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- The (not so) secret life of senior social media influencers: an analysis of the top five 'granfluencers', on InstagramPublication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Miranda, Sandra; Gama, AnaThe changing media landscape and consumption along with the decreased efficacy of traditional advertising have confronted brands with the challenge to unravel different and innovative ways to effectively communicate with their targets. Influencer marketing is one of the strategies that is thriving and proved valuable for marketeers in this pursuit of new ways of reaching out to their audiences. Despite the relevance that digital influencer communication has recently gained for brands, academic research has been slow to catch up and some of the aspects related to digital influencers remain understudied. Within this context little is known about this exercise of influence by senior digital influencers and how they communicate with their followers. Traditionally associated with a more passive role of content receivers, some of the older citizens have been developing their digital knowledge and skills and are now active content creators on social networking sites and even, in some cases, building up a vast audience and a wide range of interested, involved, and engaged followers. Yet, there is scarce evidence regarding these elderly digital content creators. To help fill this gap, this exploratory study aims to study the Instagram profile of the top five older influencers and examine their personal brand subjectivities, communicative styles, and social media practices. A qualitative methodology was adopted, involving a set of dimension analyses such as the tone of communication, posting frequency, themes/subjects of interest, audiovisual and multimedia resources, as well as their interaction and engagement with followers. The results challenge the negative stereotype associated with old age and suggest that senior influencers already take part in the influencer economy. Academic and business implications of the study are examined for influencer marketing.
- Can macroinfluencers have an impact on the customers’ journey of their followers?Publication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Murteira, CarlaConsumer marketplaces have been changing due to the evolution of digital technology, especially with the advent and growing popularity of social networking sites. The rise and massive use of social media by consumers opened a door to new forms of communication between brands and consumers. One of them is through the use of social media influencers (SMI), which now assume a pivotal role to connect brands with consumers. This has led many companies and brands to increasingly include in their marketing strategy influencer-based campaigns, although as Janssen et al. (2022) alert, much remains to be explored to gain a better understanding of the value of digital influencers as an instrument for marketing communication. One of the issues that warrant further research is what types of influencers are effective in which situations and for what purpose (Vrontis et al., 2020). Given that the empirical research is mainly focused on a broader and generic concept of social media influencers, scholars have already highlighted the need to address potential differences among the several types of SMI and examine if they have a distinct impact on the customers’ journey (e.g., Boerman, 2020; Vrontis et al., 2020). There are numerous typologies of digital influencers depending on factors such as their status, practices, or their impact and presence on specific social media platforms, but the most popular classification is related to audience size, that is, their number of followers. In this study, we depart from the last criteria (number of followers) to examine the role and impact of a specific SMI type – the macroinfluencer - on the customers’ journey of their followers. The authors collected and analyzed data from approximately 460 Instagram users in Portugal that followed one or more lifestyle macroinfluencers on this digital platform. These followers, mostly women between 18 and 45 years old, use Instagram on a daily basis. In this survey, we examined the role of the social media macroinfluencers’ perceived credibility, perceived content utility, their perceived similarity with their followers, the perceived fun and satisfaction that followers derive from following them, as well as consumer motives to follow, on the consumers’ decision process. Overall, the results show that the perceived macroinfluencers characteristics are positively related to the consumers’ intentions to search for and purchase products and services announced by these SMI. According to the findings, the examined macroinfluencers’ perceived characteristics are also positively related to the followers’ intentions to keep following the SMI in the future. The results are discussed, and the academic and business implications of the study are examined.
- A different type of influencer? Examining senior Instagram influencers communicationPublication . Miranda, Sandra; Antunes, Ana Cristina; Gama, AnaThe aging of the population, the advance of ICT, and the opening of social networks have allowed the reception of massive phenomena led by the so-called digital immigrants. Indeed, despite the digital divide and a lesser predisposition of older people to deal with technology, it turns out that the market for senior digital influencers begins, gradually, to be marked by its growth, revealing specificities, and differentiating elements. This means that in addition to the traditional role of content receivers, older people are now active content creators, occupying a space that for a long time was restricted to younger generations, contributing to the building up of a vast audience and a wide range of interested, engaged and interactive followers. Using an exploratory approach, this research aims to study the Instagram profile of the top ten most popular elderly influencers and compare the posts of the top two digital influencers (man and women, each). For this purpose, a qualitative methodology was carried out, we examined and compared the posts of @Baddie Winkle, @Iris Apfel, @ George Takei and @dinneranddance, using several dimensions of analysis such as the topics covered, the tone of communication, and the audiovisual and multimedia resources used to create interaction and engagement with followers. The results show that fashion is one of the central themes, punctuated by a communication full of humor, fun, and eccentricity, challenging the paradigm and negative stereotype related to aging and breaking with the traditional image of decline, frailty, and disability associated with old age.
