A

BUSINESS DISSERTATION
ON
“INFLUENCER MARKETING: AN EFFECTIVE TOOL
TO PERSUADE GENERATION Z”

Submitted to
SCHOOL OF PETROLEUM MANAGEMENT
PANDIT DEENDAYAL ENERGY UNIVERSITY
GANDHINAGAR
IN
PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD OF
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Dr. Somdeb Lahiri

Faculty, School of Petroleum Management
Submitted by
Nehete Rudra
[Batch: 2020-22, Enrolment No.:20205025]
April 2022
 DECLARATION

I, Nehete Rudra, student of MBA Batch 2020-2022 School of Petroleum Management,

Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar hereby declare that the Business
Dissertation entitled “Influencer Marketing: An Effective Tool To Persuade Generation
Z” is a result of my research work and our indebtedness to other work publications,
references, if any, have been duly acknowledged. I shall be solely responsible for any
plagiarism or other irregularities if noticed in the thesis.

I assert that the statements made and conclusions drawn are the outcome of my research
work. I further declare that to the best of my knowledge and belief that the Business
Dissertation does not contain any part of any work which has been submitted for the award of
any other degree/diploma/certificate in this University or any other University in India or
Abroad.

Place: Ahmedabad (Signature)

Date:10/04/2022 (Nehete Rudra)

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION

I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and pretend that it is
one’s own. The dissertation has significant work/knowledge as compared to already
published or is under consideration to be published elsewhere. No sentence, equation,
diagram, table, papyrograph, or section has been copied verbatim from previous work unless
it is placed under quotation marks and duly referenced. I have used a recognized convention
for citation and referencing. Each significant contribution and quotation from the works of
other people has been attributed, cited, and referenced

The thesis has been checked using <Turnitin> (copy of originality report attached) and found
within limits as per PDPU Plagiarism Policy and instructions issued from time to time.

I certify that this submission is my work. I have not allowed and will not allow anyone to
copy this work with pass it off as his or her work.

Place: Ahmedabad (Signature)

Date:10/04/2022 Nehete Rudra

TURNITIN ORIGINALITY REPORT

CERTIFICATE
I certify that the work incorporated in this Business Dissertation titled “Influencer
Marketing: An Effective Tool To Persuade Generation Z” submitted by Nehete Rudra
was carried out by the student under my supervision/guidance. To the best of my knowledge:
(i) the student has not submitted the same research work to any other institution for any
degree/diploma, Fellowship or other similar titles (ii) the Business Dissertation submitted is a
record of original research work done by the student during the period of study under my
supervision, and (iii) the Business Dissertation represents independent research work on the
part of the student.

Place: Ahmedabad (Signature)

Date:10/04/2022 Dr Somdeb Lahiri

PREFACE
Organizations' spending on online promotional operations is constantly and dynamically
expanding, in tandem with the rising level of digital media consumption. At the same time,
the effectiveness of activities carried out in the electronic realm in its current form is
definitely deteriorating, as seen by the rising expenditures on digital promotion. As a result,
in the new market environment, where product and service advertising has never been more
challenging, businesses have begun to explore for new ways to influence consumers. The
utilisation of the influencer marketing concept is one of the most essential developments. The
purpose of this paper is to examine the role, importance, and impact of digital influencers in
influencing purchasing decisions in this environment.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I am very much thankful to my mentor Dr. Somdeb Lahiri, faculty, SPM PDEU for giving
me the freedom to pursue this much-discussed topic and allotting his precious time to solve
my doubts whenever I was stuck during the progress of the research of my dissertation and
showing the path to move forward with renewed enthusiasm right from the proposal of the
topic to bringing it to its final form.

I also thank all the sources whom I have duly quoted as my reference material for without
them being the light bearers I could not have brought this dissertation to fruition. Lastly, I
thank the college for including a mandatory dissertation in their well-designed as it provides
aspirant students like me who want to join the industry with a wonderful opportunity of
understanding the intricacies of the industry or sector.

Contents

CHAPTER - 1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................12 1.1

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. .13 1.2
INFLUENCER MARKETING……………...................................................................................15 1.3
PREVIOUS TRENDS OF INFLUENCER MARKETING............................................................17 1.4
TYPOLOGY OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS…………........................................................18
1.4.1 DIVISION BASED ON NUMBER OF FOLLOWER....................................................19 1.4.2
DIVISION BASED ON MOTIVATION TO TAKE ACTION..........................................20
 1.4.3 DIVISION BASED ON COMMUNICATION PLATFORM...........................................21 1.4.4
DIVISION BASED ON TYPE OF ACTIVITY……….......................................................21

1.5 SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS……………………………............................................................21

CHAPTER 2 – INFLUENCERS AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR..…………………………………………………24 2.1

WORD OF MOUTH…………...............................................................................................25 2.2 SOCIAL
MEDIA AND EWOM……......................................................................................26 2.3 INFLUENCER
MARKETING AND ITS IMAPCT ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR.....................26

2.4 NFLUENCER MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS...........................................28

CHAPTER - 3 INFLUENCER MARKETING FROM BRAND’S PERSPECTIVE..................................30 3.1

WHY DOES BRAND NEEDS AN INFLUENCER?..................................................................31 3.2 FINDING
THE RIGHT INFLUENCER...................................................................................33 3.3 THE 4 M’S OF
INFLUENCER MARKETING…….………….......................................................36
3.3.1 MAKE……………………………………………………………....................................................36 3.3.2
MANAGE………………………………………………………………….........................................39

3.3.3 MONITOR………………………………………………………………...........................................41 3.3.4

MEASURE…………………………………………..……….......................................................42

3.4 MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF CAMPAIGN......................................................................43

3.5 ETHICAL VS NON ETHICAL INFLUENCER MARKETING......................................................44

CHAPTER - 4 LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................................45 4.1

LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................................46 4.2
RESEARCH GAP..................................................................................................................46 4.3
PROBLEM STATEMENT......................................................................................................46
4.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES………………………………………………………………...................................47
4.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..............................................................................................47

CHAPTER - 5 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION.................................................................48

CHAPTER - 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS……………………………………….....................55

REFERENCES
 LIST of FIGURES
Sr No Topic Page No
Fig 1 Two Main Sources of Growing Popularity of Digital Influencers 16
Fig 2 Taxonomy Of Influencers According to Four Main Categories 19
Fig 3 Division Based on Number of Followers 20
Fig 4 Influencer Marketing Budget Over Next 12 Months 31
Fig 5 Fastest-Growing Online Customer-Acquisition Method 32
Fig 6 Most Cost-Effective Online Consumer Acquisition Method 32
Fig 7 Quality Of Consumers Acquired Through Influencer Marketing 32
Fig 8 Fisherman's Influence Marketing Model 34
Fig 9 Customer-Centric Influence Marketing Model 35
Fig 10 The Tickle and Ripple Phases of Influence Marketing 37
Fig 11 The Influencer Filter 38
Fig 12 The Seven Steps of Influencer Marketing Management 39
 Fig 13 Three Essential Influencer Statistics to Measure 41

ABSTRACT

Brands have altered their marketing tactics in response to the rapid expansion of social media,
with the purpose of engaging with their varied consumers more through adding value and
twoway communication. Influencer marketing was born out of this new approach of
advertising brands. Influencers may assist create brand value and raise brand recognition
when brands collaborate with influencers that have the correct target demographic.

