Reference:
Teresa Borges-Tiago, M., Santiago, J., & Tiago, F. (2023). Mega or macro social media influencers: Who endorses brands better? Journal of Business Research, 157. https://doi-org.devinci.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113606
Keywords: Celebrity endorsement, Brand equity, customer-brand management, Brand credibility,customer-endorser envolvement.
Summary:
This study conducted an online survey to determine the antecedents and consequences of endorsers’ participation in marketing and communication strategies. The results of path analysis showed that brand and endorser credibility played a significant role in determining customer brand engagement and brand equity. Endorser credibility impacted brand equity only in the case of mega-influencers. Smaller influencers exhibited higher prowess than celebrities to engage customers, thus suggesting that “less is more.”
Development:
The research mode was l built on the Associative-Network Memory Theory
The study employed a two-phase exploratory research design:
Phase 1 : Influencer pool selection
mega-influencers: christiano ronaldo endorsing nike
macro-influencers: couple Ana Guiomar and Diogo Valsassina endorsing Vodafone
Phase 2 : Data collection
online survey with 270 valid responses from portugese consumers between 18-25 years old
. 61.1% evaluated the mega-influencer scenario and 38.9% evaluated the macro-influencer scenario.
Key findings:
Brand credibility has a massive direct impact on brand equity (0.697) and customer brand engagement (0.318).
A customer’s emotional/cognitive involvement with an influencer strongly and positively affects both the influencer’s perceived credibility and customer-brand engagement.
the less is more theory was rejected (H12) type of influencer does matter significantly.
Mega-influencers effectively boost brand credibility and brand equity, but requires a re-existing congruence between the brand and the celebrity
Macro-influencers (smaller networks) display a higher prowess for generating direct consumer engagement
Limitation:
The data collection was limited exclusively to Portuguese consumers so it cant be generalizable to other countries or cultural contexts.