Under the influence

Social media influencers have become a prominent part of modern advertising. They can shape how brands communicate with consumers and how people decide what to buy in ways that conventional marketing perhaps never achieved in the past. A review of research into this phenomenon published in the International Journal of Business Excellence suggests that the impact influencers have is now sufficiently well established that there is a need to study their commercial effectiveness, as well as looking into any ethical or regulatory questions that arise.

The study systematically examined peer-reviewed research in this area to assess what is known about influencer marketing and what information is lacking. Influencer marketing refers to the promotion of products, services or ideas by individuals who have built large and engaged followings on social media platforms. Unlike conventional celebrities, influencers are typically perceived as ordinary people who share their daily lives or specialist interests online. This quality fosters a degree of trust in what they say and what they promote that might be elusive to the traditional scripted advertising and endorsements made by actors, pop stars, and other such well-known individuals.

Researchers consistently find that influencers affect consumer behaviour, particularly purchasing decisions. Many studies measure purchase intention, a term used to describe how likely a consumer is to buy a product after encountering marketing content. Influencers appear to shape purchase intention in several ways, through credibility, meaning how knowledgeable and trustworthy they seem, attractiveness, encompassing both physical appeal and likeability, and the fit between influencer and product, which refers to how closely an influencer’s image aligns with the brand they promote.

Influencer endorsements might be referred to as electronic word of mouth, digitally mediated opinions that consumers often perceive as more authentic than traditional advertising. Beyond individual purchases, the research literature suggests that there is a broader effect on brand awareness, improved brand perception, and stronger engagement for the company being promoted with their target audience.

By reviewing what is considered to be a rather fragmented body of research, the paper suggests that influencer marketing is now a permanent feature of contemporary commerce, at least as permanent as any phenomenon might be in such a fickle world as marketing. The researchers say that there is now a need for a more context-specific analysis of this evolving industry, one that also takes into account the ethics, such as those surrounding children and vulnerable adults.

Trehan, U., Siddiqui, I.N. and Dewangan, J.K. (2025) ‘Social media influencer marketing: a systematic literature review’, Int. J. Business Excellence, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp.488–505.