Does your style engage? Linguistic styles of influencers and digital consumer engagement on YouTube

Abstract

As social media influencers have become a global phenomenon, brands are channeling substantial resources into influencer marketing campaigns. Researchers are keenly exploring diverse content factors that wield influence in online social spheres, including linguistic elements. However, uncertainties persist regarding their association with digital consumer engagement. To bridge this knowledge gap, our study takes a comprehensive approach to identify prevalent linguistic styles employed by social media influencers, integrating multiple linguistic variables. We collected data and audio transcripts from over 11,000 videos featuring 151 top YouTube influencers. Native language processing and automated coding were then employed to extract linguistic variables from the videos. Utilizing a data dimensionality reduction technique (t-SNE), we streamlined their complexity and categorized them to unearth patterns in linguistic style within the sample. Consequently, we proposed an original taxonomy comprising seven linguistic styles used by influencers: videos of expert advice, storytelling, intimate experiences, struggle and overcoming, motivation and guidance, coaching and mentoring, and middle-of-the-road videos. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that each linguistic style correlates with varying levels of digital consumer engagement. These findings not only enhance the existing body of knowledge on influencer marketing and social influence but also offer important insights for influencers and marketing practitioners on selecting the most effective linguistic style for content creation to drive consumer engagement.