The purpose of this study is to investigate influencer marketing through a qualitative study and look at the consequences and risks for brands. The study aims to facilitate companies' work with influencer marketing by investigating and highlighting possible risks in the subject. The study is based on a qualitative research method with a focus on a deductive approach. The empirical material has been collected through semi-structured interviews. A content analysis has subsequently been carried out to analyze the material and answer the research questions. The study's conclusion has identified three potential risk factors that could weaken a company's brand. The three risk factors are word-of-mouth, negative associations and entering collaborations with influencers that are not in line with the company's values. The study has distinguished two risk management strategies, the first of which is a comprehensive background examination of the influencer and the second is to be able to terminate a collaboration if the influencer's values are not in line with the company.

Problemformulering och  syfte: The  growth of new channels has increased the amount of sales messages vying for consumers' attention, changing the conditions for marketing communications. Marketing in social media channels has become a way to keep up with the consumers. However, recent indications points towards a weariness regarding advertising in these channels as well. This has led to new marketing methods emerging, influencer marketing being on these. Previous studies have  often examined certain parts of the phenomenon, such  as product placement in social media, brand alliances, celebrity endorsers or the message process between opinion leader and  receiver. This study intends to build upon this type of research, from a communicative perspective, to get a better understanding of this type of marketing. The main purpose of this study is to, from a communicative transmitter’s perspective, increase the understanding of digital influencer-collaborations, by examining six companies within the Swedish apparel and accessory retail market. Metod och  material: This study has a qualitative approach, since we wanted to acquire a deeper understanding of the phenomenon by examining how companies view  and  make use of influencer marketing, as a way of communicating with the market. We gained information through eight interviews, in person and  over the  phone. The  interviews are conducted with six Swedish companies within the apparel and  accessory market as well as two additional interviews with an influencer-marketing bureau and  a lawyer with knowledge of the marketing laws in Sweden. Huvudresultat: The  main conclusions we’ve drawn from this study is that influencer-collaborations are hard to define, in the sense that the underlying purpose and  the way it’s looked upon seem to differ at this point. This seem to effect the way  companies handles influencer-collaborations, some having a greater focus on product promotion while others use the influencers as a way  of strengthen the  brand. However, regarding the reasons this  kind of marketing method is being used  on Instagram, the companies appear unanimous, meaning it’s a great way  to reach a wider or more specific target audience. We’ve also found that the companies seem to share similar thoughts on what factors are most vital to a successful influencer-collaboration, the credibility being one  of those. Moreover, the juridical aspect is of great interest, as it appears to be somewhat of a gap between what the law states and  how the companies handles it, possible due  to the  different opinions on how evident these collaborations should appear.

Influencer originally comes from the English word influence which means that you influence someone, for example in different purchases. Influencer marketing has over the years become a popular marketing strategy that companies use to strengthen and spread their brand. A person with a large network creates an influence with their followers and can influence their lifestyle decisions. The purpose of this study is to find out how and why companies use influencer marketing to strengthen their brand. Furthermore, the authors study how the companies choose the right influencers in order to best strengthen the brand. To answer the question, the authors have made a qualitative study and interviewed three different companies that use influencer marketing: Boostified who is the intermediary between companies and influencers, Oscar Jacobson which is a clothing company and finally iDeal of Sweden who sells trendy phone accessories. The study shows that companies market themselves through influencer marketing in order to spread brand awareness and to strengthen their brand. For the brand to be strengthened, it is important that influencers can stand behind the brand and genuinely like and feel connected to the product or service.

