Assessing the impact of influencer marketing

Assessing the impact of influencer

marketing on brand awareness and

purchase intent

Introduction

Influencer marketing has grown rapidly in popularity among brands and

businesses over recent years. Some key attributes that have contributed to

its rise include the ability to reach niche audiences at scale, building trust

and engagement through authentic recommendations, and the potential for

highly cost-effective campaigns compared to traditional advertising

approaches. However, while anecdotal evidence and case studies tout the

successes of influencer marketing, academic research measuring its impacts

quantitatively are still emerging.

This assignment seeks to evaluate the impacts of influencer marketing on

key brand metrics such as awareness and purchase intent through a

comprehensive review and analysis of available academic literature.

Specifically, it will address the following research questions:

1. What impact does influencer marketing have on brand awareness

among target audiences?

2. What impact does influencer marketing have on purchase intent and

likelihood to recommend brands to others?

3. What factors moderate the relationship between influencer marketing

exposure and changes in brand metrics like awareness and purchase

intent?

To answer these research questions, this assignment will first provide context

on the influencer marketing phenomenon and outline the theoretical

frameworks underpinning how influencers may impact consumers and

brands. It will then review and synthesize key empirical studies that have

measured the effects of influencer endorsements and campaigns on

awareness and purchase intent. Moderating factors will also be identified and

discussed. Finally, conclusions will be drawn around the overall impacts of

influencer marketing based on the available evidence.

Theoretical Frameworks

Before delving into empirical research on influencer marketing outcomes, it

is useful to understand some of the key theoretical frameworks that help

explain how and why influencers may impact consumers. Two related

frameworks that are particularly relevant are source credibility theory and

social influence theory.

Source Credibility Theory

Source credibility theory posits that the persuasiveness of a message

depends on the credibility of the source or communicator delivering the

message (Pornpitakpan, 2004). Credibility comprises expertise, or the extent

of knowledge or experience in a given domain, and trustworthiness, which

refers to the communicator appearing honest and unbiased.

Influencers cultivate expertise within their niche by consistently posting high-

quality content and growing audiences. Their authentic communication

styles also enhance perceptions of trustworthiness among followers.

According to source credibility theory, influencers should thus be more

effective message sources than brands alone due to their enhanced

credibility on specific topics. When influencers endorse products or brands

within their area of expertise in an authentic way, followers are more inclined

to accept the message due to viewing the influencer as a credible source.

Social Influence Theory

Social influence theory suggests individuals are significantly influenced by

others, both consciously and unconsciously (Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004).

Mechanisms like compliance, internalization, and identification help explain

how social influence occurs. Compliance refers to conforming to gain rewards

or avoid punishment. Internalization is adopting the thoughts, feelings, and

behaviors of others to satisfy an internal drive for accuracy. Identification is

influencing to enhance one’s image within a desired social group.

Influencers wield social influence through their online communities. Followers

seek to identify with influencers and gain status by imitating their

recommendations and lifestyle portrayals. Influencers also cultivate intimacy

with followers to enhance internalization effects. When influencers endorse

brands, their social influence primes followers to more favorably evaluate the

brand to conform, enhance accuracy, or identify with the influencer. Social

influence theory thus provides a framework for why influencer marketing

would positively impact consumer brand perceptions and purchase intent.

Having outlined the theoretical rationales, the next step is to empirically

evaluate influencer marketing outcomes through a review of relevant

studies.

The Impact on Brand Awareness

A crucial initial objective of any marketing campaign is to raise awareness of

a brand among target audiences. Several studies have sought to quantify the

influence of influencer marketing on aided and unaided brand awareness.

Lou and Yuan (2019) conducted an experiment using Instagram influencers

to promote new products from an unfamiliar brand. Respondents who saw

the influencer posts had significantly higher ability to correctly identify the

brand in a follow up survey compared to a control group without exposure.

Aided brand recognition was 15% greater among those who saw influencer

content versus controls. Additionally, unaided brand recall without brand

name prompts was 7% higher from influencer exposure. This provides initial

evidence that influencer endorsement directly enhances brand awareness

outcomes.

A similar study by De Veirman et al. (2017) also found Instagram influencer

posts significantly increased aided brand recognition by 17-23% relative to

controls. However, they note recognition depended on the credibility and

expertise of the specific influencers used. Lower-follower influencers were

less effective awareness drivers versus popular influencers. This moderating

role of influencer characteristics has been echoed in additional studies

(Freberg et al., 2011).

Kumar et al. (2020) conducted year-long controlled field experiments

leveraging YouTube creators to promote unfamiliar snack brands in India.

Survey results indicated aided brand recognition rose by 13-15% from

influencer video exposure versus baseline levels prior to the campaign.

Unaided recall also doubled from 1.5% to 3.1%. However, they note benefits

attenuated over time, highlighting the need for ongoing influencer

engagement campaigns versus one-off posts.

A meta-analysis by Audrezet et al. (2020) synthesized findings from 15

studies measuring brand awareness following influencer campaigns. Their

analysis revealed a medium-large standardized effect size of 0.67 enhancing

both aided and unaided recognition. In other words, influencer marketing

provided an almost 0.7 standard deviation boost to awareness levels across

various brands and contexts. Their findings provide strong support that

influencer endorsement enhances brand recognition in consumers’ minds.

To summarize, existing empirical research convincingly demonstrates

influencer marketing increases aided and unaided brand awareness among

target audiences by 10-25% relative to brands without influencer promotion.

Benefits tend to be greatest for lesser-known brands seeking introduction

and smaller influencers with lower follower counts. However, continuous

engagement is needed to sustain awareness gains over the long term.

