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Despite firms' continued interest in using influencers to reach their target consumers, academic and practical insights are limited on what levers an influencer can use to enhance audience engagement using their posts. We demonstrate that posting stories with or about people whom they share close ties with—such as family, friends, and romantic partners—can be one effective lever. Content that incorporates close social ties can be effective for several reasons: it may increase perceptions of authenticity, enhance perceived similarity, increase the perception that the influencer possesses more warmth, and could satisfy viewers' interpersonal curiosity. We analyze texts and photographs of 55,631 posts of 763 influencers on Instagram, and after controlling for several variables, we find robust support that consumers "like" posts that reference close social ties. Furthermore, this effect enhances when first-person pronouns are used to describe special moments with these close ties. We supplement the Instagram data with an experimental approach and confirm the relationship between close ties and consumer engagement. Managerially, this is a useful insight as we also show that sponsored posts tend to be perceived negatively compared to non-sponsored posts; yet, embedding social ties on the sponsored posts can mitigate consumers' negative responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper advances a subcategory of influencers who mobilise their audiences towards consumption-driven change; we label them 'ethical influencers'. Using netnography and an archival dataset on ten ethical influencers, we delineate their unique challenges and positioning. Ethical influencers legitimate their accounts via a close-up of personal practices, as opposed to an articulated persona, and connect with divergent audiences to advocate for the needed change. Our paper describes the divergent audience groups and engagement styles: allies, inquisitives, detractors, and enigmatics. We also identify the ethical influencers' linking strategies to connect these audiences with other market actors (e.g. ethical businesses and other ethical influencers) which include acting, humanising, framing, pivoting, and evangelising. This research advances influencer marketing literature and offers important managerial and public policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of social media marketing in shaping economic decisions among consumers. This study aims to examine the characteristics influencing consumer intentions, with a strong emphasis on the role of influencers. In order to conduct this study, a logistic regression was employed. The sample reveals that individuals who view influencers as credible sources of information and experience, those who exhibit homophily with influencers, those who perceive the influencers' content as high-quality, and those who develop strong parasocial relationships with influencers show higher consumption intentions. In contrast, older individuals tend to have lower consumption intentions. These consumption intention characteristics vary across genders and generations. The study concludes with recommendations targeting all relevant stakeholders, influencers, businesses, policy makers, and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds a game theory model of influencer endorsements and product comments by their followers. Many customers choose products based on information from social media influencers. Companies can pay these influencers to promote their products. We develop a model in which customers read an influencer's sponsored post for a mix of entertainment and product information, and those who purchase the product can leave comments for future customers. We derive conditions in which a large celebrity influencer endorses all products, whereas a microinfluencer adopts a policy of endorsing only high-quality products. In equilibrium, the microinfluencer screens for high-quality products so his followers do not waste time reading informative comments about low-quality products. By contrast, the celebrity influencer attracts so many uninformative comments his followers do not use his comments as a source of product information, and the value of his endorsement arises solely from generating product awareness. History: Ganesh Iyer served as the senior editor for this article. Conflict of Interest Statement: All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or nonfinancial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2022.0186. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article articulates the intersection of wellness communities and anti-vaccine ('anti-vax') groups to demonstrate how vaccine misinformation and pseudoscience can propagate. This misinformation is often pushed by wellness influencers. One recent example is wellness figure Pete Evans, a celebrity chef and self-described 'qualified health coach'. By 2020, however, Evans had developed anti-vax views and began to promote fake COVID cures, anti-vax misinformation, and COVID conspiracy theories from QAnon. This contribution examines this overlap to demonstrate how wellness influencers spread misinformation that fuel vaccine hesitancy. Evans is just one example; journalists have reported on yoga teachers in California protesting against lockdowns and on wellness influencers claiming that a '"shadowy cabal" of scientists and companies' were responsible for COVID. These examples demonstrate how community intersections can amplify misinformation, pseudoscience and anti-vax views to a motivated and highly receptive audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the advocacy for children with disabilities in the context of sharenting practices on social media. The focus is on a case study of a 5‐year‐old British girl with Down syndrome (DS) named AC, whose Instagram account is managed by her mother. The study involved analysing all the content shared on the account, including single images, carousels, and videos (n = 1195), Reels (n = 310), pinned highlights (n = 6), and content tagged by other accounts (n = 74). The Instagram narratives were inductively categorized into three groups: Normalizing DS, Coping with DS, and DS macro‐level advocacy. The sharenting portrayal of AC has contributed to the growth of a supportive community challenging social stereotypes while promoting a more inclusive society. However, the study raises concerns about privacy, commodification, and self‐representation of the child in the context of sharenting advocacy. The mother's efforts to blend advocacy with commodification may compromise AC's privacy in pursuit of public recognition of DS children and financial benefits. While the social media portrayal attempts to offer the child's perspective, this case may not accurately represent self‐advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terminology in the digital media