Currently, there is a lot of talk about social media influencers and how good they are at
marketing products. The topic of the impact of marketing through influencers is extensively
researched in the Western world. In India, however, hardly no research has been done. The
article investigates how Generation Z perceives advertising through digital influencers, as
well as how their consumer behaviour is comparable or different.

This research tries to demonstrate how influencer marketing impacts changing buying
preferences and how it transforms to be in tune with modern consumers.
 Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Introduction
Consumption of digital media is steadily increasing. From 2012 to 2018, the average daily
level per person increased from 5 h 37 min to 6 h 45 min. Users from Generation Z consume
considerably more digital material than their predecessors. A average day lasts 7 hours and 44
minutes for people aged 16 to 24. At the same time, it is obvious that digital media
consumption is fast transitioning from desktop computers, laptops, and tablets to
smartphones. It rose from 1 h 17 min to 3 h 18 min between 2012 and 2018.

In this circumstance, it is clear that spending on online promotional activities is increasing

steadily and rapidly, as evidenced, for example, by a consistent growth in spending on digital
advertising and a decrease in spending on traditional media. In 2019, digital advertising is
predicted to account for more than half of all advertising spending, with mobile advertising

13
experiencing the fastest growth rates. At the same time, digital has already surpassed print in
countries such as the United Kingdom, China, Norway, and Canada.

The decreasing efficacy of actions carried out in the electronic environment is plainly obvious
as investments increase. This scenario is due to a variety of factors. Without a question, the
fact that consumers are becoming a more complicated bunch is a significant concern. In this
context, their sensitivity to current marketing operations is evident; for example, according to
Harris Interactive, 90% of Americans ignore digital advertising. This scenario has arisen as a
result of discontent with the methods by which companies connect with them. The rise of the
ad-blocking problem in recent years has clearly demonstrated this. The major causes for this
are the excessive number of commercials that are displayed online, as well as their increasing
aggressiveness, which is harming the online user experience.

Another major factor is that customers become aware of the hidden expenses associated with
online advertisements, such as increased loading time and bandwidth usage. As a result, the
rise of ad-blocking has resulted in the demise of one of the most important internet business
models, in which advertisers pay publishers a certain sum for each time their advertisement is
displayed to a visitor on their website. Many firms are attempting to improve the online user
experience by utilising targeted marketing in this case. However, a growing body of evidence
suggests that such an approach isn't necessary to improve the experience. There are numerous
explanations for this. Some people who block ads, for example, employ ad-blocking software
to prevent online monitoring, which makes it difficult to acquire the data needed for tailored
marketing. As environmental issues have grown more significant to a rising number of
customers in recent years, concepts like green advertising and environmental advertising have
become important trends in promotional activities.

The expanding presence of Generation Z, a growing group of customers that will account for
40% of all consumers in the United States by 2020, is a significant factor in the shifting
market. This is a generation that has never known life without the Internet, and for whom a
world devoid of technological and geographic limits does not exist; as a result, it is also
known as "the first generation of true digital natives." When compared to the preceding
generation of consumers, millennial cohorts, it behaves completely differently and has very
different difficulties. Individual expression is valued by its representatives, who avoid labels.
They can also be quickly deployed for a variety of applications (reasons). They make
decisions using a method that is both analytical and pragmatic. At the same time, they are

14
typically wellinformed customers when it comes to brands and their realities. They are also
environmentally conscious and concerned about long-term consumption patterns. This
generation necessitates a whole different marketing strategy from the firm, as it has stopped
paying attention to many of the previous forms of promotion. They eagerly follow the people
they trust on social media because they spend so much time there. As a result, in the new
market environment, when promoting products, services, or brands has never been more
challenging, businesses have began to explore for new ways to influence customers.

The adoption of the notion of influencer marketing is one of the most important
developments. "Marketing practise that takes advantage of well-followed online users who
can influence consumers' attitudes and decision-making processes in favour of brands or
ideas" is how this notion is defined. The concept belongs to one of three types of internet
media channels: earned media, owned media, and paid media (the other two are paid media
and owned media). From 2015 onwards, influencer marketing has become the fastest-
growing trend in terms of consumer communication, with the number of campaigns and
postings increasing dramatically year over year. This has a significant impact on the way
entire industries operate, and is a necessary component for many of them to succeed.

The power of digital influencers can be very substantial, as studies performed by McKinsey
& Company in India have demonstrated. According to their findings, 80 percent of
consumers will consider a new company based on a significant influencer's suggestion.
Simultaneously, they are increasingly becoming a new form of local partner, known as a local
digital influencer, without whom it is difficult to picture corporations expanding into new
international markets. Meanwhile, there are notable disparities in the impact of digital
influencers on Generation Z consumers when compared to other groups. According to the
Harvard Business Review, 19 percent of American consumers bought goods or services as a
result of a digital influencer's recommendations in 2018. In the group of consumers who are
below 25, this percentage was also twice as high; i.e., it amounted to 36.

Organizations are increasing the amount of money they spend on digital influencer marketing,
confirming the growing importance of this type of marketing. According to numerous
research, the usage of influencers in firms' marketing operations is steadily increasing. The
value of influencer marketing as an industry is expected to rise from USD 1.7 billion in 2016
to USD 6.5 billion in 2019, and USD 9.7 billion in 2020, according to the Influencer
Marketing Benchmark Report: 2020. The findings of Business Insider Intelligence's report

15
are even more encouraging. The influencer marketing sector is expected to be worth USD 8
billion in 2019 and USD 15 billion in 2022, according to them. The amount of new platforms
and influencer marketing focused agencies, for example, demonstrates the industry's
expanding worth. Between 2015 and 2019, it rose from 190 to 1120, and by as much as 380
between 2018 and 2019.

1.2 Influencer Marketing

Consumers are turning to one another in today's digital-driven world to verify the
product/service they want to buy is the appropriate one for them, and they're doing it across
many platforms like social media, product review websites, and online forums.

Due to this new transition in consumer-influenced purchasing behaviour, identifying and

connecting with key industry influencers is increasingly becoming an important part of a B2
C company's marketing strategy. Influencer marketing, when done right, can result in rapid
revenue growth, increased brand recognition, and high brand equity.
Influencer marketing is "the action of promoting and selling items or services through people
(influencers) who have the ability to have an effect on the character or brand," to put it
simply. How many times have you searched for a product on Amazon and immediately
looked at the customer reviews to verify you are getting the greatest deal for the product you
want to buy? To take it a step further, how many times have you visited the "Top Customer
Reviews" section, which is ranked by the number of users who deemed the review valuable
(i.e. influential)?

While influencer marketing has been around for a while, it has only recently gained
popularity and has become a significant part of many organisations' marketing efforts. In fact,
marketers still regard communicating with influencers via social media to be a top marketing
trend. Consumer communication and bonding have altered tremendously since the advent of
social media, both among themselves and with brands. In this respect, the concept of social
media marketing was developed. It was with the growing popularity of these media that
persons began to appear, gathering groups of supporters around themselves, in some cases
even as many as over a hundred million people. The concept of social media marketing was
born out of this. With the growing popularity of these medium, individuals began to emerge,

16
forming groups of followers that numbered in the hundreds of millions of people in certain
cases.

Figure 1 - Two main sources of growing popularity of digital influencers

Influencers are viewed by organisations as opinion leaders who mediate information

distribution and disseminate it to their online followers. As a result, they are becoming brand
ambassadors or spokespersons. Organizations utilise them to supplement traditional
marketing efforts and to generate a multiplier effect based on electronic word of mouth, and
they play a critical part in developing a "digital relationship" with their customers. They
consider the digital interaction to be a very crucial aspect in today's industry.

