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Followers' engagement with instagram influencers: The role of influencers’ content and engagement strategy

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  • Tafesse, Wondwesen
  • Wood, Bronwyn P.

Abstract

Influencer marketing has emerged as an effective approach for brands to connect with customers through social media influencers. Although influencer marketing has attracted increased interest from marketing researchers in recent years, relatively little is known about influencers' content and engagement strategy and its links to followers' engagement behavior. The present study addresses this gap by examining how measures of influencers' content and engagement strategy (i.e., follower count, followee count, content volume, and domains of interest) are associated with followers' engagement behavior on Instagram both independently and interactively. The study leverages a unique dataset of Instagram influencers compiled by scraping an online influencer database to test its hypotheses. The findings indicate that follower count and content volume are negatively associated with follower engagement, while followee count is positively associated with follower engagement. However, these main effects are modified by influencers' domains of interest. The findings contribute to the literature by illuminating how elements of influencers' content and engagement strategy contribute to followers’ engagement behavior on Instagram.

Suggested Citation

  • Tafesse, Wondwesen & Wood, Bronwyn P., 2021. "Followers' engagement with instagram influencers: The role of influencers’ content and engagement strategy," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:58:y:2021:i:c:s0969698920313114
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102303
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    4. Ren, Shengnan & Karimi, Sahar & Bravo Velázquez, Alberto & Cai, Jianfeng, 2023. "Endorsement effectiveness of different social media influencers: The moderating effect of brand competence and warmth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    5. Barta, Sergio & Belanche, Daniel & Fernández, Ana & Flavián, Marta, 2023. "Influencer marketing on TikTok: The effectiveness of humor and followers’ hedonic experience," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Aw, Eugene Cheng-Xi & Chuah, Stephanie Hui-Wen, 2021. "“Stop the unattainable ideal for an ordinary me!” fostering parasocial relationships with social media influencers: The role of self-discrepancy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 146-157.
    7. Belanche, Daniel & Casaló, Luis V. & Flavián, Marta & Ibáñez-Sánchez, Sergio, 2021. "Building influencers' credibility on Instagram: Effects on followers’ attitudes and behavioral responses toward the influencer," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
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    9. Belanche, Daniel & Casaló, Luis V. & Flavián, Marta & Ibáñez-Sánchez, Sergio, 2021. "Understanding influencer marketing: The role of congruence between influencers, products and consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 186-195.
    10. Johnson, Nicholas E. & Short, Jeremy C. & Chandler, Jeffrey A. & Jordan, Samantha L., 2022. "Introducing the contentpreneur: Making the case for research on content creation-based online platforms," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    11. Xiuping Zhang & Jaewon Choi, 2022. "The Importance of Social Influencer-Generated Contents for User Cognition and Emotional Attachment: An Information Relevance Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-18, May.
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    14. Cheung, Man Lai & Leung, Wilson K.S. & Aw, Eugene Cheng-Xi & Koay, Kian Yeik, 2022. "“I follow what you post!†: The role of social media influencers’ content characteristics in consumers' online brand-related activities (COBRAs)," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    15. Tafesse, Wondwesen & Dayan, Mumin, 2023. "Content creators' participation in the creator economy: Examining the effect of creators’ content sharing frequency on user engagement behavior on digital platforms," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

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