Denna studie utforskar hur de etiska problem och dilemman som finns i marknadsföringsmetoden influencer marketing kan arbetas med på ett bättre sätt. Detta görs utifrån perspektivet av hur byråer aktiva inom influencer marketing kan integrera arbetet med etik i influencer marketing för att på så sätt skapa bättre förutsättningar att minimera och lösa de etiska problem och dilemman som finns med arbetet. Motivet bakom detta är att influencer marketing som metod är en kombination av betald- och förtjänad media, involverar arbete från flera kommunikationsdiscipliner och i stor utsträckning saknar generella etiska arbetsmetoder. Detta skapar i sin tur en grund för etiska problem och dilemman att gro. Det är upp till byråer aktiva inom influencer marketing att ta upp kampen med de etiska aspekterna då de som skapare av strategierna till arbetsmetoder och i många fall även materialet i sig, står som ansvarig för de etiska aspekterna av metoden. Detta anser de olika kommunikationsdisciplinerna – såsom reklam och PR – är komplext, då det i dagsläget saknas bra praktiska tillvägagångssätt som inte påverkar metodens kvalitet. Den process som integrerar etik i arbetet med influencer marketing vilket presenteras i denna studie bemöter denna problematik genom att argumentera varför byråer ska arbeta med att integrera etik i arbetet med influencer marketing. Vidare förklarar denna process hur arbetet ska utföras samtidigt som den mer konkret benämner vad som ska göras. Sammanfattningsvis handlar detta om att arbetet med influencer marketing går att ses som en process bestående av sex steg, där det etiska arbetet ska integreras i respektive steg. Det etiska arbetet är baserat på vetenskaplig teori om hur etik arbetas med på ett framgångsrikt sätt och integreras därefter in i processen för influencer marketing. För att uppnå ett kvalitativt resultat så bör arbetet med både influencer marketing och etik ses som iterativt. Detta då det ibland kan behövas tas flera steg bakåt i processen. För att således ta sig framåt i processen behöver byråer aktiva inom influencer marketing både arbeta med etik och influencer marketing. Slutligen skapar denna integration ett bättre sätt att arbeta med influencer marketing och ett resultat som är gynnsamt för såväl kund som samhälle.

Influencers on social media is a new phenomenon that has gained popularity in recent years. Despite the increasing popularity of influencer marketing on Instagram, research has been limited. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the credibility of Instagram influencers from the perspective of followers, and see whether the dimensions of source credibility outlined by Ohanian (1990) has a positive impact on users to follow influencers on this platform. The research first presents and compares the research and theories to date regarding the use of celebrities in advertisement and influencer marketing. Then it attempts to investigate the credibility of Instagram influencers in the eyes of male and female users, and evaluates the differences in both genders on the criteria that they decide to follow influencers. This study also evaluates purchase intention of Instagram users based on the product advertisements by influencers to see whether dimensions of source credibility positively impact users’ intent to purchase. For the purpose of this study, a survey of 250 participants was conducted using Amazon MTurk. The results show that about 77 percent of the participants spend more than at least half an hour a day on Instagram and more than half of the participants indicated that their purchase intention is impacted by influencers on this platform. The key findings of this study provide further understanding of the influencers phenomenon on Instagram and give marketers valuable insight in the process of decision-making when running influencer marketing campaigns on Instagram. It provides marketers with more information on how to match up influencers and potential consumers.

Today, the consumers have become more and more immune to traditional marketing, such as the use of TV-commercials.  With social media, the rules of marketing changed, and the most effective way to reach customers today is through influencer marketing. However, influencer marketing is still considered to be a new phenomenon with few established practices. The aim of this study is to develop an understanding for what precise actions companies can take to make their use of influencer marketing more successful. This study will therefore address the following research question, “What factors are important for a more effective use of influencer marketing?”. To achieve this, the study will have an deductive research approach, and make use of qualitative, semi-structured interviews. The findings of this research show that long-term collaborations with micro-influencers, and a specific target group are key components for an effective use of influencer marketing. Other important factors are selecting influencers with a passion towards the products, congruence between the influencer and the company, and lastly higher company transparency. / Utifrån analysen av det empiriska materialet, kunde studien konstatera att det var effektivt att bygga upp långsiktiga samarbeten med mindre influencers, tydlig kongruens mellan influencern och varumärket denne marknadsförde var viktigt för att öka köpintentionen, vikten av att influencern verkligen brinner för produkten den marknadsför, och ökad professionalism och transparens i samarbetet med en influencer var viktiga faktorer för att skapa effektiva influencer marknadsföringskampanjer.