environment has multiplied in recent years due to the multiplicity of its user segments. We often hear about electronic journalists, content creators, and so-called "influencers." The term "electronic journalist" and the term "content creator" are clear terms in terms of concept and in terms of the segment that each term represents, whether in its activity on social media sites, its goals, or its roles towards the recipient or society, while the term "influencers" is one of the most unclear terms. The landmarks, whether in relation to the segment represented by this concept or in relation to their characteristics and advantages, in terms of the influence they exert and the possibility of describing them with the term "influencers" in all its meanings, who are sometimes almost classified as leaders of public opinion; This brings us back to the periods of influence theories and magic bullet theory, while there is a category of so-called "influencers" who can only be considered as advertising or commercial fronts at times. The results of the study concluded that it is important to reconsider the term "influencers" and apply it to the category that actually contributes to influencing society and leading public opinion, whether in the political, social, cultural, or other fields. Like content creators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular and professional psychology merge to produce novel forms on TikTok—a platform on which therapeutic content grew enormously during the pandemic, rendering it a productive site to examine mediated mental health subjectivities, including ways people come to understand themselves in terms of mental health pathologies. Examining the dynamic interplay of capacities and constraints of therapeutic and algorithmic frameworks reveals ways in which therapeutic roles and rituals are re-negotiated in this space. Therapists utilize memetic tropes of the platform to position themselves within its affective flows, while leveraging beliefs about the algorithm to connect with users. The affective engagement of users' works to curate a stream of content against which mental health and therapeutic frameworks are evaluated, ultimately designating a diagnostic gaze to a charismatic algorithm—a potentially emergent social media case of automated forms becoming paradigmatic in the ways we conceive of mental health and therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, feminism's visibility in Western pop culture and social media has seemingly made it ever more accessible for young people (Banet-Weiser, S. 2019. Empowered: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny. Durham, NC: Duke University Press). This article uses the framework of youth 'knowledge cultures' to analyse how feminist knowledge is negotiated and remade in online culture, going beyond characterisations of online feminism primarily in terms of either 'activism', or the linear 'accessing' of feminist ideas. Drawing on an ongoing empirical project located in Australia involving 50 young feminists who regularly engage with feminist social media culture, we highlight participants' affective practices of analysis and critique in connection with three Australian feminist 'influencers' with significant social media presences: Clementine Ford, a white columnist and memoirist; Abbie Chatfield, a white former Bachelor contestant, now podcaster and TV personality; and Lillian Ahenkan aka Flex Mami, a Black entrepreneur, and podcaster. We highlight how practices of distancing and proximity are enacted by participants in affective knowledge practices in relation to these influencers. We suggest the framework of 'accessibility' that predominates in scholarship obscures the complex classed, racialised and gendered dynamics through which knowledge is hierarchically made, contested, and accorded legitimacy in social media knowledge cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper examines the changing terrain of accessing health and illness guidance and information through the lens of social media, specifically It argues how Instagram, has increasingly become an unregulated ­public health platform in today’s digital society. Drawing on extensive empirical interview data from two research projects before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, which explored how users showcased and performed health and illness on Instagram, this paper demonstrates how Instagram has became an important forum from which to perform proactive health practices, as well as to legitimate ill health through making healthy behaviours visible, as well as invisible illnesses like disease, COVID-19, and mental health conditions. Over time and through continuous sharing of this content may contribute to increased understanding or even a de-stigmatisation of such illnesses or chronic conditions. With the social media market currently valued at 49.9 billion, and influencer spending around 4.9 billion, the value, reach and direct impact of this ‘attention economy’ on public health should not be underestimated. Instagram serves as a forum for these practices and helps legitimize ill health by making both healthy behaviours and ­invisible illnesses visible. This visibility can contribute to increased understanding and de-stigmatization of chronic conditions and mental health issues. The paper argues that Instagram has evolved into an informal, unregulated public health platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing concern about animal welfare has caused consumers to increase interest in sustainable products. Consequently, the beauty industry is increasingly committed to cruelty-free products. The rise of social media and influencers has driven this shift towards ethical and responsible consumption. Platforms such as Instagram have played a relevant role in disseminating messages related to sustainability through these opinion leaders. The research conducted a methodological triangulation to understand how beauty influencers communicate cruelty-free content and how these messages influence their followers. The methodological design includes a content analysis, a survey and in-depth interviews. The study’s findings indicate that beauty influencers’ communicative efforts are limited and do not significantly impact the prescription of cruelty-free products. The conclusions recommend expanding communication strategies in other digital media to increase awareness in the public sphere for sustainable social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luxury fashion brands use Instagram as a channel to disseminate their corporate identities. They try to cover market niches that they did not previously reach due to their exclusive nature, by publishing content about their own events, such as catwalks. Fashion shows have become branding instruments. However, previous literature focuses on the collaborations of these brands with influencers, without giving the main role to the