Scientific Research on the Use of Influencers in Brand Management: The State of the Art

1. Introduction

In the last decade, a significant number of users on well-established social media networks have sparked a true revolution that has significantly impacted the advertising industry. These so-called influencers have wielded considerable influence by sharing their experiences, mundane activities, and even emotions, forming a robust identity bond with their audiences. This connection, in turn, shapes and impacts the interests and purchasing decisions of their followers (Brown & Hayes, 2008).

Considering these platforms not merely as supplements to conventional communication strategies but as integral components leads to a scenario where influencer marketing becomes foundational. The notion that brands might have no presence on social networks is deemed inconceivable, resulting in a context where a plethora of strategies is executed through these influential profiles. Consequently, the power wielded by influencers, evident in their media impact and influence on their followers, creates a nuanced power dynamic between advertisers and brand managers, resulting in a notable loss of control over the communicated messages (Sanz-Marcos et al., 2019). Users, in response, are becoming increasingly discerning, often fact-checking information with these profiles to assess the authenticity and content of promoted brands (Chen & Cheng, 2020).

This trend has direct repercussions on consumer perceptions of brands, potentially affecting critical aspects such as brand image, loyalty, and visibility (Ebrahim, 2020). In conjunction with the ever-evolving formats of these platforms, this paradigm presents a substantial challenge to the advertising field. It constitutes an environment ripe with new creative possibilities related to consumption and creative production, with the brand assuming a pivotal role. Consequently, addressing this intricate reality necessitates a specific focus on the relationship between influencers and brand management, highlighting the primary interest of the current research.

This study aims to delve into the practices of influencers on social networks and their potential implications for the strategic decisions of brands. Through an extensive review and analysis of scientific articles published in journals indexed in WoS and Scopus, the research quantifies the scientific evidence on the subject. It also delineates the diverse treatment that brand strategies receive concerning influencers, elucidating the various perspectives shaping these practices in the field of communication and contributing to a deeper understanding of this evolving professional landscape.

1.1. The New Scenario of Brand Advocates

The term influencers refers to individuals perceived as celebrities who extensively document their daily lives, encompassing both the trivial and mundane aspects, and who have successfully evolved into complex recommendation agents, instilling trust in consumers who rely on them for their purchasing decisions (Abidin & Ots, 2016). From the perspective of strategic communication, Enke and Borchers (2019) define these influencers as actors who "have established a significant number of relevant relationships with a specific quality to and influence on organizational stakeholders through content production, content distribution, interaction, and personal appearance on the social web" (p. 267). Essentially, these are individuals possessing the ability to establish connections, stimulate conversations, and influence the perceptions and decisions of target audiences across various organizations. However, these profiles essentially embody what has conventionally been known as brand advocates or leaders adept at shaping opinions to sway their audiences (Rogers & Cartano, 1962; Katz & Lazarsfeld, 2006).

The implementation of strategies that promote brands through closeness, transparency, and immediacy by leveraging a celebrity is a well-known procedure in the advertising sector. The goal is to imprint the personality of these individuals onto brands, fostering consumer trust and amplifying the reach of communication efforts (Castelló, 2016). Traditional media such as television and radio have experienced the exhaustion of their formats as a primary means to connect with the audience (Ramos-Serrano, 2006; Infoadex, 2022), accelerating the emergence of these new formulas that continue to operate in the market as revamped opinion leaders in the digital landscape.

Consequently, the advertising industry has undergone a significant transformation that has fundamentally changed the formulation of brand strategies. The high levels of involvement, interaction, and likability offered by these profiles in the digital environment present new possibilities that are revolutionizing creative production with brands as protagonists, overshadowing the traditional focus on the objects of consumption (Ye et al., 2021).

The exponential and well-documented growth (Campbell & Farrel, 2020; IAB, 2022) of these influencers in branding not only generates economic benefits for companies (Brown & Hayes, 2008) but also extends beyond purely economic value to impact consumers' lives, giving rise to strong communities with high rates of interaction and engagement (Díaz, 2017). However, this progression entails consequences yet to be determined, continuing to influence a market that is still adapting to these strategies and formats.