The purpose of the study is to gain a greater understanding of how young women's self-image is affected by exposure to influencer marketing on Instagram. Also, the purpose is to explore how the impact of influencer marketing on self-image contradicts to the purpose of increasing the consumer's purchase intentions. The study is based on three theories; 'social comparison theory', 'social identity theory' and 'self concept theory'. Personal brands (influencers) tend to show an ideal image to increase purchasing intentions among consumers, but this image rarely coincides with how the individual sees herself (the actual self). This creates a larger gap between the individual's actual and ideal selves and is called incongruence. At this stage, the woman may feel dissatisfied with herself, and her self-image is negatively affected. In this way, the image that a personal brand produces on Instagram plays a major role in determining the size of this gap. By connecting the different theoretical frames of reference, a model has been created that contributes to the understanding of how young women's purchase intentions and self-image are affected when they are exposed to influencer marketing. Through a deductive approach, semi-structured interviews were constructed as the qualitative method. The respondents who participated in the study are active users of Instagram and are frequently exposed to influencer marketing. The results show that young women in the ages of 18-26 are a target group that influencer marketing works on as all participants consumed products as a result of an influencer showing these. The results also show that the greater the incongruence between the actual and the ideal self of a young woman, the more her self-image is negatively affected. Incongruence makes it easier to compare your actual self with the ideal self of influencers. This became clearer with younger women in the age range who also generally experience poorer self-confidence. Older women with good self-confidence showed stronger congruence between the actual and the ideal self. Thus, they are not affected to the extent that younger women tend to be. Based on the results, it turned out that 'self concept theory' was the theory that was most central to our study as it explains the inner conflict that often arises between the actual and the best self. Personal branding is also believed to be an important block between 'social comparison theory' and 'social identity theory'. The conclusion of the study is that young women's purchasing intentions are increased when exposed to influencer marketing, but that a negative impact on self-image differs. Younger women tend to be affected to a greater extent than older women.