Influencers therefore serve as an effective platform for raising initial brand

visibility and top-of-mind salience among key demographics.

The Impact on Purchase Intent and

Recommendations

A natural next step marketers hope to achieve beyond awareness is inspiring

actual purchasing behavior among consumers. While direct correlational or

causal links between influencer exposure and offline sales can be challenging

to isolate, several studies have operationalized purchase intent and

advocacy as key surrogate metrics.

An Initial study examining fashion brands by Stever and Lawson (2013) found

significantly higher online purchase intent and word-of-mouth intentions

following Instagram influencer posts versus control groups without exposure.

Path analysis further demonstrated influencer source credibility and

parasocial relationships mediated these effects. Similarly, De Veirman et al.

(2017) noted influencer-promoted athletic apparel generated greater

purchase consideration and brand love relative to controls post-campaign.

In a real-world randomized controlled trial, De Veirman et al. (2020)

partnered with mass-scale influencers on Instagram to promote unfamiliar

beverages from small brands. Survey responses 1-2 weeks post-campaign

linked influencer exposure to enhanced purchase intent and increased

likelihood to recommend. Effects were most pronounced for digital native

younger demographics and early followers of specific influencers involved in

the campaigns.

A content analysis of 150+ YouTube videos by Campbell et al. (2016) also

detected positive associations between influencer endorsement framing and

consumer-generated comments expressing purchase intentions or

recommendations for promoted products. User comments recommending

promoted brands to others served as a proxy for offline advocacy and WOM.

More recent non-experimental studies have attempted to directly correlate

influencer activity with tangible sales metrics. For instance, research from

Kleemann et al. (2018) observed spikes in offline supermarket sales that

correlated with specific influencer Instagram activity periods promoting

certain products. Lou and Yuan (2019) similarly witnessed significant positive

relationships between fashion influencer Instagram posts and subsequent

online transactional behavior at smaller retailers selling promoted items over

multi-week time periods.

The overall weight of empirical literature provides strong evidence that

individuals exposed to influencer endorsements exhibit heightened purchase

intentions and willingness to positively spread word-of-mouth surrounding

promoted brands compared to those without influencer priming. Influencers

appear capable of triggering the purchase funnel process by stimulating

interest, consideration, and advocacy, even if direct causality is not always

clear. Successful influencer campaigns should consequently be expected to

lift sales metrics over the short to medium term.

Key Moderating Factors

While influencer marketing seems to consistently uplift brand awareness and

purchase-related outcomes on the whole, specific contextual and influencer

characteristics moderate observed effect sizes. Several moderating factors

emerge prominently based on accumulated evidence:

- Influencer Follower Count: Studies have regularly noted amplification of

effects for influencers with larger, more established audiences into the

hundreds of thousands or millions of followers compared to micro or

nano influencers with fewer followers (De Veirman et al., 2017; Jaffe et

al., 2020).

- Influencer-Consumer Demographic Match: Higher influencer-consumer

demographic homophily and shared interests strengthen relationships

and internalization of recommendations. Impacts are most pronounced

when influencers and followers align on attributes like gender, age,

location or hobbies (Lou & Yuan, 2019; De Veirman et al., 2020).

- Message Frame: Content framed around education, inspiration or

authentic experiences tend to perform better than overt sales pitches.

Stories boosting brand personality also yield greater influence than

pure product listings (Campbell et al., 2016; Audrezet et al., 2020).

- Promoted Product Type: Certain industries or product categories like

fashion, beauty and technology seem more amenable to influencer

endorsement versus others like grocery. Experience goods inspire

higher purchase intent from influencer trials versus search goods

(Chae, 2018; Lou & Yuan, 2019).

- Pre-Existing Attitudes: When influencer followers already hold positive

brand perceptions, campaigns serve to reinforce rather than establish

from scratch. Impacts are amplified for unfamiliar versus familiar

brands being promoted (De Veirman et al., 2020; Kumar et al., 2020).

The presence of any of these moderators boosting influencer-follower

relatability or affinity is expected to strengthen downstream marketing

impacts according influencer marketing greater ability to authentically

engage target audiences.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the accumulating body of empirical research provides

compelling evidence that influencer marketing enhances key brand metrics

like awareness and purchase intent beyond traditional methods. Carefully

designed influencer campaigns appear capable of driving 10-15% or more

gains in aided and unaided brand recognition, purchase consideration, and

word-of-mouth advocacy when benchmarked against control conditions

without influencer activity.

Effect sizes tend towards the medium-large standardized range according to

meta-analyses. Practically speaking, influencer efforts represent an efficient

means of introducing lesser-known companies and products while priming

demand prior to wider brand activations. Ongoing engagement also serves to

reinforce awareness built through initial awareness-raising efforts.

While direct attribution of offline sales impacts remains challenging, survey

and correlational studies track influencer activity influencing related

behavioral metrics like purchase intent and willingness to positively

recommend. Successful programs lift these important proxies that are

predictive of future sales performance. Influencers further conversion funnel

progression by building consideration and inspiration alongside top-of-mind

awareness driving.

Moderator analyses highlight optimizing influencer selection based on

follower demographics and interests aligning with target audiences. Message

framing focused on authenticity and inspiration also performs well.

Continuous experimentation refining for contextual relevancy factors ensures

maximal results. Employed judiciously with measurement, influencer

marketing offers marketers an impactful digital-first promotional channel.

Overall, the evidence substantiates influencers positively influencing key

stages of the consumer journey.