Organizations have become increasingly interested in using digital influencers in their

marketing activities in recent years, allocating an increasing portion of their promotional
budgets to this type of activity, as a result of the decreasing effectiveness of other forms of
digital promotion previously used. This new marketing tendency may also be seen in the use
of the term 'influencer,' according to Oxford Dictionaries. Between 2012 and 2017, its
monthly usage more than doubled. The Google Trends service shows the dynamically
expanding interest in the notions of 'influencer' and 'influencer marketing' over the previous

few years.

1.3 Previous And Newer Trends Of Influencer Marketing And Its Rise

Although the use of various sorts of well-known or powerful persons and characters in the
concept of influencer marketing appears to be strongly linked to the fast-paced development
of social media, its origins date back several centuries. They date back to the 1760s, with
Josiah Wedgwood, who created ceramics for the British royal family, as the forerunner. In the
19th and 20th centuries, other significant actors in the development of the notion arrived. The

17
Internet's entry into the Web 2.0 phase, on the other hand, is critical to the development of the
modern version of word-of-mouth marketing. It has to do with the fact that its present
incarnation is intimately linked to the extraordinarily rapid development of social media and
their increasing usage in the marketing activities of enterprises based in the digital realm.

Over the next few years, brands are anticipated to spend billions of dollars on influencer
marketing. This form of marketing, which is already being deployed with great success on
Instagram and YouTube, is not a passing trend, but a tectonic change for the future of digital
advertising. It's the way of the future, and it's up to business leaders to keep up. Modern
marketers that seek to promote their products through influencer marketing face similar
challenges. Finding the right individuals, tracking and assessing results, and explaining how
this new marketing opportunity fits into the bigger picture are all things to think about.
Influencer Marketing for Brands is a field guide for the digital age.

The influencer marketing phenomenon was already a hit until a pandemic prompted more
companies to follow suit. While it already ruled Instagram and YouTube, the focus of this
piece will be on how it expanded its reach to include Twitter, TikTok, Tumblr, and other
social media platforms. In social media marketing, influencers act as channels for discovery,
inspiration, and exposure. Separate content, social, and influencer initiatives are no longer
viable options.

Influencer marketing isn't just a trend; it's an important part of any marketing strategy.

Brands have taken a major risk by transitioning from traditional marketing to influencer
marketing. Brands have amassed a large quantity of data in terms of sales, interest, visibility,
feedback, and profitability through time, resulting in more solid influencer marketing
strategies in the marketing sector.

1.4 Typology of Social Media Influencers

Influencers can be classified into numerous sorts, which can aid campaign creators in
monitoring, assessing, and selecting the most appropriate influencers for a certain campaign
and brand. Influencer typologies can be created in a variety of ways. Influencers might be
classified based on the number of followers in their networks in an article published in CRM
magazine. As a result, influencers are divided into two categories: mega-influencers and

18
microinfluencers. Mega-influencers have a large following and hundreds of millions of
followers, whereas micro-influencers are "ordinary people who promote a certain company
on social media." Influencers can also be classified according to the industry in which they
promote products and services (fashion, beauty & cosmetics, gaming, food, electronics, etc.).

Influencers are typically classified using one of two methods: the 4Cs or the 3Rs. According
to SEO.com, the 4Cs are a combination of context, consistency, connection, and content that
should be related to influencer selection criteria. As previously stated, the 3Rs classification
is based on reach, relevance, and resonance.

Traackr, a renowned influencer management tool, on the other hand, suggests ten different
sorts of influencers. Their influencer typology is built on three pillars that define the role of
the influencer: reach, resonance, and relevance. Based on the 3Rs typology, Table
demonstrates the characteristics of all sorts of influencers.

The choice of influencers in a campaign must be in line with the campaign's goals. For
example, if the goal is to raise brand recognition, the campaign should target people who are
well-known or have a good image and reputation, whereas if the goal is to build thought
leadership, the campaign should target people who have authority or trustworthiness.

There are several types of digital influencers, and their taxonomy can be organised based on
their different qualities. Figure depicts the most basic division, which distinguishes three
groupings within its framework.

19
 Figure 2 - Taxonomy of Influencers according to four main categories

1.4.1 Division Based on Number of Followers

In this context, influencers are separated into two categories based on their reach, which is
determined by the number of individuals who follow them. Here, several categories of
influencers can be distinguished. Namely: celebrities (over 5 million), mega influencers (1
million–5 million), top influencers (over 500 thousand), macro-influencers (100–500
thousand), middle level influencers (20 thousand–100 thousand), micro-influencers (less than
20 thousand) and nano-influencers (1 thousand–10 thousand).

Figure 3 - Division Based on Number of Followers

20
1.4.2 Division Based on Motivation To Take Action

Influencers can also be classified based on their incentive to act. Idols, specialists, lifestylers,
activists, and artists are some of the categories that can be recognised in this context. The first
group consists of well-known and well-liked individuals. They mostly focus on themselves in
their messaging, while also incorporating other themes (e.g., political, social or related to
current affairs). The second group consists of people who are regarded as experts in a certain
sector because of their knowledge or abilities. Industry experts, consultants, reviewers, and
testers all fall within this category of influencers. People who participate in debates regarding
lifestyle and leisure activities are known as lifestylers. Their articles are primarily about
fashion, beauty, health, home design, food, and travel. The viewpoint presented by another
group, activists, is their distinguishing feature. These are usually Internet users who care
about issues like environmental conservation, minority rights, and feminism. Their content
encourages certain ideologies and ways of living. The term "artist" refers to people who are
primarily interested in creating stuff that has a high aesthetic and visual appeal. These are
mostly Internet users who maintain photoblogs or Instagram accounts of various varieties.
They cover a wide range of topics, including travel, nature, people, and architecture.
1.4.3 Division Based on Communication Platform

Influencers can be classified in three ways, the third of which is based on the communication
medium they use. This category includes bloggers, YouTubers, Facebookers, Instagrammers,
Twitterers, Snapchatters, and TikTokers. This final, younger set of influencers is linked to the
TikTok app, which is primarily utilised by people aged 13 to 17. The application has seen the
highest download growth in recent years. At the same time, it's worth noting that influencers
in different geographical areas establish and use different social networks, some of which are
entirely unknown in other locations. WeChat, Tencent QQ, and Sina Weibo, for example, are
very popular in China but are virtually unknown in Europe.

1.4.4 Division Based on Type of Activity

Finally, digital influencers can be classified into two groups based on one more criterion:
active and passive influencers. Those who are targeted by businesses to market their products
or services fall into the first category. Those who aren't directly targeted by businesses fall
into this category.

21
1.5 Social Media Influencers

Influential people have three important traits: (1) they are persuasive (perhaps charismatic),
(2) they are knowledgeable (i.e. experts), and (3) they have a big number of social
connections. "Influentials" can be defined as "consumers who influence the purchase decision
of other consumers," and also as "highly-connected people" (ie, they know many people).

Digital influence is currently one of the most popular social media trends. "Businesses will
ignite good word of mouth, create brand lift, and ultimately influence the actions of other
consumers far more genuinely than traditional marketing" with an effective digital influence
plan. The ability to cause effect, modify behaviour, and generate measurable outcomes online
is defined by these writers as digital influence.

