Laura & Lefebvre, Sarah & Urumutta Hewage, Ganga S., 2023. "When push comes to shove: How coach versus student athlete misconduct affects event attendance intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Aw, Eugene Cheng-Xi & Chuah, Stephanie Hui-Wen, 2021. "“Stop the unattainable ideal for an ordinary me!” fostering parasocial relationships with social media influencers: The role of self-discrepancy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 146-157.
    6. Thi Cam Tu Dinh & Mengqi Wang & Yoonjae Lee, 2023. "How Does the Fear of Missing Out Moderate the Effect of Social Media Influencers on Their Followers’ Purchase Intention?," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, September.
    7. Alboqami, Hassan, 2023. "Trust me, I'm an influencer! - Causal recipes for customer trust in artificial intelligence influencers in the retail industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Cheung, Man Lai & Leung, Wilson K.S. & Aw, Eugene Cheng-Xi & Koay, Kian Yeik, 2022. "“I follow what you post!†: The role of social media influencers’ content characteristics in consumers' online brand-related activities (COBRAs)," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    9. Ooi, Keng-Boon & Lee, Voon-Hsien & Hew, Jun-Jie & Leong, Lai-Ying & Tan, Garry Wei-Han & Lim, Ai-Fen, 2023. "Social media influencers: An effective marketing approach?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    10. Xiao Liu & Xiaoyong Zheng, 2024. "The persuasive power of social media influencers in brand credibility and purchase intention," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    11. Robert Zniva & Wolfgang J. Weitzl & Christina Lindmoser, 2023. "Be constantly different! How to manage influencer authenticity," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1485-1514, September.
    12. Belanche, Daniel & Casaló, Luis V. & Flavián, Marta, 2024. "Human versus virtual influences, a comparative study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    13. Taerin Chung & Kwang-Yong Lee & Uk Kim, 2022. "The Impact of Sustainable Management Strategies of Sports Apparel Brands on Brand Reliability and Purchase Intention through Single Person Media during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Path Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-12, June.
    14. Alcántara-Pilar, Juan Miguel & Rodriguez-López, María Eugenia & Kalinić, Zoran & Liébana-Cabanillas, Francisco, 2024. "From likes to loyalty: Exploring the impact of influencer credibility on purchase intentions in TikTok," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Hsieh, Jung-Kuei, 2023. "The impact of influencers' multi-SNS use on followers’ behavioral intentions: An integration of cue consistency theory and social identity theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    16. Filieri, Raffaele & Acikgoz, Fulya & Du, Hao, 2023. "Electronic word-of-mouth from video bloggers: The role of content quality and source homophily across hedonic and utilitarian products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    17. Krystyna Mazurek-Lopacinska & Magdalena Sobocinska, 2021. "Social Media in Marketing Activities of Enterprises in the Light of the Analysis of Empirical Research Results," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4B), pages 647-658.
    18. Eleni Kilipiri & Eugenia Papaioannou & Iordanis Kotzaivazoglou, 2023. "Social Media and Influencer Marketing for Promoting Sustainable Tourism Destinations: The Instagram Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-18, April.
    19. Robiady, Nurlita Devian & Windasari, Nila Armelia & Nita, Arfenia, 2021. "Customer engagement in online social crowdfunding: The influence of storytelling technique on donation performance," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 492-500.
    20. Katerina Gkalitsiou & Dimosthenis Kotsopoulos, 2023. "When the Going Gets Tough, Leaders Use Metaphors and Storytelling: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study on Communication in the Context of COVID-19 and Ukraine Crises," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-42, April.

    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:vrs:manmar:v:18:y:2023:i:4:p:556-576:n:3. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.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.