primary sender of the organizational discourse. What formats are used most? With what intention? How does the firm relate to the influencer in the corporate profile? What type of content generates the greatest impact on the audience? To answer these research questions, this work starts with the main objective of comparing how the most followed fashion luxury brands use Instagram to transmit their identities through the promotion of their fashion shows. A mixed, quantitative and qualitative content analysis is proposed of the 387 posts published by Dior, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton and Gucci between February 10 and March 7, 2023, when the weeks of the fashion from Paris, Milan, New York and London. The analysis reflects a non-proportional relationship between the frequency of publication, the interactions recorded and the percentage of engagement, the latter being higher when the format used is the image participated by an influencer. Likewise, the discursive intention is eminently commercial, with specific products taking center stage even when brand stories are shared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumerism and its associated discourses have long been associated with schooling. Indeed, the curriculum of schooling has been said to produce a consumer citizen. In this paper, we consider the production of the consumer teacher by examining the role social media education influencers play in facilitating the relationship between market ideology and education. Through inquiry into publicly available Instagram posts shared by 18 education influencers comprising the popular United States-based P-12 educator collaborative, Teach Your Heart Out ™, we explore how the discourses used in the figured world of P-12 teaching created by education influencers on Instagram ultimately produce a consumer teacher by emphasizing three key elements of consumerist ideology. We conclude with points of concern for the teaching profession that may arise from these consumer discourses, including the transformation of public education into a neoliberal, private investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Universitas, Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas is the property of Universidad Politecnica Salesiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, I look at the relationship between human olfaction, digital platforms, and everyday media practices in contemporary capitalist contexts. In the first section, I map what I describe as interfaced anosmia, or the absence of smell from mundane media devices. This absence is especially glaring given how olfaction uniquely lends itself to certain mediated forms of affective modulation. In the second section, I look at the platformization of the luxury fragrance industry, across three sites of analysis to reveal how, despite the conditions of interfaced anosmia, smell has already been shaped on and by platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores family representations and practices of mothering displayed by popular Polish Instamothers. We investigate how 'proper' motherhood is constructed also with regard to strategies of depicting children and making social class manifest. Janet Finch's concept of 'displaying families' is applied as both a theoretical framework and a set of methodological assumptions. Considering sharing family images on Instagram as a form of display, we assume that published photographs both shape and are shaped by dominant norms and discourses. Relying on content analysis and on semiological analysis, we investigate 100 photographs published by 10 popular Instamothers. The ethical challenges in visual social media research are also discussed. As a solution to the data anonymization problem, we propose the usage of graphics based on photographs. The results identify a tendency to idealize family life and to promote the traditional family model with its strongly normative character. Simultaneously, elements of the family modernizing discourse are also present. Although limited to Poland, our case study has broader significance for examining the dynamic socio-cultural changes that occur in postmodern societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objectives With the expansion of social networks such as Twitter, many experts share their opinions on various topics. The opinions of experts, who are also known as influencers, can be very influential. Combining these tweets and the historical prices of cryptocurrencies makes it possible to predict their price trends accurately. A Hybrid of RoBERTa deep neural network and BiGRU has been used for Sentiment Analysis (SA). Sentiments of tweets can be of great help to investors to understand the future behavior of the market and manage the stock portfolio. Unlike the tweets that are only extracted using the cryptocurrency name hashtag, the tweets of this dataset have specialized opinions and can determine the market trend. Data description The dataset created in this research concerns the opinions of more than 52 influencers (persons or companies) regarding eight cryptocurrencies. This dataset was collected through the Apify Twitter API for eight months, from February 2021 to June 2023. This dataset contains five Excel files and tweets, compound score, importance coefficient of each tweet, sentiment polarity, and historical prices of four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance, and other information. These tweets cover the opinions of 52 influencers on more than 300 cryptocurrencies, although most comments are related to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance. For this reason, three Excel files containing the historical prices of polarity and compound sentiment related to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance cryptocurrencies have been placed separately in the dataset. The polarity of sentiment in these Excel shows the maximum number of polarities by applying the importance coefficient, which determines the dominant polarity of sentiment related to a particular day for the cryptocurrency.