Influencers, as they are commonly referred as, develop strong bonds with like-minded people
in social networks and strengthen those bonds by providing value and meaningful contact.
These influencers have the ability to influence others based on a range of characteristics,
including a large or concentrated social network following, prominent prominence or
authority within a community, and the size or loyalty of an audience. Because eWOM
marketing has gotten more competitive, and social media is becoming the most essential
marketing platform for communicating with customers, identifying influencers is critical to
improving the efficiency of social media marketing.

Social media influencers are a new breed of independent third-party endorsers who utilise
blogs, tweets, and other forms of social media to shape audience sentiments. They can
alternatively be described as a new breed of "independent actors capable of shaping audience
opinions through the use of social media channels in competition with and alongside
traditional media".

Influencers are those who contribute new information and have the power to influence others'
behaviour and views. Because of the persuasive power of social media influencers,
technologies have been developed to identify and track the influencers who are relevant to a
brand or organisation. The majority of these efforts rely on factors like the number of daily
hits on a blog, the number of times a post is shared, and the number of followers.

When organisations and brands began to regard the Intemet as a strategic communication tool
and channel, they also recognised the strength of the platform's prominent users. The authors
come to the conclusion that digital influencers have an impact on members of specific groups
that share similar beliefs and interests.

22
The fundamental question should be how to identify early influencers who will participate in
a social media campaign. To accomplish so, managers need "an intelligent system that aids
them in discovering the best group of influential customers." The influence maximisation
challenge is defined as the identification of a group of persons who are most likely to
generate the largest cascade of influence through eWOM. There are various developed
techniques to tackling the influence maximisation problem. These algorithms are often "not
based on data that represents influence flow because gathering such data is difficult."

To clarify the role they play in measuring the power to generate change or effect, a
framework for influence is built around three pillars. Reach, resonance, and relevancy are the
three pillars.

• Reach is "a metric of popularity, affinity, and prospective effect,".

• "The glue of the interest graph and the communities of focus" is relevance. Individuals
who are aligned by topic matter build a web of linked relationships that pass information
between communities of interest."
• Resonance is defined as "the measurement of the duration, rate, and level of involvement
around content, a topic, or discussions. High resonance guarantees that each post or
update is seen by more people."

Practitioners in the field of social media, according to the same writers, are redefining the
way they connect with their target consumers. With the enormous expansion of bloggers and
their growing power as media and consumer influencers, researching and evaluating the most
influential will be an important aspect of any social media effort.

Consumers are immersed in the distribution of information through social networks, blogs,
and videos; the days of the media communicating a brand's message to consumers are long
gone. Consumers are becoming the storytellers — the new brand ambassadors —
disseminating personal or second-hand stories to their social networks and the rest of the
globe.

23
 Chapter 2
Influencers and Consumer Behaviour

24
2.1 Word of Mouth

The technique of distributing information from one person to another through face-to-face
interaction, telephone, social media, and other means is known as word of mouth marketing.
The term "word of mouth," means that "people who talk about products and services together
also show alike purchase behaviour and have similar product preferences." It can be also
defined as oral, person-to-person communication about a brand, product, or service between a
receiver and a communicator whom the receiver considers as non-commercial. Senders of
WOM signals may be motivated by a desire for "better status, ego-defense, or dissonance
reduction," and that messages flow in a multistage interpretation process through
sharedinterest groups, friendships, or family members.

Word of mouth plays one of the most essential roles in consumer behaviour by altering
customers' values, attitudes, preferences, and actions. This idea is now widely acknowledged.
Furthermore, when making a purchase decision, people are more likely to trust informal
contact than advertising campaign. Word of mouth has been demonstrated to be an excellent
technique of gathering important information for buying decisions.

Word of mouth has long been recognised as having a significant impact on people's
knowledge, sentiments, and behaviours. The rising incidence of lack of trust in advertising is
the key reason for presenting this notion as highly significant in contact with potential
customers. As a result, customers choose to obtain information from other sources. Consumer
behaviour is more submissive to and influenced by word of mouth than by other marketer-
controlled sources.

To keep up with changing markets, marketing ideas, concepts, and strategies must evolve as
well. As a result, WOM theory and practise have evolved in lockstep with technological
advancements and the introduction of new marketing tactics. The WOM concept has evolved
into eWOM, which is more pervasive and important in purchase decision-making, with the
expansion of the Internet and the advent of the digital and social media era (the emergence of
posted-views, discussion forums, personal mails, chatrooms, instant messaging, blogging, use
of social media, and so on).

25
2.2 Social Media and eWOM

The rise of the Intemet provided consumers with a new empire through which they could
communicate and so influence one another. The Internet has evolved into a valuable source of
information for consumers. We can access a wealth of content on the Internet for
"entertainment" as well as product and service reviews. As a long-term marketing channel,
the Internet has enabled "the democratisation of knowledge, allowing enterprises, public or
private; brands, little or large; and people, local or celebrity, to communicate information on
an equal basis". (eWOM).

Electronic word of mouth, is a communication process in which one person can influence
others via the Internet. According to the authors, EWOM is defined as "a positive or negative
comment made by potential, actual, or former consumers regarding a product or firm, which
is made available to others via the Intemet." eWOM is a type of communication that has
evolved in recent years, particularly with the advent and rapid expansion of social media.
"Users have begun to electronically communicate thoughts and information about products
and services, thanks to the changing environment of information and communication
technology".

Consumer-company relationships have fundamentally transformed as a result of social media

and eWOM. Additionally, social media platforms allow eWOM to be seen by consumers all
over the world. These platforms allow users to cooperate and share their thoughts and
experiences, as well as diverse points of view. With its tools, such as social networks, forums,
e-mails, and blogs, social media provides a sharing platform. Online users' shared thoughts,
experiences, and opinions constitute an electronic version of word of mouth.

WOM information provided on social media can be presented in a variety of ways. Users
might submit information about a brand's products and services on purpose. Users can also
exhibit and display their preferences to their network, such as becoming brand fans and
engaging with brand content through likes, comments, and sharing. Users can also publish

brand content that isn't intended to be advertised.

2.3 Influencer Marketing And Its Impact On Consumer Behaviour

The word "trust" comes up a lot these days when it comes to influencer marketing, and there's
a reason for that. People have realised that advertising is deceptive, and that celebrities are
paid to promote items that they do not care about. Influencers, on the other hand, who have
built a following around their passions, are much more likely to only recommend products

26
that they have thoroughly investigated, as they risk losing their audience if they don't. One of
the reasons their audience trusts them is because of this.

One of the reasons why influencer marketing is gaining traction is because of ad blocking.
People not only want to hear from influencers, but they also want to avoid commercials. It's
evident from these patterns and figures that influencer marketing and user-generated content
have an impact on customer purchasing behaviour and transactions. While celebrities wield
power, small influencers wield power as well.

Because it is more trustworthy, real, well-presented, and attractive in nature,

influencergenerated marketing content does play a role in changing buying behaviour, as
Cobain mentioned. Aside from that, an influencer's content update is something that
traditional marketing lacks, thus it has a direct impact on audiences and their readiness to buy
a product.

Consumers are more likely to trust peer recommendations than firm marketing statements,
and social media influencers can have a big impact in this area. If a product is accepted into
their circle, its reputation and associated link are immediately enhanced, meaning that the
most influential voices inside any group have great impact over the first relationship.

Influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing that has risen in popularity in recent
years. The goal of this scientific contribution is to systematise knowledge about the position
and roles of influencers as opinion leaders in the social media environment in order to
identify their typology, influence factors, and the intensity of their impact on consumer
decisionmaking processes based on a comparison of knowledge from the results of global
research studies and the quantitative online research study processed by authors. Influencer
marketing may benefit some products more than others. Influencers will have the most
influence when it comes to purchasing clothing, shoes, cosmetics, and, unexpectedly,
services. Meanwhile, people buy food, jewellery, and technology for a variety of reasons,
while influencer marketing may have an impact on them as well.

With the advent of influencers, the variety of marketing content generated by these
influencers has surely increased, attracting a wide spectrum of audiences who have all been
motivated by them to, if not buy, at least become aware of a brand or business and its work.
Influencers are able to gain confidence from their followers because they are perceived as

27
experts. According to an Olapic poll, 39% of consumers regard an influencer's knowledge
when assessing the value of their recommendations. Although online expertise isn't new,
influencers have turned it into a tool for influencing client purchasing decisions.

People like being in the company of others. People believe in each other. People have more
faith in one another than they do in brands or marketers.

Influencers are real. The best influencers are honest, understand and appreciate their
audience, don't lie to earn a profit, and can deliver genuine value to both brands and the
community of friends and followers they've built over time. The significance of trust cannot
be overstated.

Influencers are (or can be) entertaining, and they provide brands new and engaging ways to
deliver their messages. They're learning about new individuals, products, application
approaches, and tips and recommendations, which they relish. They also look up to the
people who give them with this information and merchandise. Those influencers, it appeared
to me, return the favour. Brands and agencies are used to one-way sales channels, but this is a
link.

2.4 Influencer Marketing And Various Social Media Platforms

Many Instagram users who follow influencers are unconcerned about being advertised and
persuaded in this way. Every Instagram user can choose who they want to follow and
unfollow. Because it is their choice to hit the 'follow' button, individuals are aware that
sponsored postings are associated with certain persons they want to follow. Many people
follow influencers because they love a specific aspect of them or their Instagram feed, or
because they recognise themselves in them. Followers are frequently interested in the
products being offered because of a shared aspect of identification.

Because TikTok has built strong partnerships with marketing agencies over time, allowing
businesses all over the country to leverage TikTok influencer campaigns, the impact will be
felt by influencer marketing organisations as well. Marketers began to shift away from
megainfluencers on YouTube and Instagram and toward micro-influencers on TikTok, in both
chartered and undiscovered area, as TikTok grew in popularity.

28
Popular micro-influencers on Instagram and Snapchat are known for their strong engagement
rates among niche audiences, and when influencers tap into their following and weave
branded messages into popular topics and challenges on TikTok, a loyal following may be
even more effective.

29
 Chapter 3 Influencer Marketing From

A Brand’s Perspective

3.1 Why Does A Brand Need Influencers?

30
According to Matthews' essay "The definite guide to influencer targeting," consumers are
more likely to trust suggestions from a third party (such as a blogger or Instagrammer) than
recommendations from a brand. The Influencer can be thought of as a friend who helps a
brand connect with its target market. The influencer brings not only their own fan base, but
also their network of fans. When an influencer has a significant following, they may drive
traffic to a company's website, increase social media visibility, and sell a product by
promoting it or telling a story about their personal experience with it. In the face of ad fraud
and ad blocking, businesses are turning to earned media because they want distribution
techniques that won't be blocked and that they know will reach the right audience. External
influencers are being created every day, and the greatest way to win client trust is to associate
with someone who they already trust. It's practically impossible for a brand to build the built-
in level of trust between influencer and reader with a customer on its own.

Customers trust a referral from their personal network at a rate of 90%, according to data
collected by the businesses TapInfluence and Influitive, and referrals are obtained online in
81 percent of situations. Individuals trust suggestions from friends and family 92 percent of
the time (TapInfluence, Influitive). In 2016, the Tomoson Company ran a poll and received
responses from 125 of the industry's top marketers. According to the influencer marketing
research, businesses make $6.50 for every dollar spent on influencer marketing. 125
marketers took part in an online survey from March 10th to March 16th, 2015. According to
the report, 59 percent of marketers plan to grow their influencer marketing spending in the
coming year, while 21% plan to reduce or keep their influencer marketing costs.

Figure 4: Influencer marketing budget over next 12 months (Tomoson, 2016)

Influencer marketing was voted the fastest growing internet channel by customers. Organic
search came in second with 17 percent, followed by email with 15 percent.

31
 Figure 5: Fastest-growing online customer-acquisition method (Tomoson, 2016)

Influencer marketing came in first, followed by email, with both garnering 22 percent of the
votes in the study when marketers were asked which online customer-acquisition channel was
the most cost-effective.

Figure 6: Most cost-effective online consumer acquisition method (Tomoson, 2016)

When asked about the quality of customers attracted through influencer marketing, 51% of
marketers believe it can help them attract better customers. (Tomoson, 2016).

Figure 7: Quality of consumers acquired through influencer marketing (Tomoson, 2016)

3.2 Finding the Right Influencers

Keep in mind that the name chosen has an impact on purchasing decisions when looking for
the right influencer for your company. One must be clear about the products or service lines
being examined, as well as the target market category. Influencers can be persons who have

32
little overall visibility but a lot of visibility in the niche that the company is trying to achieve.
As the organisation must understand exactly what community it is looking for, asking those
who make the decisions is an alternative method of discovering the proper influencers. If
your organisation has multiple products, each product, industry sector, and country should
have its own set of influencers. Influencers should have specific criteria in mind when
selecting the best ones for a brand. Knowing the product/service and having a genuine
interest in it, being an expert and opinion leader in his or her field, having the right target
audience for the company, knowing how to produce appropriate content, such as stories,
videos, pictures, and social media posts, understanding marketing and being interested in
commercial cooperation, having a sufficient number of committed followers in the relevant
social media channels, having good cooperation skills, and having a positive attitude are all
desirable qualities.

According to Brown and Fiorella's book "Influence Marketing" (2013), the current paradigm
of influence marketing positions the influencer at the centre of the marketing universe. The
principle of putting the customer, not the influencer, at the centre of the marketing universe is
another concept addressed by Brown & Fiorella and nicknamed "The scientific truth" (p. 77).
Purchase decisions are ultimately made by the customer, not the influencer.

According to Brown and Fiorella, business brands, marketing messages, and influencers are
planets orbiting the client, contending for his attention. In the first hypothesis, as illustrated in
figure, marketers must find people with a broad reach inside communities focused on specific
interests or keywords, with the influencer at the centre of the influence marketing strategy
model. The Fisherman's Influence Model can help businesses identify potential influencers
and communities, as well as serve as a foundation for further research and analysis.

Considerate marketers should only employ the Fisherman's Influence Marketing Model as a
starting step in their marketing approach. When it comes to Influence Marketing strategies,
the Fisherman's Influence Model is based on the idea of "casting a wide net to catch the most
fish," which entails leveraging those with the largest following and reach among large social
communities to drive the most brand awareness and, eventually, a purchase.