1.2. The Impact of Influencers on Brand Strategy

The rapid pace at which the digital medium has advanced in our society has caused a significant transformation, questioning our ability to adapt to a new environment that infiltrates and extends into many of our vital spaces. Social media has been described as platforms that predispose users to engage with formats that often blur the lines between commercial and personal spheres (Sharma & Verma, 2018). Many who are now considered influencers began as users simply sharing photos of their daily lives, forging an empathetic connection with their followers. According to Sánchez-Fernández and Jiménez-Castillo (2021), the success of these profiles is precisely based on their ability to connect emotionally with their users. Over time, the popularity of these profiles has piqued the interest of large companies that view these users as legitimate channels to entrust their strategies, given the trust they inspire among their followers to promote their brands. To this extent, a significant portion of companies' commercial budgets is currently allocated to influencer strategies (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2023; Leung et al., 2022).

Since 2003, the connection between influencers and brands has become a subject of scientific interest. In this regard, there is research concluding that influencers creating messages that resonate with the audience's interests can positively impact the perceptions of target audiences (Kim & Kim, 2021).

The most basic parameter on which brands initially based their strategies was the number of followers. Mega-influencers have a million or more followers, macro-influencers have between 100,000 and a million followers, micro-influencers have between 10,000 and 100,000 followers, and nano-influencers have fewer than 10,000 followers. Each of these profiles can bring different advantages to organizations (Hudders et al., 2021, p. 335). Mega-influencers have the largest following. However, macro-influencers can excel in their specific segments and achieve even stronger engagement rates than mega-influencers. Micro-influencers can achieve higher levels of authenticity and intimacy compared to macro-influencers, increasing their persuasive impact. Nano-influencers are usually in the early stages of their careers and have the most robust engagement rates of all influencer categories due to their smaller audience. They are open to unpaid collaborations to develop their profile and often approach brands themselves to foster partnerships (Campbell & Farrell, 2020).

In emphasizing the strategic orientation of this communication type, Goldberg and Gustafson (2023) consolidate findings from various disciplines studying the phenomenon and highlight three key elements—reach, effect, and durability—that should be considered in influencer campaign studies. Beyond traditional numerical parameters such as the number of followers (De Veirman et al., 2017), increasing attention is being paid to determining success factors related to influencer characteristics. Variables such as experience and credibility, physical and social appeal, and influencers' perceived homophily gain special relevance (Ye et al., 2021).

Nevertheless, the continuous updating of platforms stimulates the emergence of new formats, and the complex technological-social situation poses new challenges that require constant adaptation of strategies, making it difficult to consolidate taxonomies or even recommendations to organize and reflect on these practices. In fact, one of the major concerns observed is understanding and managing the loss of control over messages that companies entrust to influencers (Sunderman & Raabe, 2019). One tool that organizations are beginning to use, which may help mitigate this issue, is the use of virtual influencers. These influencers can be effective in building brand image and increasing brand awareness but lack the persuasive ability to stimulate purchasing intent due to a lack of authenticity, low similarity with followers, and weak parasocial relationships (Lou et al., 2023). However, the results on the use of this type of profile are still inconclusive (Hudders et al., 2021).

As mentioned previously, research on the phenomenon of influencers has garnered increasing attention over the past two decades. The majority of compiled works typically originate from the field of marketing. However, the accelerated pace of publications and the need to achieve a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon, which is so complex and dynamic, particularly from the specific perspective of branding, justifies a review of the state of the art. This work is based on studies collected from the scientific databases Scopus and WoS, focused on the communication of influencers as a strategic figure for brands. The descriptive analysis undertaken contributes to enriching knowledge about the phenomenon, outlining the main themes under analysis, the methodological tools used, as well as the most relevant findings to date.

2. Methodology and Research Design

The systematic review method employed in this study has as its primary objectives the synthesis of evidence, the identification of methodologies, and the identification of research gaps in a specific area of interest (Baker, 2016; Guo et al., 2019). This research is grounded in a methodology developed in multiple steps involving the identification of relevant articles, the evaluation of their quality, and the interpretation and analysis of research results (Khan et al., 2003). While in the specific realm of influencer studies, Sundermann and Raabe (2019) have successfully applied such methodologies, no studies focusing on the specific analysis of the influencer's role in relation to branding have been found until now.