Existing research emphasizes the precarity of workers engaged in the exchange of goods and services through digital platforms. Yet few studies have systematically examined how racial discrimination shapes the opportunities of platform workers. Here, we focus on influencers, or people who monetize content on social media platforms. Drawing on a mixed-method analysis of 1,082 posts crowdsourced by the @InfluencerPayGap Instagram account, we document three findings. First, while most influencers in our sample received monetary payment for sponsored campaigns, rates are significantly lower than expected based on industry estimates. Second, social media metrics are racialized to justify paying influencers of color less than white influencers. Third, influencers of color are less likely than white influencers to receive monetary compensation or succeed in their negotiations with brands. Contrary to the rhetoric of fairness and democratization promoted by digital platforms, these dynamics reproduce racial domination and undermine collective action among social media influencers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic created a period of social and economic crisis that introduced two distinct problems for social media influencers. At the same time that the pandemic made their work economically precarious, it also made their work morally hazardous, as large-scale human suffering made influencers' lifestyle promotions appear out of step with their audiences' day-to-day experiences. How did influencers and the personnel they work with organize their labour to navigate uncertainty and avoid moral criticism? Drawing on 40 in-depth interviews with fashion influencers as well as the industry personnel they work with, I explain how influencers and those close to them respond to and combat issues of uncertainty and change during a period of crisis. I pair this interview data with a year-long online observation of influencers' labour online. In a calibrated move from aspiration to authenticity, influencers stressed the 'ordinary' and 'everyday' qualities of their lives during the pandemic, evading moral sanctions against profit-making. Throughout, they leveraged their tentacular connections with audiences to refine content in step with shifting demand and desire online, maximizing their market reach and annual revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting sustainable marketing strategies in the beauty industry can bring significant benefits to brands and consumers, not only can it help protect the environment and promote social responsibility. Through consumer education and innovation, the beauty industry can play an important role in the transition to a more sustainable future. Promoting sustainability in the beauty industry through marketing strategies has significant implications for companies, consumers and the environment. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the influence of sustainable marketing strategies on purchasing behavior and brand image. In order to highlight the perception of influences, a qualitative research of social media messages was carried out with the help of the FSQCA software. Brands that promote sustainability are perceived as ethical and responsible, which can attract a wider and more dedicated audience, in a saturated market, sustainability can be an important differentiator, helping them stand out from the competition.

Introducción a la sección monográfica 'Innovaciones en Narrativa y Medios: Transmedia, Interacción y Cultura'

According to the Tripartite Influence Model, social media is one of the primary sources influencing women's body dissatisfaction. However, the role of social media influencers as a potential driver for impacting users' body image evaluation when disseminating content on social networks has been little investigated. The present research aims to explore the relationship between following three Instagram influencers (i.e., nutrition, fitness, and entertainment) and eating disorder (ED) symptoms and body dissatisfaction among a group of female users. A sample of 5060 women (mean age = 35.33 ± 9.33) were recruited with the collaboration of three Italian influencers, and self-reported questionnaires were administered. Women who followed the nutritional influencer account reported significantly higher scores on ED symptoms and body dissatisfaction than women who followed the fitness and entertainment influencer accounts (η2 = 0.05 and η2 = 0.02, respectively). Overall, following nutrition and fitness accounts (compared to entertainment accounts) and spending more time daily on social networks positively predicts ED symptoms (β = 0.28, p < 0.001, β = 0.10, p < 0.001, β = 0.11, p < 0.001, respectively) and body dissatisfaction (β = 0.07, p < 0.001, β = 0.04, p < 0.001, β = 0.07, p < 0.001, respectively). Moreover, following nutritional influencers compared to fitness influencers positively predicts ED symptoms (β = 0.17, p < 0.001) but not body dissatisfaction. The current results suggest that being exposed to dieting and weight loss topics on social media might be particularly harmful for individuals with specific vulnerabilities. Practical implications will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the relationship and how much influence between Influencers and Social Media on Visiting Interest in the Lok Baintan Floating Market. The population in this study were Nusantara visitors in 2023 and a sample of 100 respondents. Data was collected using a questionnaire and analyzed by multiple linear regression using spss027 for window. The results showed that simultaneously the Influencer and Social Media variables had a significant effect on visiting interest in the Lok Baintan Floating Market. Partially, the Influencer variable has a significant effect on visiting interest in the Lok Baintan Floating Market while the Social Media variable has no significant effect on visiting interest in the Lok Baintan Floating Market. simultaneously the Influencer and Social Media variables affect the Interest in Visiting the Lok Baintan Floating Market. Influencer is an independent variable that has a dominant effect on Interest in Visiting the Lok Baintan Floating Market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses findings from a commissioned evaluation of an Australian government COVID-19 health campaign that utilised third-party influencers to increase the reach of health communication messages among culturally and linguistically diverse young people. Although the campaign was successful, interviews with select influencers and target audience members indicated that the 'serious' tone of the health messaging was less effective and less likely to be shared and that messages should be more 'entertaining'. Analyses of data indicated three themes providing insights into how future campaigns may benefit from a focus that draws together health information and entertainment using models already constructed in the entertainment–education field: (1) Entertaining health messages have a stronger fit with influencers who are known for their entertainment value; (2) Entertaining messages are more memorable and more likely to be shared; (3) A balance between entertainment and the signifiers of trust and credibility such as government health authority logos overcomes trust issues in the context of current health disinformation and misinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deplatforming of sexual content has increased across social media, usually operationalized by commercially charged, and algorithmically enforced, platform policies. This paper extends work on the algorithmic deplatforming of sex through the case study of how sex education content, or ‘sex edutainment’ on YouTube, is impacted by the platform’s algorithmic