From social feeds to market fields: How influencer stories drive market innovation

One post at a time, social media influencers are transforming markets. From beauty to technology, they are changing the way consumers form opinions and engage with the marketplace. Yet, past marketing scholarship has predominantly portrayed influencers as brand intermediaries—conduits for amplifying brand messages and appealing to a wider audience. This brand-centric perspective overlooks the broader role that influencers play in reshaping entire markets and thus restricts our understanding of influencers’ importance in market systems. In this study, we examine how stories shared by influencers drive market innovation, the process by which new ideas, practices, and technologies reshape markets. Drawing on an ethnographic approach to a unique context—Indian farmers who have become influencers on social media—we document how social media stories spread new ways for followers to understand and behave in the market, with consequences that change the market system itself. We thus reveal how influencers contribute to market innovation, while uncovering the narrative dynamics that drive their impact. These findings should spur new ways of thinking about and engaging with influencers. Instead of focusing solely on influencers’ role as brand intermediaries, managers and policy makers need to harness their market innovation capabilities.