To carry out the analysis, a first phase was initiated, consisting of the retrieval of available academic literature. In order to adhere to the highest level of systematicity, the searches were exclusively focused on scientific articles (Codina, 2020), using the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases due to their extensive indexing in top-quality journals with rigorous standards (Bar-Ilan, 2010; Vizcaíno-Verdú et al., 2019). For both databases, the sample delimitation considered the entire available time range up to July 2023.

Once the databases were described, the review goals were determined by formulating the following research questions:

1. PI1- How is the influencer figure addressed in relation to brand management on social media in scientific articles in the field of communication?

2. PI2- What type of methodological approach is employed by the analysed articles?

3. PI3- What are the main findings contributed so far regarding the study of influencers from the perspective of branding on social media?

These questions guided the assessment of possible keywords to conduct an adequate search for articles pertinent to the research (Paul & Criado, 2020). In this case, the equations used are directly related to the study's theme, considering both English and Spanish languages. The following keywords were covered: influencers, branding, and social media for English searches; as well as the Spanish words prescriptor (influencer), marca (brand), and redes sociales (social media). These keywords were selected for their relevance to identifying articles, specifically those focused on the use of influencers in social media for strategic communication purposes (Hudders et al., 2021). Based on prior reviews and research studies, 'influencer' (prescriptor) is widely acknowledged as the predominant term in both academic and business contexts to denote individuals who possess the capacity to influence consumers, particularly in final purchase decisions (Lou and Yuan, 2019). To ensure that the search yielded articles from the field of interest, the terms "branding" (marca) and "social media" (redes sociales) were included and connected via the Boolean logic "AND" with the aforementioned keywords representing influential users on digital platforms. The article retrieval was conducted between June and July 2023, and all information and subsequent analysis were conducted using a categorization database.

Table 1 presents the number of results obtained for each source and the equations used for article searches.

In the second phase, a manual review of the identified articles was conducted using an analysis form developed with reference to the guidelines of Higgins et al. (2019) and Moher et al. (2010). Information was extracted from each selected article, including details about the authors and various characteristics of the studied sample such as publication date, number of citations, researchers' origin, object of study, type of methodology employed, approach, and main research results. The categorization of the objects of study is based on the work of Ye et al. (2021), who identified five main research themes in the field of influencer marketing through a thematic content analysis in their bibliographic review: 1) Influencer marketing persuasion; 2) Public perspectives on influencer marketing; 3) Influencer marketing for specific product categories and sectors; 4) Identification, Selection, and Activation of Influencers; 5) Ethical and/or political issues. The construction of the variable for the object of study is based on these five themes.

To comprehensively assess the significance of articles and journals, indicators such as impact factor and ranking position were considered, as outlined by Ye et al. (2021). A citation analysis was conducted to identify the most influential articles within the sample. Given the assumption that authors cite articles only when they find them relevant to their research, the number of citations serves as an effective index reflecting the impact of an author or article in subsequent research within the field (Garfield, 1979).

After classifying the collected contents, an analysis was conducted to address the proposed research questions.

3. Results

The study sample comprises a total of 74 articles, with 66 from the Web of Science and eight indexed in Scopus. These articles were published between 2014 and 2023 (up to the time of the research) and are distributed as illustrated in Graph 1.

It is observed that the number of published articles gradually increases from 2019, reaching its peak in 2022. The number of citations received by the articles ranges from 0 to 235 citations, with an average of 30.1 citations and a total cumulative citation count of 2224 for the 74 articles. Using 100 citations as a reference point, the top four most cited articles in the sample stand out, as shown in Table 2.

If the number of citations received is crossed with the years of publication (Graph 2), it is observed that the pattern does not coincide with the one seen in the case of publications, where the number increases over the years. There is no specific pattern observed in the intersection of these data, although it is true that in recent years (from 2019 to the data collection in 2023), there is a significant number of citations received in the set of analysed research.

In terms of authorship, the majority of articles have a single author (24 articles), followed closely by those with two authors (22 articles) and three authors (20 articles). Only eight articles are co-authored by four researchers. Geographically, the primary origins of the articles are Europe (39 articles) and North America (20 articles), with fewer contributions from Asia and Oceania (six articles) and Latin America (three articles). When articles have two or more authors, it is notable that geographical regions are often shared. Specifically, in four articles, two geographical regions are combined, and in only one article, authors come from three different regions.