structures. Enrolling actor-network theory, we demonstrate the delegation work YouTube enacts through algorithms by presenting empirical findings from a multi-method study examining the assemblage of YouTube, sex edutainment influencers, and young people. The findings highlight that despite YouTube’s curated platform imaginary as an amplifier of voices, algorithmic delegation of platform governance creates significant barriers for influencers creating sex edutainment on YouTube. Although not contravening YouTube’s policies, influencers regularly battle demonetization, age-restrictions and algorithmic bias. This undermines the benefits of sex edutainment by limiting access to content, creates precarious financial environments for influencers and risks erosion of audience trust. Meanwhile, algorithms designed to protect users enact this governance without adequately protecting influencers themselves, predominantly women and LGBTQ+ individuals, from harm. Despite YouTube’s veneer of democratization, the social discourses and protectionist narratives that have destabilized traditional sex education efforts permeate our digital environments and can be seen in the algorithmic enactment of YouTube’s policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology is changing teaching and learning in society in general. At the same time, social networks and influencers are increasing their presence in society and are having an impact on social relationships, communication and learning. The objective of this paper is therefore to analyse the existing literature on influencers and education. For this, a systematic review was carried out following the PRISMA protocol. A total of 29 articles selected using previously established criteria were analysed. The results revealed that individuals recognized as educational influencers are users with a substantial number of followers who perform roles that include teaching, information transmission, counselling and support. The leading areas are in health and education, while the predominant social network is Twitter (X). The paper ends with a discussion on aspects on which different studies coincide, and concludes that learning takes place via social networks, although it is clearly of an informal nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influencers have gained relevance in brand building owing to their potential to engender trust, shape customer decisions and empower brands. Nonetheless, research assessing conditions for beneficial influencer outcomes in the trust-deficit food sector are scarce, despite growing evidence that different contexts demand different endorsers. This paper examines how influencers' attributes drive purchase by stimulating brand trust, and investigates the role of price consciousness. Structural equation modeling and necessary condition analysis were conducted on data from 401 followers of five influencers. Findings reveal that trustworthiness, expertise, brand fit, and brand trust are necessary conditions, congruence is additive. Brand trust fully mediates the impact of attractiveness on purchase behavior, and partially mediates the impact of trustworthiness, expertise and congruence. Price consciousness exhibits no moderating effect. Managers must prioritize transparent, knowledgeable influencers, who espouse values consistent with brands and consumers, if food firms were to invest in effective influencer strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite extensive examination of factors propelling influencer success, scant attention has been paid to influencer misconduct, especially from a regulatory standpoint. To address this gap, this article presents for the first time a systematic analysis of the UK advertising watchdog's rulings involving social media influencers. Through qualitative examination, it introduces four new themes, i.e. 'promo-masquerade', 'risk-fluence', 'mone-trapment' and 'stereo-scripting', which expand the discourse on influencer transgressions and spotlight distinct areas of regulatory concern. Even though influencers are seen as trustworthy figures in online brand communities, findings expose long-standing issues of non-compliance with established marketing rules. Criticism is directed at the inadequacy of current regulatory emphasis on recognisability of marketing intent alone, advocating instead for a more holistic approach that addresses various dimensions of influencer misconduct. Proposals include the implementation of a robust best practice framework and certification schemes to foster the influencer industry's maturity and sustainable growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many, modern communication is unimaginable without social media, which created the foundations for the emergence and development of new opinion leaders. These so-called influencers seek to create connected and stable communities of followers by publishing content on their official profiles. The main goal of this article, based on the results of qualitative content analysis and quantitative survey research, is to conclude how Generation Z perceives influencers and their communication on social media and what the connection is between the attitudes of influencers and the selected public. To attain this goal, a qualitative analysis of the Instagram profiles of the three most popular influencers in Croatia was carried out to gain a deeper insight into the observed topic. Furthermore, an empirical study was conducted to investigate the perception of members of Generation Z about Instagram influencers. The research showed that respondents do not believe in the veracity of the content published by influencers on social media and do not share similar values with them. In conclusion, the results showed that Instagram influencers, with the content on their official profiles, do not contribute to shaping the attitudes and behaviour of members of Generation Z. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contention over COVID-19 is only a recent example of increasing social division around science in the U.S. Many blame these divisions on actors who have strategically sowed doubt and distrust around expert supported positions and policies. However, this overlooks how scientists have fueled narratives of social and political conflict around science. This study explores how science influencers on social media have used group identity language in ways that may perpetuate narratives of intergroup conflict around science. Using computer-assisted content analytic methods, we examine how science influencers' use of group identity language has changed in response to recent events (Trump presidency, COVID-19 pandemic) and across different social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram). While there are slight increases in group identity language between 2016 and 2021, different patterns across platforms suggest that science influencers use different platforms to perform multiple