- Challenging old paradigms about aging and social networks: seniors as social influencersPublication . Miranda, Sandra; Antunes, Ana Cristina; Gama, AnaThe advances of the Network Society and the dissemination of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are associated with potential phenomena of exclusion, such as a set of skills and predispositions less present among older generations – the so-called digital immigrants. Despite the difficulties widely portrayed in the literature, it appears that in addition to the growing adherence of seniors to ICT and the internet, older people are gradually appropriating social networks and digital tools to give voice to content channels starting to stand out as digital influencers. Using an exploratory approach, this research aims to study the Instagram profile and analyze the posts of the top two most popular elderly women digital influencers: @Baddie Winkle (4 million followers and considered, in 2020, by Forbes one of the most influential people on the network) and @Iris Apfel (2 million followers). For this purpose, a qualitative methodology was carried out, where thought a content analysis of the posts, we examined several dimensions such as: the topics covered, the signs, the tone of communication and the audiovisual and multimedia resources used to create interaction and engagement with followers. In total 47 posts were analyzed. The results show that fashion and arts are the central themes of Baddie and Iris posts, allied to the rupture of the image of weakness and fragility of seniors, punctuated by a communication full of humor, fun, grace, and some emotional tone. Artistic photography is the dominant visual resource, some of them in a sponsorship format. In addition to the high (young) number of followers that senior influencers have, there is a high engagement with followers who interact mostly through likes, views, and comments. In relation to these last ones, it is verified the presence of an extremely positive and friendly feedback marked by respect and admiration.
- Can macroinfluencers have an impact on the customers’ journey of their followers?Publication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Murteira, CarlaConsumer marketplaces have been changing due to the evolution of digital technology, especially with the creation and popularity of social networking sites. The rise and massive use of social media by consumers opened a door to new forms of communication between brands and consumers. One of them is through the use of social media influencers (SMI), which now assume a pivotal role to connect brands with consumers. This has led many companies and brands to increasingly include in their marketing strategy influencer-based campaigns, although as Janssen et al. (2022) alert, much remains to be explored to gain a better understanding of the value of digital influencers as an instrument for marketing communication. One of the issues that warrant further research is what types of influencers are effective in which situations and for what purpose (Vrontis et al., 2020). Given that the empirical research is mainly focused on a broader and generic concept of social media influencers, scholars have already highlighted the need to address potential differences among the several types of SMI and examine if they have a distinct impact on the customers’ journey (e.g., Boerman, 2020; Vrontis et al., 2020). There are numerous typologies of digital influencers depending on factors such as their status, practices, or their impact and presence on specific social media platforms, but the most popular classification is related to audience size, that is, their number of followers. In this study, we depart from the last criteria (number of followers) to examine the role and impact of a specific SMI type – the macroinfluencer - on the customers’ journey of their followers. The authors collected and analyzed data from approximately 460 Instagram users in Portugal that followed one or more lifestyle macroinfluencers on this digital platform. These followers, mostly women between 18 and 45 years old, use Instagram on a daily basis. In this survey, we examined the role of the social media macroinfluencers’ perceived credibility, perceived content utility, their perceived similarity with their followers, the perceived fun and satisfaction that followers derive from following them, as well as consumer motives to follow, on the consumers’ decision process. Overall, the results show that the perceived macroinfluencers characteristics are positively related to the consumers’ intentions to search for and purchase products and services announced by these SMI. According to the findings, the examined macroinfluencers’ perceived characteristics are also positively related to the followers’ intentions to keep following the SMI in the future. The results are discussed and the academic and business implications of the study are examined.
- Older portuguese celebrities on Instagram: a snapshot of their strategies and communication practicesPublication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Miranda, SandraOlder social media influencers and in particular celebrities have recently found a new arena where they can gather an entourage of fans: social networking sites (SNS). As their digital born and raised counterparts – social media influencers – they have the power to attract millions of followers by carefully and strategically sharing curated content from their lives, or their opinions and points of view on digital platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok (e.g., Chappie & Cownie, 2017; Schouten et al., 2019). Scholars and practitioners have long been acknowledging that celebrities are important influencers of human behavior in several life domains, including in social media. And in today’s digital zeitgeist, companies still recognize their potential effect on consumers, resorting to celebrities’ endorsements in the form of positive electronic word-of-mouth about the company’s products or services. Yet, research on older celebrities and their strategies and communication practices in SNS, as well as their influence on their digital followers is still scant. Building on theories related to self-disclosure and celebrity endorsement, this exploratory study examines the top 5 Instagram accounts of older Portuguese celebrities, analyzing their presence and branded personae on Instagram as well as their communicative practices and engagement. Instagram, one of the most popular SNS for individuals of all age cohorts, was chosen not only for its popularity but also because it has been changing the social media ecosystem and because it lends itself particularly well to influencer marketing (Duffy, 2020). A quali-quanti study was conducted involving the analysis of all the Instagram publications of these five celebrities during a three-month period, from April to June 2022. The dimensions examined were: the number of posts, the number of followers, the number of sponsored posts, hashtags, themes/subjects of interest, audiovisual and multimedia resources, as well as their interaction and engagement with followers. The results suggest that diversity is their common feature, with clear and marked differences in what concerns their communicative styles and strategies, as well as in interactions and engagement rate with their followers. These older celebrities appear to be unique digital content creators, with an unrepeatable charisma that attracts an increasing number of followers. Their distinctive digital branded personae, their strong investment in their work or other interests, their digital empowerment and their active and interventive posture on what goes on in their life, around them or in the world defy old-age stereotypes. Although exploratory in nature, this study highlights the bright, successful aging of these older celebrities and reveals that they still have the power to mobilize and engage a considerable number of fans, despite they do not take advantage of this to promote brands or products.