In terms of the language of publication, English is the predominant language (39 articles), making up nearly 80% of the publications. Following this, to a lesser extent, are publications in Spanish and the combination of both languages (5 articles), accounting for 10.8% and 6.8%, respectively. Additionally, there is one article in Portuguese and another in Turkish, barely constituting 1.4% of the sample. The keywords are closely related to this linguistic landscape. The most referenced keyword is 'influencer,' which is also used in Spanish articles despite being an Anglo-Saxon term. The keyword 'prescriptor' is scarcely reflected, appearing in only two articles. As for 'social media,' a similar trend is observed, as the preference is to use its English translation, even in articles written in Spanish. The terms 'branding' or 'marca' were found to be the least referenced in the articles.

Regarding the methodology, we first examine the types of methodological approaches applied (Table 4). Qualitative approaches predominate, constituting over 60% of the analyzed works, followed by quantitative approaches (24%), and mixed or combined approaches, which make up a mere 15%. The majority of works (55 articles) employ only one analytical tool in their research. In contrast, 36 articles use a combination of two different tools, and only two investigations consider methodological triangulation (Table 3).

Content analysis emerges as the most frequently employed tool, featured in 30 works, with 26 articles using it as the primary method and others incorporating it as a secondary research tool. The questionnaire takes the second position as the primary choice, appearing in 13 works, and is also the second option in one study. Meanwhile, the interview is the secondary choice as a comprehensive tool, seen in 11 works as the primary method, in four studies as the secondary, and in one work as the tertiary option. Literature review and ethnography are tools found in up to 12 works as the primary choice and in 13 as the secondary. The remaining instruments have a relatively limited presence, as indicated in Table 3. The two investigations employing methodological triangulation relied on the interview, ethnography, content and data analysis, and observation, with the interview being the shared instrument in both studies.

Considering the categorization by Ye et al. (2021), there was no need to introduce additional thematic categories, as the 74 articles neatly align with the five typologies proposed by the study. A closer examination of Table 4 reveals that the majority of research falls into two primary categories: studies analysing tools and all factors related to the persuasion of influencers (28 articles) and the ethical and/or political issues surrounding these practices (19 articles). These two categories collectively constitute 63.5% of the reviewed studies. Articles centred on the study of audiences for these practices account for approximately 14.8% (11), followed by investigations focusing on specific products or sectors—a set of ten articles representing 13.5% of the sample. In the last category, works concentrating on the identification, selection, and activation of influencers make up only 8.1% (six articles).

Examining the evolution of these themes by year (refer to Table 5), it becomes apparent that ethical and/or political issues have been a persistent and prevalent concern since the initial years of this review. Notably, in recent years, the number of articles addressing this specific object of study has seen a noticeable increase.

The other standout theme, focused on the persuasion of influencer marketing, is not evident until 2017; however, it is precisely from then on that it gains prominence. The study of audiences has its significant moment in the year 2022, in which 7 out of the 11 categorized articles are concentrated. The other two themes (influencer marketing for specific product categories or sectors and identification, selection, and activation of influencers) do not follow an established pattern, presumably due to the limited number of published articles.

4. Conclusions

While it is true that studies examining the figure of influencers on social media are numerous and have significantly increased in recent years, research addressing these profiles from a specific branding perspective is both scarce and novel in the field of communication. Its development is closely linked to the expansion of social media, reflected in very recent scientific production, and therefore, it has limited empirical information and an incipient conceptual development. According to the specific data analysed, the first article found dates back to 2014, confirming this emerging phenomenon. Additionally, it is observed that studies on the topic begin to increase significantly only from the year 2019, a period that tends to coincide with a significant number of citations. This indicates that, presumably, the topic will receive more attention in the coming years as studies continue to advance and build on the initial research found.

In a second dimension of the analysis, there is a clear predominance of articles of European and North American origin. This, combined with the notable superiority of the English language in publications, suggests a strong influence of Anglo-Saxon research in this field. While these findings could potentially affect the diversity of approaches to the studied theme, describing a scenario limited to certain types of markets and populations, it is noteworthy that the situation in the rankings and the impact factor of the studied journals reflects the rigorous and relevant quality of these articles. The specialization of these publications, all originating from the field of communication, supports their appropriateness.