roles of engaging diverse audiences, building ingroup solidarity, and defending against outgroup criticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Facebook and Twitter have received significant scholarly attention for their role in shaping the journalistic field, Instagram has received sparse attention in comparison. The present study examines how lifestyle journalists (n = 63) from Austria and the United States perceive Instagram influencers operating in relation to the journalistic field. Instagram influencers, empowered by the digital medium, would seem to be in direct competition with lifestyle journalists in terms of content. Through the theoretical lenses of boundary work and field, this study argues that lifestyle journalists—long relegated to the periphery of the journalistic field—discursively leverage the presence of influencers to protect their autonomy within the field while pushing influencers to its boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Recerca is the property of Universitat Jaume I and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: The present study aimed to provide a model for Iraqi influencer marketing on social media platforms, focusing on the impact of influencer marketing on social media on Iraq's economic development. Methodology: The study employed a thematic analysis approach to data obtained from semi- structured in-depth interviews. The field of study included all academic experts in digital management and marketing networks, and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 experts until theoretical saturation was reached. Findings: The research data indicate that some influencers prefer simplicity over consumerism due to their religious beliefs, strongly condemning unplanned and excessive consumption. They favor essential goods and needs, avoiding expensive and luxury items, and encourage their followers to do the same. Influencers use Islamic religious principles, wisdom, proverbs, and texts to reject consumerism, equating it with wastefulness. They consider consumerism a grave sin, with God watching our actions. Some other interviewees argue that most Iraqi influencers favor rampant consumerism, using marketing strategies like displaying in shopping locations, product branding, attempting to change Iraqi consumers' habits and tastes, and emphasizing consumption as an influential identity component. Based on the research findings, influencers have significantly contributed to tourism development by sharing attractive images and videos of various tourist destinations, increasing social media users' desire to visit these places. Some influencers have organized events and tours, directly contributing to this industry's development. By launching specific tourism sites and pages, influencers meet tourists' informational needs, introducing tourist destinations through attractive images and videos. Some influencers conduct free Arabic language education campaigns for foreign tourists on social media using cultural diplomacy tools. Some influencers have launched tourism sites and pages to guide and answer tourists' questions, benefiting personally while developing Iraq's tourism industry. Conclusion: Overall, the results of the present study show that influencers on social media have emerged as some of the most influential actors in business and marketing. They have significantly contributed in four key economic and social aspects: supply and demand for goods and services, increasing domestic and foreign investments, spreading consumerism, and developing tourism. This highlights the importance of business owners and policymakers paying attention to the role of these individuals in the online space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Amazonia Investiga is the property of PRIMMATE and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With the rise of influencer marketing, companies and brands are increasingly cooperating with social media influencers as another important promotion tool. In this context, it is important to understand the followers' perspective on how the influential power of the influencer transforms into their brand perception and actions toward the brand. This study explains the effects of perceived influence on brand attachment (i.e., brand self-connection and brand prominence) and brand credibility on followers' word of mouth and purchase intention. Our findings reveal that perceived influence positively affects two dimensions of brand attachment and brand credibility. In addition, our study also finds the more prominent role of brand credibility over brand attachment in affecting followers' actions (i.e., word of mouth and purchase intention). Finally, the results confirm that the parasocial relationship acts as a moderator in the relationship between three brand-relevant constructs and behavioral outcomes. This paper offers a better understanding of the effect of social media influencers' influential power on followers' brand-related thoughts and their responses to the recommended brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While governments, nonprofits, and influencers differ dramatically in their resource availability for social media content creation and their duties to public safety, health, and welfare, all play a role in communication with the public at large. Governments provide for the broader public good and nonprofits and influencers have the opportunity to serve isolated communities vulnerable to social ills and health crises. We explore how these three content creator groups concurrently and independently use social media to provide critical information. We qualitatively coded 1392 posts by governments, nonprofits, and influencers on 6 social media platforms shared across the United States during the 2022 Mpox outbreak. We constructed a framework defining a public health communication progression from chaotic to controlled. The findings indicated that governments can reach minoritized communities to resolve a public health crisis by partnering with nonprofits and influencers trusted by these audiences and, most importantly, practicing flexible control over shared messaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the INFLUTRUST framework that is designed to address challenges in trust-based influencer marketing campaigns on Online Social Networks (OSNs). The INFLUTRUST framework enables the influencers to autonomously select products across the OSN platforms for advertisement by employing a reinforcement learning algorithm. The Stochastic Learning Automata reinforcement algorithm considers the OSN platforms' provided monetary rewards, the influencers' advertising profit, and the influencers' trust levels towards the OSN platforms to enable the influencers to autonomously select an OSN platform. The trust model for the influencers incorporates direct and indirect trust, which are derived from past interactions and social ties among the