The rapid growth of visual microblogging platforms, such as Instagram, has created new opportunities for brands to communicate with stakeholders. As these platforms evolve, brands have had to adapt in order to use the available social media platforms to gain visibility in the millennial audience. Recently brands have turned to online 'celebrities' known as a social media influencer (SMI) to distribute information and influence consumers' product perceptions. This specifically has become a common tactic in communication and marketing efforts with the fashion and beauty industry. Ample research is available on the effects of celebrity endorsements but currently there is a gap in research pertaining to the consumer's perspective towards SMIs and SMIs effects on consumers. The online experiment completed in this thesis addressed how promotion of a product by a SMI affects perceptions of consumers on Instagram by measuring social comparison and self-congruity. This is accomplished by comparing participant's product perception to promotional posts on Instagram by a SMI, brand, and unbranded retail source. A three-condition experiment (SMI, Brand, Control) compared effects of product perception, social comparison, and self-congruity. A questionnaire consisting of 48 questions pertaining to SMI, self-congruity, social comparison, and product perception was completed by 151 participants. Significant relationships were found between the source of the promotional post (SMI, Brand, Control) and product perception. There was also a correlation between self-congruity and social comparison towards the SMI as well as product perception. Results suggest that the post source influences product perception. Results also indicate consumers' perception of the SMI effects product perception. These results provide practical implications for communication practioners who utilize social media. The rapid growth of visual microblogging platforms such as Instagram, is creating new opportunities for organizations to communicate with stakeholders. Brands have used social media platforms in order to gain visibility in the college age audience. Currently there is a gap in research pertaining to SMI and their effects on consumers. This online experiment will address how promotion of a product by an SMI affects perceptions of consumers on Instagram through social comparison and self-congruity theory by comparing responses to a product promoted by an SMI to the same product promoted by the promoted by the brand and to an unbranded retail source. A questionnaire consisting 34 of questions pertaining to SMI, self-congruity, and social comparison will be asked to 180-240 participants. The participants will be randomly assigned one of nine Instagram posts to accomplish stimulus sampling across the three conditions: three from SMI, three from brands, and three from an unbranded retail source / Master of Arts / As visual social media platforms, such as Instagram, continue to rapidly grow in popularity, brands have been obligated to quickly learn how to utilize these platforms in order to reach their target audiences. Brands typically use social media platforms in order to gain visibility in the college aged audience, but new platforms require new strategies. A new popular tactic is utilizing an online “celebrity” known as a social media influencer (SMI) in order to distribute information and influence consumers’ perceptions. Using SMIs in communication and marketing campaigns has grown in popularity in industries such as beauty/fashion, home/family, health/fitness, travel/lifestyle, food/beverage, business/tech and entertainment. In beauty and fashion, the use of SMIs to reach the millennial audience has become a part of regular practice for companies such as H&M, Madewell, Gucci and others. There is ample research on the effects of celebrity endorsements but currently there is a gap in research pertaining to SMIs and their effects on consumers. This online experiment completed in this thesis addressed how promotion of a product by a SMI affects perceptions of consumers by measuring their social comparison and self-congruity. This is accomplished by comparing participant’s product perception to posts by SMI, brands, and unbranded retail sources that promoted a product on Instagram. A three-condition experiment (SMI, Brand, Control) compared effects of product perception, social comparison, and self-congruity. A questionnaire consisting of 48 questions pertaining to SMI, self-congruity, social comparison and, product perception was completed by 151 participants. Significant relationships were found between the source of the post and product perception. Correlations were found between self-congruity and social comparison towards the SMI, as well as product perception. Results suggest that where the source of the post influences product perception. Results also indicate that consumer’s perception of the SMI effects product perception. These results provide practical implications for communication and marketing professionals who are determining whether to use SMI and those who already use SMI.