33
 Figure 8: Fisherman's Influence Marketing Model, p. 89 (Brown & Fiorella, 2013)

In the second idea, the customer is repositioned at the centre of the cycle, and a whole new
universe arises. Rather of the influencers being in the centre and the circling planets being
their various followers, people, institutions, technology, and communities now impact
purchasing decisions by circling the customer. Identifying the demographics of the target
audience and the communities in which they are most engaged is the same whether a
company employs the Fisherman's Influence Marketing Model or the Customer-centric
Marketing Model; however, this is where the similarities between the two models end. If they
are current consumers, those with the highest influence and perceived authority are
discovered in the aim of converting them to macro-influencers, such as brand ambassadors or
advocates. The marketing team works to educate, encourage, and motivate the chosen
influencers to broadcast and share good brand messaging through their different social media
channels, such as blogs and Facebook, once the communities and influencers have been
identified. By rewarding followers and encouraging them to share the same interactions with
their own social networks, they are engaging the audience in this way.

34
Figure 9: Customer-Centric Influence Marketing Model, p. 90 (Brown & Fiorella, 2013)

According to Holly Hamann, co-founder and CMO of TapInfluence, influencers' niche-based

content is what makes them beneficial to marketers. Influencers should be classified not only
by major categories like patenting, food, fitness, fashion, and entertainment, but also by niche
audiences like pet owners, marathon runners, and organic cooks. According to Hamann, there
are five factors to look for when finding prospective influencers for your brand:

Relevance, Engagement, Reach, Frequency and Authenticity.

The first consideration is relevancy, or how closely an influencer's content corresponds to

your message. The company looking for an influencer should read the influencers' posts to
get a sense of who they are as consumers and what they appreciate. The second thing to
examine is Engagement, which is a metric that measures how engaged an Influencer's readers
are with the content of a post, as assessed by responses, comments, and shares. You may
measure the value of reader-publisher connections based on how people participate and how
frequently they return to the site. The third factor to examine is Reach. This indicates that
marketers should avoid measuring reach just on the basis of unique visitors, and that traffic
and followers are only meaningful if the influencer is reaching the brand's target audience.
Frequency is the fourth aspect to examine when evaluating potential influencers because there
is a definite link between how often an influencer shares and her traffic and rate of return
visits. It takes more than one exposure, and it frequently takes numerous exposures, to get
visitors to visit a brand's website. When a publisher produces high-quality content on a
regular basis, readers are more likely to return, but influencers who don't post as frequently

35
have fewer visitors and less loyal followers. Authenticity is the final thing to evaluate.
Influencers that share less compensated content on their platforms are seen as more genuine
and trustworthy. It is more trustworthy than reading product reviews when an influencer tells
a personal narrative about a brand, service, or product.

3.3 The Four M’s of Influencer Marketing

In their book "Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage, and Measure Brand Influencers
in Social Media Marketing," Brown and Fiorella show how to master the four M's of
influencer marketing. "Make," "manage," "monitor," and "measure" are the four Ms.
Influencer marketing, like any other business discipline, necessitates focus, objectives, and
key performance indicators (KPIs). In the Influencer Marketing idea, these are known as the
Four M's.

3.3.1 Make

The customer should be at the centre of your influence marketing operations, starting with the
word make, as stated in the customer-centric model, so that businesses can build profiles
based on where they are in the client's purchase lifecycle, contending for his attention. They
could be in the research stage, seeking knowledge, the awareness stage, seeking confirmation
from others, or the buy stage, preparing to make a purchase. As a result, each stage demands
a unique approach and outreach; the organisation must assess where they are along that path
in order to engage with individuals and "build" influencers that will help the customer
progress to the next stage of the purchase decision. This enables you to contact the consumer
directly through the appropriate influencer at the appropriate time.

The two components of the Make section of the four Ms are identifying and activating. In the
Identifying part, the persona's path should be identified. According to Brown and Fiorella
(2013), every influencer campaign goes through two stages: trickle and ripple. The message
is first spread in the trickle phase, and the message's direction determines whether or not the
campaign is successful. Sending a message to an influencer is not as simple as sending it to
them because of the cacophony of social media's distractions. To get through the Trickle
Phase, the organisation needs to work with influencers to collect crucial audience data:

• The time they will be online

36
• The platforms they will be on,
• The people they will be speaking with
• The topics they will be speaking about
• The actions they will be creating

Figure 10: The Tickle and Ripple Phases of influence marketing

The effectiveness of an influencer marketing campaign is more likely when influencers are
divided into distinct personalities and which people of their communities are most likely to
respond to a given message. The campaign advances from the Trickle Phase to the Ripple
Phase when it is likely to succeed, showing that the influencer community has taken up on the
brand's message. The influencer's community is now disseminating it across their own
networks, resulting in a wave of brand awareness and promotional messaging.

After determining a brand's target demographic for a campaign, the next stage is to choose the
influencer who is best matched to the message. It's not about having the most followers or
having the loudest voice in influence marketing; it's about making the customer the influencer
and knowing the meaning behind their purchasing decisions. The filters at this step provide
the best starting point for finding the perfect influencer for the campaign, ensuring that the
proper people are chosen. Consider the following:

37
 Figure 11: The Influencer Filter, p.163 (Brown & Fiorella, 2013)

Demographic – Knowing the age, gender, and location of the target audience is critical in
defining how a brand's message should be written.

Timescale – For an influencer campaign to be effective and successful, it must be a long-term

part of the brand's marketing strategy, not just a flash in the pan. The many stages of the
campaign decide which influencer is necessary at each level.

Platform(s) – Each social media site caters to a distinct audience, with sex, race, and money
all playing a part in network popularity. A brand should choose a platform and influencer
according on the preferences of their target audience.

Reaction history – Brands must determine when customers make decisions and take action
based on the influencer's content in order to analyse customer behaviour in an influencer
marketing campaign. Customers can respond by liking or sharing a tweet, commenting on a
post or news piece, or liking or sharing a Facebook update. A brand can ensure that the
message gets seeded with the right influencer at the right time if it understands its audience's
reaction history.

Influencer – The fundamental problem with influencer marketing is that brands are more
concerned with interacting with high-profile influencers than with those who are actually
relevant to their target demographic. Identifying the right influencer from the start is crucial
to a successful campaign; else, the message will be diluted.

38
3.3.2 Manage

A company must proceed to the managing stage after discovering who their new influencer
for their target market is. Influencer marketing, like any other marketing strategy, necessitates
supervision from the start to the finish of the campaign, and beyond. Relationships with
influencers can be kept for future outreach and marketing. Established trust, reciprocal
expertise, a ready client base, and the prospect of converting from brand influencer to brand
advocate are all advantages of establishing a relationship with influencers. By cultivating a
relationship with influencers, you may turn them into brand ambassadors. When it comes to
managing influencer relationships, all brands should follow these seven stages:

Figure 12 : The seven steps of influencer marketing management, p.166 (Brown &
Fiorella, 2013)

Product – The product is equally as important as the message in an influencer campaign, and
trust is the ultimate currency of the social web. The firm must ensure that the influencers with
whom it is cooperating have all of the resources they need to promote the products, as well as
that the products themselves are worth promoting.

Knowledge – The influencer must have relevant experience and product knowledge,
according to the brand. Fact sheets, work sheets, and hands-on training should be supplied to
influencers (bloggers, celebrities, media outlets, and online publications) to ensure that they
have as much knowledge of the product as the brand's team.

39
Calendar – Short-term outreach and longer-term marketing efforts by the brand to capitalise
on the influencer's buzz are standard components of influencer marketing techniques. A
preferred way is to create a longer-term vision that establishes the influencer as an important
part of the brand's marketing operations and team. In any case, the content and promotion
schedule must be carefully planned to ensure the campaign's success. Based on the
precampaign statistics and audience targeting, determine the day and time each influencer
will promote, as well as any follow-up promotion (ex. tweets, updates, supplementary posts
to complement the primary promotion). Another benefit of having an influencer calendar is
that it helps you to create a backup strategy in the event that something goes wrong during the
campaign.