influencers and the OSN platforms, respectively. The OSN platforms allocate rewards through a multilateral bargaining model that supports competition among the influencers. Simulation-based results validate the INFLUTRUST framework's effectiveness across diverse scenarios, with the scalability analysis demonstrating its robustness. Comparative evaluations highlight the INFLUTRUST framework's superiority in considering trust levels and reward allocation fairness, benefiting both the influencers and the OSN platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of social media platforms in our daily lives is intensifying. Social media have become a "showcase" for our life experiences. In addition, they represent a range of dimensions of our status in the virtual and actual social world. These two factors trigger people to construct particular identities to thrive in dual social ecosystems. Subsequently, Tiktok's prominence as a current trending social media platform with a total of 500 million users globally transforms its function from a communication medium to a medium for gaining social capital. This phenomenon notably influences Indonesian society, with people being heavily invested in that platform, and triggered the rise of "influencers" as a popular career choice for the younger generation. Under those circumstances, this phenomenological study explores practical aspects of the identity construction of TikTok influencers on social media. Additionally, the study also analyses the motivations and experiences of the users in constructing their social media identity through impression management to build social capital. Eleven TikTok influencers were involved in this study as the key informants. The findings indicated that TikTok is socially tempting for building the users' social capital because of its high viral opportunity due to randomly generated algorithms. Moreover, the significance of viewer engagement for TikTok influencers compels them to create their most pleasing online impression for the sake of digital popularity. Therefore, popularity is regarded as both a gift and a social pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While workers of all stripes are compelled to embrace uncertainty under conditions of neoliberalism, ideologies of risk assume a particular guise in the platform economy, wherein laborers are exhorted to 'put yourself out there'. Given the attendant harms associated with public visibility – especially for women and other marginalized groups – it seems crucial to explore platform-dependent laborers' experiences of 'putting themselves out there'. This article draws upon in-depth interviews with 23 social media influencers and content creators, sampled from across platforms, content niches and subjectivities. Our analysis revealed that vulnerability is a structuring concept in the influencer economy – one that operates at multiple, often overlapping levels. First, the commercial logic of authenticity casts personal vulnerability as a strategy for building community and accruing followers. But influencers' individual disclosures were often entangled with their social identities (e.g., gender, race, sexuality, ability and body type), which rendered them socially vulnerable to targeted antagonism from audiences. Interviewees experienced a range of harms, from identity-based hate and harassment to concerted take-down campaigns. These personal and social vulnerabilities were compounded by the vulnerabilities of platform-dependent labor: not only did participants identify the failures of platforms to protect them, some shared a sense that these companies exacerbated harms through a commercial logic that incentivizes antagonism. After examining the emotional labor necessary to manage such platform vulnerabilities, we close by reiterating the unique precarity of platform labor, wherein participants lack the social and legal protections typically afforded to 'vulnerable workers'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foodwork is a political matter, and baking is no exception. Many messages are associated with the symbolic significance of baking, such as idealised notions of white, middle-class domesticity, femininity and visibility. The rise in home-baking during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a surge in social media content, which conveys much about the different meanings ascribed to baking. Relatedly, scholarship on 'COVID-19 foodwork, race, gender, class and food justice' highlights that intersecting oppressions are implicated in such matters. Drawing on different lines of research that specify and address structural power relations (e.g. gendered whiteness), I analyse the aesthetics and accompanying attitudes conveyed via Instagram posts about #pandemicbaking and #quarantinebaking. In doing so, I draw and build on critical studies of whiteness and digital food media, and connections between consumerism and COVID-19. This work considers what such online content suggests about the relationship between a 'feminised, white, aestheticised ethos' and digital discourse and depictions regarding food, family, domesticity, work and rest. Consequently, this research ponders over whether the labour and framing involved in documenting #pandemicbaking and #quarantinebaking on Instagram reflects a neoliberal form of entrepreneurial 'freelance feminism', which is animated by the tension between the 'frequently polarized figures of "the feminist" and "the housewife"'. I examine the significance of three key themes related to #pandemicbaking and #quarantinebaking: (1) Gendered domestic labour and digital depictions and discourses of motherhood; (2) productivity, pausing and so-called 'soulfulness'; and (3) domestic minimalism and aesthetics of whiteness. In turn, this article critically reflects on the relationship between mediated constructions of gendered whiteness and baking, while echoing calls for more research that explicitly addresses dynamics between digital whiteness, class, aesthetics, gendered racial capitalism, foodwork, feminism and online content creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The careers of social media content creators, or influencers, live or die by their ability to cultivate and maintain an invested audience-community. To this end, they are encouraged to practise what has been framed as 'emotional labour' (Hochschild, 2002 [1983]) and 'relational labour' (Baym, 2018), commodifying their personalities, lives and tastes in order to build 'authentic' self-brands and intimacy with audiences. Drawing on an ethnographic study of the London influencer industry (2017–2023), this article examines emotional/relational labour through an intersectional feminist lens, foregrounding the ways in which structural inequalities shape relationships between creators and their audiences. The tolls of managing audience relationships are higher for marginalised creators – especially those making stigmatised