Social media influencers: an exploratory approach to the relationship with SMI’s followers

• Autor(a) principal: Castro, Ana Carolina Coelho Silva Fonseca
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/39065
• topic: Social media influencers; Influencer marketing; Sponsored content; Followers; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

More than ever, Influencer Marketing plays a crucial role on brand’s communication plan. Though, qualitative research has dedicated little attention to Social Media Influencers’ relationship with their followers. This paper aims to study in detail how SMIs maintain a relationship with their followers based on trust, despite the sponsored content. Thirteen semistructured interviews are analyzed used Gioia Method and three aggregate dimensions that helped explain the phenomenon arose from the analysis: triggers to accept a partnership, product experience and direct interaction with followers. This study concludes that the key dimension to a trust relationship relies on a selective acceptance of partnerships by SMIs. This conclusion highlights the importance of brands’ managers to approach the right influencers, only a suitable partnership allows a fluid and transparent communication. Managers might use this study to better understand the SMI Phenomenon from the Influencers’ perspective, comprehending various aspects, from the criteria used to accept a partnership to how they communicate directly with their followers.