Message – Brands must adjust their messaging to fit the influencer's natural tone while
keeping the major promotional points front and centre. What the influencers are willing to say
and what language they are willing to use should be determined early on, and the promotion
should be developed around that. The brand should look to see if the influencer has
previously discussed anything similar to the brand's message and how they tackled it; this
will allow the brand to understand more about the influencer's style and interests, thereby
increasing the chances of partnering.

Platform – The brand must determine which platform will be the most popular and function
as a support network.

Alternatives – Even well-planned campaigns can receive a poor reception or receive a

negative response from the target audience, so be prepared for unforeseen market reactions.
Preparedness can include alternate influencers that can respond to negative feedback and help
shift the campaign's balance back to positive, as well as different promotions and landing
pages if a given message isn't working.

Feedback – Listening to what went well and what could have gone better, as well as what
other methods could be used in future campaigns, is a crucial part of the post-campaign
analysis. Influencers are still the ones who have built a following and earned the trust of their
fans. These seven stages apply to both macro and micro influencer marketing.

40
3.3.3 Monitor

The following step for the brand is to maintain track of influencer campaigns. When it comes
to analysing an influencer marketing campaign's efforts, brands should focus on results rather
than efforts because it provides a more defined framework for achieving goals and meeting
targets. With real-time industry insights, businesses can reach out to competitors, fine-tune
their strategy, and make the outreach a success. Using search analytics, listening tools,
dedicated messaging, landing pages, and other tools, marketers can begin to understand who
and what is providing the best ROI, where the brand message has to be adjusted, and which
influencers are affecting customers and their decision-making processes at any given time.
Brands should build their strategy around three essential objectives and measure how each
campaign performs against them.

Figure 13: Three essential influencer statistics to measure

The first influencer metric to keep an eye on is awareness, which includes campaign-related
blog posts, social shares and updates, news articles, media interviews and/or pitches, and
brand or product mentions.

The second influencer metric to keep an eye on is reaction time. The reaction goal includes
increased visits to the corporate website/landing page, increased email subscribers, increased
visitors to offline locations, increased search searches, and social followers and peer referrals.

Action, which includes white paper downloads, seminar and/or webinar attendance, affiliate
sign-ups, and purchases, is the final statistic to track.

3.3.4 Measure

41
The measure stage is the final phase in the four M's model, as well as the equation's final
item. To be able to replicate the success of a campaign in future campaigns, the brand must
first figure out why it happened and who was to blame. "Everything revolves around
measurement, and measurement revolves around measurement." (Brown & Fiorella, 2013, p.
170)

With the support of social media and different platforms that assess which network and
content give the highest return on investment, we can create very concentrated campaigns,
and the same is true for measuring influencer results. There are two important KPIs that
brands must track in each influencer marketing operation. In the first metric, include the
following:

Investment – Include in the investment metric the expense of evaluating whether influencers
are right for the company before the campaign begins. A brand should calculate the cost of
putting up the programme and use it as a barometer for the amount of return it receives,
whether in terms of money or brand awareness.

Resources – Personnel, such as how many employees are needed and how many hours they
will dedicate to the campaign, as well as education, such as how much time is needed to train
each influencer on the brand's product and culture, must be assessed by the brand. Manpower
and education must be contributed to the higher financial outlay.

Product – Free samples of the brand's products should be made available to both influencers
and their audiences if the company wishes to interact from a lead generation or purchase
decision standpoint. The costs of the products that are sent out must be factored into the
campaign's overall budget. The influencer metric is the second crucial parameter to keep an
eye on.

Ratio – Influencer differentiation produces better outcomes, and a healthy and engaged
influencer audience is considerably more important than a high number of followers.
Companies might assess how many reactions an influencer obtains when sharing the brand's
message as a percentage of the influencer's overall following to get a more exact return on
that individual influencer.

42
Sentiment – By measuring the campaign's audience's buy-in, the company may learn about
the mood surrounding the brand message and how the target audience regards the brand and
the campaign. The social media team of an organisation might use a variety of methods to
track the activity of an influencer's audience. A brand can use this strategy to increase
awareness of an influencer while also helping to change the perception of influencers who
aren't well-liked. A brand can also quickly identify places that are upsetting to a certain
demographic and, if necessary, launch a crisis communication response.

Effect – When measuring the campaign's effectiveness, the organisation must look at traffic
produced to a website, microsite, or landing page. One should also look at how many times
the brand or product is discussed online and how many people recognise the brand name with
the help of new fans, followers, newsletter subscribers, and how many white papers or
information sheets were downloaded from the company's website. Depending on the product
or service, the consumer buying cycle may be longer than the advertising duration. Brown
and Fiorella (2013) advise the organisation to incorporate a plan for monitoring the influencer
marketing effort's impact on this buying path in the future.

3.4 Measuring the Success of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

If a company can't track its results, it can't improve its influencer marketing plan. As a result,
it's vital to be able to measure and demonstrate the practice's results, as well as enhance
techniques to take it to the next level. As companies spend more money on influencer
marketing, they are under growing pressure to quantify its success. There is no actual data on
influence, that is, data that pinpoints who influenced whom, when it occurred, where it
occurred, and how it occurred. The purpose, or goal, of the campaign determines the
approach for determining influencer marketing ROI. The number of new potential customers
that become aware of the brand as a result of the campaign is the ROI if the goal of the
campaign is to increase visibility. If the goal is engagement, the cost-per-engagement (CPE),
which is measured in dollars spent per "like," remark, or interaction such as video views,
shares, or clicks, is a valuable metric. Through involvement, customers' opinions of the
brand, not just the products, are gauged.

3.5 Ethical vs. Non-Ethical Influencer Marketing

43
Influencers must properly declare any sponsored content they post, whether it's a product
review, a testimonial, or an unboxing video, according to FTC guidelines, and they must do
so in close proximity to the content itself. Disclosure links should be clearly labelled as such
and should be well-designed. Clear hashtags such as #ad, #sponsored, and so on should be
provided if space is limited, such as on Instagram. Even if customers aren't looking for or
expecting disclosures, it is the advertiser's job to make sure the message is truthful and not
misleading. Because it's hard to predict how many space-constrained ads consumers will see
and associate, the disclosure should be included in every ad that demands it. If a product is
offered for purchase within an interactive ad, all mandatory disclosures should be included in
the ad itself.

44
 Chapter 4 Literature
Review

4.1 Literature Review

• A study conducted by Tapinfluence (2017), stated that while most brands now have an
official Instagram page, marketers are discovering that interacting with influencers
(those with a huge following on social media platforms) can make customers feel
more connected to the brand. Influencers, characterised as "ordinary people" with a
large social media following, are now being used by brands to communicate with their
consumers.

45
 • Research by Berger and Keller Fay Group (2016) revealed that influencers were found
to have more credibility and knowledge, with consumers stating that they were willing
to follow recommendations of influencers.

4.2 Research Gap

There are many research papers that have focused on imapct influencer marketing. There
is a limitation of the present research was Geographical constraints. Due to the wide
coverage of geography in the population, the data collection for the present study was
limited to only three cities of Gujarat. Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat. The data was
collected primarily through Google form no personal interview was taken. The target
group was Generation Z from these cities who were technology savvy and internet users
with active social media presence (used social media at least once a day). Further, each of
the respondents was active followers of influencers. It was assumed that the city would be
representative of the entire population. However, the present assumption may not be true
in case the geographical factors had an impact on buying decisions of the people and thus,
may not be representative of the overall population.