and less brandable content genres – who find themselves on an uneven playing field in the challenges they face as well as the coping strategies at their disposal. These creators are in an intimacy triple bind, already at higher risk of trolling and harassment, yet under increased pressure to perform relational labour, adversely opening them up to further harms in the form of weaponised intimacy. This article explores four key tactics that creators employ in response to such conditions, as they navigate relational labour and boundaries with audiences: (1) leaning into making rather than being content; (2) (dis)engaging with anti-fans through silence; (3) retreating into private community spaces, away from the exposure of public platforms; and, in parallel, (4) turning off public comments. The adverse experiences of marginalised creators who speak about their identities and experiences online raise serious concerns about the viability of content creation as a career for these groups, as well as the lack of accountability and responsibility that platforms show towards the creators who generate profit for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We combine philosophical theories with quantitative analyses of online data to propose a sophisticated approach to social media influencers. Identifying influencers as communication systems emerging from a dialectic interactional process between content creators and in-development audiences, we define them mainly using the composition of their audience and the type of publications they use to communicate. To examine these two parameters, we analyse the audiences of 619 Instagram accounts of French, English, and American influencers and 2,400 of their publications in light of Girard’s mimetic theory and McLuhan’s media theory. We observe meaningful differences in influencers’ profiles, typical audiences, and content type across influencers’ classes, supporting the claim that such communication systems are articulated around ‘reading contracts’ upon which influencers’ image is based and from which their influence derives. While the upkeep of their influence relies on them sticking to this contract, we observe that successful influencers shift their content type when growing their audiences and explain the strategies they implement to address this double bind. Different types of contract breaches then lead to distinct outcomes, which we identify by analysing various types of followers’ feedback. In mediating social interactions, digital platforms reshape society in various ways; this interdisciplinary study helps understand how the digitalisation of social influencers affects reciprocity and mimetic behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Too many Australians suffer from poor body image and eating disorders. The Israeli, French and Norwegian Governments have created body image legislation to try to address this: it responds to concerns that the countless images of thin women people see can contribute to poor body image. By contrast, Australia does not have a Body Image Law: it has a voluntary code that the advertising industry generally does not follow. This article argues that Australia should enact a Body Image Law that reflects health evidence that body image needs to be improved. The Body Image Law would require disclaimers on images that were not retouched, create a specialised government body to evaluate images and attract civil penalties for breaching it. The authors believe that this is the first Australian article to suggest an Australian Body Image Law of this kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the similarities and differences in herding behaviour and influencers by gender, specifically for the millennial generation. We find evidence that both groups exhibit very similar behaviour when it comes to herding and the influencers they choose to listen to. The two groups differ somewhat in the influence parents and siblings have on them, with females experiencing more influence from them. These findings are significant as they are contrary to most existing literature which suggests that males and females are quite different while making investment decisions. Regression model for the impact of influencers on herding behaviour was also similar for both genders. Both groups listen to experts but do not herd based on this. Both groups tend to herd more based on friends, relatives, siblings and parents. The insights from the study will be useful for services marketing professionals and financial planners who can use the influencers who will be effective in communicating information as well as enrol those influencers who male and female millennials herd with for their financial investment decisions. This should help them achieve more targeted communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the Instagram postings of Blair Imani, an influencer who blends lifestyle content with social justice advocacy. Through an analysis of popular posts and follower engagement, I argue that Imani's primary work is not to raise awareness. Instead, she cultivates a community of "Smarties," tied together by a comforting style, positive emotions, and the shared pleasure of being an enlightened insider. This analysis indicates how the ostensibly positive account of a social justice influencer is another element of algorithmically polarized social media, where communities are formed and pleasure is derived via condemnation of presumed others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article illuminates the nexus of social media, celebrity, and marginalised identities by examining the phenomenon of disabled influencers. Since the late 2010s, disability representations in media, culture, and public discourse have increasingly moved away from stigmatising stereotypes. Disabled influencers have emerged as new voices in this landscape but, so far, exploration of their work has been limited. To address this gap, this study explores how 15 diverse fashion influencers with visible impairments address disability in their personal brands, whether they frame themselves as advocates for disability rights, and investigates their relationships with both followers and commercial brands. Through a content analysis of one year worth of Instagram posts (N = 1,429) and profile information, we outline the strategies these influencers use to make disability central to their online personas, explore their multi-layered relationship with brands, identify their distinct but somewhat limited voice in disability advocacy, and highlight their engagement strategies with digital publics. Drawing on disability and celebrity scholarship, this work provides insights on how the use of participatory platforms like Instagram intersects with the changing demands and expectations of celebrity, generating both opportunities and constraints for traditionally marginalised groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]