New Social Media Cinderella’s: On the Double Effect of Underdog Status and Homophily on SMI Perceptions and Buying Intentions: An Abstract

Abstract

With the rise of digitalization processes within firms, brands’ significant presence on social media has become crucial for creating added value to consumers. Therefore, creating a distinct brand image and deciding which digital channels will enable better interaction with consumers is essential for brands. Numerous brands, especially in the fashion and lifestyle, have decided to opt for influencer marketing as part of their advertising. Most studies dealing with influencer marketing have focused on the content posted on Instagram, the motives for using this social network, the antecedents of consumer interaction on a brand’s official Instagram account, or the effects of brand-generated content features on actual consumer behavior. However, the question of which characteristics of influencers are likely to generate positive reactions toward the brand remains understudied. In this research, we investigate the impact of perceived Social Media Influencers (SMI) homophily and underdog effects on consumers’ perceived playfulness, trust, perceived message quality and brand purchase intentions. The strong trend of the rise of small influencers on social media at the expense of top dog and star system influencers seems to be confirmed. One of the main explanations given by this research is that the degree to which consumers perceive the brand as “meritocratic” or deserving is a significant predictor of positive attitude and behavior towards influencers and brands. Indeed, despite the increasing number of SMIs that have emerged on social networks, this is - to our knowledge - one of the first studies analyzing the dual effect of PMI underdog status and homophily on perceived playfulness, trust, message quality, and purchase intentions. The results confirm that both underdog status and homophily influence playfulness. This research also confirms the positive effects of underdog and homophily on trust and message quality. Consumers are more likely to believe content from followers they can relate to.