What Happens When Social Media Influencers Lie? Authenticity and Human Brands: An Abstract

Abstract

Social media influencers (SMIs) represent a “new type of independent third-party endorser who shapes audience attitudes through blogs, tweets, and the use of other social media” (Freberg et al. 2011, p. 90). SMIs use various social media platforms to portray their online persona and, as such, can be considered human brands (Thompson 2006). Given the increase in the numbers of SMIs as well as their ever-growing audiences, it is no wonder that in 2019, the money traditional brands have spent sponsoring SMIs topped $8 billion in net worth and is projected to reach $15 billion in net worth by 2022 (Schomer 2019). This new phenomenon is referred to as influencer marketing (Audrezet et al. 2018), a strategy traditional brands use in which they promote their products via SMIs (i.e., human brands).

While being passionate and transparent are identified as two aspects associated with how SMIs manage their authenticity (Audrezet et al. 2019), prior research has not empirically examined whether these authenticity types affect consumer responses. Recently, research has identified three authenticity types that may help explain consumer responses. The specific types of authenticity that were developed are True-to-Self (TTS), True-to-Ideal (TTI), and True-to-Fact (TTF) (Moulard et al. 2020). For the purposes of this study, these three types of authenticity will be applied to the SMI.

These three authenticity types can be conceptualized within the context of SMIs. TTS authenticity of an SMI entails that the SMI loves what he/she does and the brands he/she promotes (intrinsic motivation). TTI authenticity entails that the SMI’s content within his/her stories consistently reflects his/her brand essence (i.e., the ideal). TTF authenticity in the SMI context refers to consumers’ perceptions of their honesty, forthrightness, and transparency within their online stories. We use these three types of authenticity to assess their effect on attitudes toward the social media influencer.

Thus, this manuscript addresses the following questions: Do influencer "stories,” which attempt to showcase authentic behavior, positively affect viewer attitudes? Further, what if the stories portrayed by SMIs are not true? Do the lies actually matter? This manuscript examines the relationship of SMI storytelling, authenticity, and attitudes toward the SMIs.