Success Factors in Micro-Celebrity Endorsement: The Role of Informational and Narrative Content in Product Recommendation

Abstract

Micro-celebrities (MCs) are people who leverage on their popularity, gained among followers, by showcasing their talent over the Internet. Given the strong influence power of micro-celebrity, micro-celebrity endorsement is becoming a valuable phenomenon. This research aims to explore the impact of informational content and narrative content, which are embedded in micro-celebrity’s recommendation post, on the persuasion effectiveness. From the perspective of elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and narrative transportation theory, a research model is discussed. We propose that the informational content may positively influence persuasion effectiveness through central route, and narrative content may positively influence persuasion effectiveness through peripheral route. Moreover, follower’s emotional attachment and role model-identification on the micro-celebrity may moderate the two processing. A plan for data collection and analysis is discussed. In the future, we will finish the data collection and analysis to justify the proposed hypotheses.