4.3 Problem Statement

Despite the fact that influencer marketing is a hot topic among marketers, no
definitive research on its impact and how it affects customers of Generation Z has
been conducted. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate customer
perceptions and influencers' involvement in distributing knowledge and influencing
consumer cognitive, behavioural, and affective aspects to influence purchase intent.
Influencer marketing is widely used in digital marketing, yet there is little evidence to
back it up. In order to analyse this sort of marketing, this study will find elements that
influence consumer attitudes and perceptions, such as experience and trustworthiness.

4.4 Research Objectives

• To examine the impact of product endorsements by social media influencers on

consumers' buying decision.
• To study the Impact of influencer marketing on brand awareness and brand recall.

46
 • To explore the role of influencer credibility, experience and appearance on consumer
purchase intent.

4.5 Research Methodology

• Research Design: The research will be based on both, Exploratory Research design
and Descriptive Research Design. An exploratory Study shall be undertaken first as it
will provide a clear understanding of the problem; it will begin with the intensive
secondary research and identify the parameters for the next phase, i.e., Descriptive
Research, in which I shall be using a quantitative survey instrument.

• Research Sampling Method: Considering the time constraint and other factors, the
research sampling method will be based on Non-Probability Sampling. Hence,
Convenience sampling and Judgmental sampling methods will be appropriate for the
study.

• Sample Size: For primary data sample size of 100-150 will be considered

• Data Collection: Secondary data will be collected from relevant open internets
sources like research papers, books, articles, blogs, and primary data will be collected
by doing surveys, both online using a questionnaire.

47
 CHAPTER 5 – DATA ANALYSIS &
INTERPRETATION

The questionnaire was floated in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat. There were a total 115
responses. The age of all the respondents was between 20 to 25.

The first question was asked to understand which social media is preferred by Generation Z.
Out of all 115 respondents it was found that 74.78% used Facebook, 95.65% used Instagram,
100% used Youtube and 54.78% used Snapchat.

48
 Chart 1

The Second question was posed to understand how much does the respondents spend online
surfing social media. It was found that most people spend 2-3 hours a day surfing social
media.

Chart 2

47% Generation Z follow between 5 and 10 influencers, and 12% subscribed to less than 5.
28% follow 11 to 20 influencer and 13% follow more than 20 influencers on various social
media platforms.

49
 Chart 3

The next question was asked to understand whether respondents trust the opinions of the
influencers they follow or they do not. 76.82% trusted the opinion of the influencers they
follow and rest did not.

Chart 4

To find out whether respondents directly follow the brand promoted the next question was
asked. 53.03% respondents did follow the brand right after influencers promoted them.

50
 Chart 5

The next question was posed to understand whether promotion of any product by an
influencer impacts the buying behaviour of the respondents. The responses denote that
majority of people will consider buying the product in the future.

Chart 6

The next question was asked to understand the reaction of the respondents if any influencer
they follow starts posting too many endorsements. Majority of respondents would unfollow
an influencer if he/she started posting too many endorsements.

51
 Chart 7

Regarding the importance of digital influencers in the context of the functioning of the online
promotional system, the majority of the respondents agree with the statement that the

activities involving them are more convincing than the best personalized digital advertising.

Chart 8

Regarding the influence of digital influencers on the respondents and their buying behaviour,
almost 56.52% of them stated that there was an influencer whereas 24% stated otherwise.

52
Chart 9

53
 Chart 10

Questions Agree Disagree Neither Agree

nor Disagree

I'm more likely to try a new brand if an

influencer recommends it. 86 15 14

I seek out reviews of influencers before making a

Purchase. 102 4 9

I am less likely to trust a product review or

recommendation if it is sponsored content (i.e. it 52 27 36
is a paid advertisement).

Physical appearance of the influencer impacts

my purchase intent 31 65 19

Experience of an influencer is true indication of

his/her credibility 73 14 28

Influencers that are experts in their

respective fields thus my purchase decisions 91 21 3
are based on their recommendations.

Influencers have the best interest at heart for

their followers 44 29 42

Influencers are reliable source of information

53 37 25

54
 CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION &
RECOMMENDATIONS

55
The study done here is focused on digital influencers and the concept of influencer marketing
as a new and growing trend in online marketing operations. Influencer marketing has become
the fastest-growing trend in consumer communication, transforming entire industries and
becoming a vital success element for many of them. Despite the growing importance of
digital influencers in organisations' marketing efforts and firms' increased spending on this
type of marketing, the topic remains understudied. The primary research addressed
respondents belonging to Generation Z; i.e., the group of consumers for whom this form of
marketing activities is particularly important. Generation Z is a growing group of consumers
which will be more and more important and influential year by year.

The major goal of this study was to identify elements that brands should consider in order to
engage Generation Z effectively through digital influencers. We foresee the comprehensive
recommendations for developing the strategy that organisations should adopt when
connecting with Generation Z in order to properly position and advertise brands by
understanding essential characteristics of their consumer behaviour.

Generation X and Baby Boomers were guided by rationalism and utilitarianism in the past,
and they made decisions based on rational reasoning. However, today's consumer
participation has taken on a new shape, with Generation Z being more emotionally connected
than cognitively.

Because of the pervasiveness of new technology, Generation Z consumers are more likely to
rely their purchasing decisions on Internet referrals and feedback from friends, peers, and
influencers than on traditional television, newspaper advertising, or celebrity promises.
Influencers engage with brands willingly, beginning debates and praising or criticising the
product. Their capacity to find both negative and good aspects helps them to project an image
of being trustworthy, unbiased, and honest, which attracts loyal followers.

In order to market products, brands should use the power of word of mouth and contact the
primary influencers for the Generation Z audience. The selection of a person must be based
not only on popularity, but also on shared values with the brand, ensuring that the person is
appropriate for the marketing campaign.

56
Because today's consumers have easy access to information on the internet and can tell if the
information they're receiving is real, brands should work on becoming more authentic.

57
 REFERENCES
•

Bodker, I. (2020). Instagram Marketing: Does Influencer Size Matter? Retrieved from
•
Markerly: https://markerly.com/blog/instagram-marketing-does-influencer-size-matter/

Baron, J. (2019, July 3). The Key To Gen Z Is Video Content. Retrieved from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessicabaron/2019/07/03/the-key-to-gen-z-is-videocontent/
#:~:text=A%20Google%20study%20showed%20that,helps%20them%20feel%20 more
%20connected.&text=Gen%20Z%20even%20consumes%20shows,about%203.4%2 0hours
•
%20every%20day.

• East-West Digital News. (2019). Influencer Marketing in Russia.

Gross, J., & von Wangenheim, F. (2018). The Big Four of Influencer Marketing. A
• Typology of Influencers. Marketing Review St. Gallen.

Gupta , S., & Mahajan , R. (2019). Role of Micro-Influencers in Affecting Behavioural

• Intentions. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering.

Kay, S., Mulcahy, R., & Parkinson, J. (2020). When less is more: the impact of macro
and micro social media influencers’ disclosure. Journal Journal of Marketing
• Management.

Loginova, O. (2019, January 31). Influencer Marketing in Russia. Retrieved from Geek
Brains : https://geekbrains.ru/posts/influencer_marketing_howto

57