Författare: Hero Eliassi & Emma Jändel Handledare: Åsa Lindström Examinator: Bertil Hultén Kurs: Examensarbete 30hp, Civilekonomprogrammet inriktning marknadsföring, Linnéuniversitetet Kalmar, VT 2016. Forskningsfråga: Hur ser olika aktörer på användandet av influencers sociala mediekanaler i digital marknadsföring? Syfte: Syftet med detta examensarbete är att analysera användandet av influencers och deras sociala mediekanaler i digital marknadsföring. Fenomenet kommer att undersökas utifrån fyra aktörers perspektiv; influencer marketing-byråers, handelsföretags, influencers och konsumenters perspektiv, för att utforska hur man kombinerar synsätten från de olika aktörerna och på så sätt har möjlighet att effektivisera marknadsföringen genom influencers. Vi ämnar tolka de olika aktörernas syn på denna typ av marknadsföring för att bidra med implikationer till handelsföretag som använder sig av eller funderar på att marknadsföra sig genom influencers sociala mediekanaler och influencer marketing-byråer som agerar mellanhänder mellan handelsföretag och influencers. Vidare ämnar vi även bidra med implikationer till influencers som genomför denna marknadsföring. Metod: Detta examensarbete har haft en kvalitativt inriktad fallstudie med en induktiv ansats och ett explorativt syfte. Databildningen har bestått av en litteraturstudie och en empirisk undersökning genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och fokusgrupper. Det empiriska materialet som erhölls analyserades genom en kvalitativ dataanalys. Resultat & slutsatser: Vi kan konstatera att de fyra aktörerna ser på influencer marketing som ett effektivt marknadsföringssätt som föredras framför företags egen marknadsföring. Vad som framkommer är att ett antal krav bör tas i beaktning för att budskapen presenterade av influencers ska nå ut till den tänkta målgruppen. För att budskapen ska mottas av konsumenter som trovärdiga bör matchning ske mellan varumärken och influencers, samarbetena bör vara genuina och inspirerande, budskapen bör passa in i den kontext där de marknadsförs och balans bör finnas mellan personlighet och professionalitet. Teoretiska och praktiska implikationer: Examensarbetets teoretiska implikationer består av en reviderad undersökningsmodell där viktiga aktörer och aktuella sociala mediekanaler för influencer marketing presenteras. De praktiska implikationerna består av en TRIMPP- modell där begreppen trovärdighet, relevans, inspiration, matchning, personlighet och professionalitet presenteras som viktiga vid skapandet av influencer marketing-kampanjer. Nyckelord: Influencer marketing, influencers, sociala medier, digital marknadsföring / Authors: Hero Eliassi & Emma Jändel Supervisor: Åsa Lindström Examiner: Bertil Hultén Course: Master Thesis in Marketing 30 ECTS, Business Administration and Economics Programme, Linnaeus University Kalmar, Spring 2016. Research question: How does different actors view the usage of influencers’ social media channels in digital marketing? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the usage of influencers and their social media channels in digital marketing. The phenomenon will be studied from the perspective of four different actors; influencer marketing-agencies, companies, influencers and consumers, to be able to examine how to combine the different actors’ views in order to make influencer marketing more effective. We aim to interpret the different actors’ views of influencer marketing to be able to provide implications to companies using or thinking about using influencer marketing and to influencer marketing-agencies that act as intermediaries between companies and influencers. We also aim to provide influencers with implications. Method: This thesis had a qualitatively oriented case study with an inductive approach and an explorative purpose. Data formation consisted of a literature review and an empirical study through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The empirical data obtained was analyzed through a qualitative data analysis. Results and conclusions: We can conclude that the four actors view influencer marketing as an effective marketing method which is preferred over companies' own marketing. A number of requirements should be taken into consideration when producing influencer marketing-campaigns in order for the messages to reach out to the intended audience. For the messages to be received by the consumers as credible matching must occur between brands and influencers, the cooperation should be genuine and inspiring, the messages should fit into the context in which they are presented and balance should be found between personality and professionalism. Theoretical and practical implications: The theoretical implications of the thesis consists of a revised research model with key stakeholders and relevant social media channels for influencer marketing. The practical implications are made up of a TRIMPP-model in which the concepts of trustworthiness, relevance, inspiration, matching, personality and professionalism are presented as important in the creation of influencer marketing- campaigns. Key words: Influencer marketing, influencers, social media, digital marketing

Under valåret 2018 har vi kunnat se politikers nära kontakt med influencers på sociala medier. Valrörelsen på Instagram har bestått av influencers och politikers förklädda relationer. En potentiell problematik för de båda aktörernas transparens och trovärdighet. Politiker har idag blivit den nya trenden för influencers att marknadsföra. Studien har till syfte att besvara hur politiker och influencers använder Instagram som politiskt plattform för att sprida politiska budskap. För att uppnå studiens syfte har vi genomfört en webbenkät för att undersöka mediepublikens inställning till fenomenet, samt en multimodal metod bestående av sex stycken bilder på Instagram. Mediepubliken är det begrepp som kommer att användas för att beskriva de respondenter som besvarat vår enkät samt. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats utifrån vedertagna teorier för att skapa djupare förståelse av fenomenet politiskt influencer marketing, och dess bakomliggande faktorer. På så vis kan forskningsfrågor besvaras och slutsats dras kring att begreppet politiskt†influencer†marketing är ett fenomen som utförs genom politiska kommunikation på Instagram. Vi har även dragit slutsatsen att den politiska kommunikationen på Instagram är ett ytterligare sätt för eliter att kommunicera med varandra, inför bredare publik.