One noteworthy aspect that fulfils one of the goals set for this research is the exploratory nature of the studies. Evident in studies like those by Hudders et al. (2021), there is a prevalence of the content analysis tool within a predominantly qualitative approach. The abundance of tools available for data retrieval on social media, coupled with the fact that the most cited studies use this type of methodological instrument, could account for this trend. Another reason supporting this type of methodological orientation is the youthfulness of this line of research. It is also an environment that is constantly changing, with a variety of resources and practices emerging. Therefore, researchers often face contexts with a high degree of novelty that need to be explored.

On the other hand, and in line with the studies of Ye et al. (2021), the most frequently addressed theme is related to the persuasion of influencer marketing. This emphasis underscores that one of the primary concerns of the industry is to understand the influence that these influencers exert on consumers and unravel the keys that lead to success among their audiences. However, the fact that the theme dedicated to studying the selection and activation of these profiles occupies the last position indicates that we are facing a scenario that needs urgent development and attention due to the potential implications on the idiosyncrasy and structure of the brand. In fact, beyond the proposals of Sánchez-Fernández and Jiménez-Castillo (2021) that indicated the trend of personalizing communicative actions through these profiles, focusing on advertising effectiveness in issues such as the influencer's closeness to their audience or the personalization of actions, there are no procedures or predictive models proposing formulas to follow, except for concise recommendations. These findings reaffirm the need to investigate the importance of understanding the reasons that lead to the loss of control over messages conveyed by influencers. As suggested by Ebrahim (2020), it is essential to explore strategies that help mitigate perceptions that could compromise issues such as brand loyalty or its image as a result of an inadequate strategy.

In fact, and in response to the main objective of this study, the approach to branding in relation to the study of influencers is practically non-existent. The identified themes, as well as the keywords of the analysed works, demonstrate the need for in-depth reviews regarding the strategic implications that these profiles have for brands. As mentioned earlier, the development of ethical issues, the study of influencers in the political arena, or the interest in specific sectors, including fashion or youth, stands out above the development of a corpus that supports the consequences of these profiles for brand management. In the current communicative context, influenced by a period of exhaustion of traditional media, it becomes imperative to develop management models that could be useful for anticipating and addressing possible social and cultural episodes that brands may face, providing keys to facilitate the success of effective strategies with these profiles.

From the above, it is possible to point out that, although scientific production regarding studies on influencers is very recent, it is experiencing rapid development in terms of the number of indexed articles and the variety of topics that are being rigorously addressed. However, the focus on the implications that these profiles have on strategic decisions towards brands appears underdeveloped. Therefore, there is an encouragement to review possible studies that address this complex reality.

Authors' Contribution

Paloma Sanz-Marcos: Conceptualization, Investigation, Supervision, Writing-review & editing. Guadalupe Melendez González-Haba: Conceptualization, Investigation, Supervision, Writing-review & editing. Ana Castillo-Díaz: Conceptualization, Investigation, Supervision, Writing-review & editing. Enrique Vergara: Conceptualization, Investigation, Supervision, Writing-review & editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

Author notes

* Full Professor in the Department of Marketing and Communication

** Professor in the Area of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising

*** Full Professor and Deputy Director of the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising

**** PhD in Communication from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Communications, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

Additional information

Translation to English : Mark Byrne

To cite this article : Sanz-Marcos, Paloma; Melendez González-Haba, Guadalupe; Castillo-Díaz, Ana; & Vergara, Enrique (2024). Scientific Research on the Use of Influencers in Brand Management: The State of the Art. ICONO 14. Scientific Journal of Communication and Emerging Technologies 22(1). https://doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v22i1.2125

ICONO 14, Revista de comunicación y tecnologías emergentes

ISSN: 1697-8293

Vol. 22

Num. 1

Año. 2024

Scientific Research on the Use of Influencers in Brand Management: The State of the Art

Paloma Sanz-Marcos ¹, Guadalupe Melendez González-Haba ¹, Ana Castillo-Díaz ², Enrique Vergara ³