The Resourcefulness of Sponsored Contents on Social Media -A Netnographic Approach to Customer Inspiration Cues-

Abstract

Fashion marketing activity performed by social media influencers (SMIs) has grown exponentially in the past years. Research regarding their marketing power is often discussed in the context of sponsorship disclosure, in order to overcome obstacles of impending regulations that may endanger the authenticity SMIs are perceived to have compared to traditional marketing agents. Upon recent heterogeneous findings, a netnographic approach was taken to examine the actual sponsored posts of SMIs on Instagram. Based on two representative cases that received media coverage, a qualitative analysis of 1,058 comments on Instagram showed customer inspiration and informational social influence regardless of sponsorship disclosures present. Regarding customer inspiration, high frequency of comments including choice imitation intentions was observed. Under certain conditions, customer responses were focused on the SMI’s expertise irrespective from the brand being endorsed. Findings show future implications from both an academic and industry-focused perspective for future potential of SMIs in fashion marketing.