The Impact of Influencers on Social Media (Instagram) Users through online marketing.

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Social media communities and network assignment 1

The Impact of Influencers on Social Media (Instagram) Users through online marketing.

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to help raise awareness about the different aspects of influencers on social media throughout their marketing strategies for social media users. This paper highlights the different strategies used by the influencers and their impact caused on their community. Influencers are very much in vogue on Instagram, they are found everywhere. There will be the use of peer-reviewed articles, journals, books, and the latest fact as well to prove the supporting argument. The main focus of this paper is the strategies used by the influencers to influence their community on Instagram. This paper also highlights the impact of these marketing strategies used by the influencers and their consequences more precisely.

Keywords: #Instagram, #Social Media, #Strategies, #Marketing, #Online, #Impact, #influenced.

Introduction

Instagram has always been among one of the most frequently used sites in the world according to human tendencies because people stay connected through the use of social media and it is the only place where most of the information, conversation and also it has become like a norm to be on Instagram platforms for any imaginable purpose. (Cao et al., 2021).  As time flew by the term influencers started becoming known to society and it has contributed to our economy many well-known people are known to by this term. Influencers are people who share their day-to-day life about every little thing that they usually do. (Mero et al., 2023). Influencers are also known for having a larger number of followers on their Instagram platform and they are rewarded in monetary value for sharing content and product to be consumed by their communities online.

Influencers are indirectly people working for their community by doing a collaboration with other brands to raise awareness on certain products because it is their job, this is considered something convenient and passionate work for them because it is in their comfort zone and they help to keep consumers active also. (Kim & Kim, 2021). They are sponsored to review products and share to help people with their purchases and struggles, by showing the before and after the procedure with the product that they are marketing which is very helpful. (Cao et al., 2021). The influencers do not really take into consideration that they are providing good customer service and most of those watching it are usually satisfied before they go and purchase the product, they also help to build awareness about many things which was still unknown to them.

Actually, it is important to take into consideration that influencers have both positive and negative sides because they have an impact mostly on the younger generation as they are the ones spending most of their time on social media looking up to those influencers like their second parents. The influencers have a psychological impact on them because they are young and influenceable so they influence their way of dressing, thinking, and lifestyle in general. (Cao et al., 2021).  Also, to be noted influencers have a strong influential approach because they affect the whole mindset of a person and they have the tendency to accept that these are the new things that they imperatively have to follow in order to keep up with the trending things. Considering the overall approach this paper will identify and explore further on.

 

Body

In general, social media influencers.

Influencers find it very easy to convince people about their purchasing power because of the way they do their online marketing, they make use of people’s comments and reviews and the good messages received by their followers on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram and subscribers from YouTube which makes it easy to influence the target audience to proceed to the website and make the purchase. (Mero et al., 2023) Influencers in itself are very a big word because it consists of people who are well known, celebrities, and powerful people. they share their experience and knowledge about the product with their community to stop them from wasting their money and time searching for products and spending money futilely. Also, they share and maintain a good bond with their followers via these acts which is encouraging them to follow and spread positive awareness throughout the platforms. (Mero et al., 2023). Digital marketing is a sustainable practice and it is being practiced by influencers for better results and to encourage people to be more active and interactive as social media is our go-to person for every little thing nowadays.

The well-known term influencers were known recently throughout the last century, the eighteen century to be more specific and when it grew to be more popular and there were so many positive words that were being spread out about influencers, first there were celebrities that were famous who were doing the marketing placements but then, later on, people with a huge number of followers and who were certified was following and contributing to the trend because they found more advantage compared to the disadvantages. (Ouvrein et al., 2021). They used to do this on Facebook and YouTube at that time before the popularity of Instagram and later on, Instagram took a toll on those media platforms which is still now the leading social media platform for influencers.

When we are talking more specifically about social media influencers, they are the future of our tomorrow because they have worked to build a good reputation and they have enhanced knowledge on the particular products and marketing about things that will be beneficial for their community. Their content Most of the time attract many people and their community share things related to their expectation which indirectly meets their requirement for what they were looking for this help to facilitate their life because of how busy they are during their daily life. (Vrontis et al., 2021).

As a result, many people rely on the response of the influencers and their approach towards a particular product because they believe that instead of wasting time and looking here and there, it’s better that they look for reviews to clear their doubts. However, their impact on youngsters is still a concerning point because whatever the influences are doing can be false and done just for the sake of money. (Wu, 2022). All of this creates doubts about influencers and they in their development change so they will have the tendency to assume or view things as they show the youngsters especially.

The effect of Instagram influencers online.

Instagram influencers online have both a positive and a negative effect on their communities because not everyone holds the same judgment and opinion on certain things. Their community is full of people of different ages, mentalities, and different ways of identifying things. They help to raise awareness about many subjects like mental health awareness and applications to subscribe to for better mental awareness and a positive balance between positive and negative thinking. Different people and different mentalities mean that people take things differently therefore as the youth of our generation is born with all the latest technologies available in hand they are more at risk of being influenced and it is only through their actions that it can be noticed whether it is in a positive or negative manner that things have been taken. (Wu, 2022). Influencers on Instagram when they are sharing their daily life, many people have the tendency to find themselves in a certain group of people which is human nature however most Instagram influencers do not talk about how they remain fit in an open way like they make use of surgical appliances and even correct their complex which encourages people following them to feel uneasy in their skin.

According to (Instagram 2023), Selena Gomez who is well known for her rare beauty makeup company was body shamed for putting on weight after her lupus surgery she is the world’s most followed celebrity but people in her community raised awareness of this topic, and people of all body type and color are not compared or denigrated for any reason.

As a result, Instagram influencers have more of a negative impact on youngsters compared to a positive side because those influencers do contribute to these aspects which influence the critical thinking of all their followers, they feel the need to have that particular product that they are advertising and most of the time they are good product with the high sales price. Their community takes those influencers as their role model and they follow their daily life routine and make their best to buy all the marketed products or applications to feel heard and seen as their favorite by them.

Consumption by the followers

Influencers on Instagram as discussed above do have an impact on their communities because they have to promote marketing content and encourage people to buy or participate in the giveaway to raise the awareness again on those products.  Social media users are always connected to their devices which allows them to see through their number of interactions and with technological advancement influencers are able to promote their content and make better marketing strategies to provide the right product to their consumers. (Packer et al., 2022). Instagram Influencers share their daily lifestyle which makes their followers want to follow them and do the same things like dress, eat, or live and even think like they adopt their way of thinking which is a bad point because they will be lost in this journey of finding their own identity and authenticity about who they truly are and what they are supposed to be and their goals to be accomplished in life. (De Veirman et al., 2017). Those people should detach themselves from online platforms and take a good look at themselves and their lifestyle, whether it is appropriate for the way they are living and spending some family time with their close ones to make us better and share critical points of view in terms of their time spent online.

The influencers on Instagram post all sorts of things like alcoholic drinks, luxury products, and mental health awareness like purifying one’s energy for a good and positive environment. Influencers on Instagram have their positive side but when they show too much of their life which is actually the main purpose of everything that the term being an influencer means. But there are many people that are not able to share the same purchasing power which in turn feel left out and this affects their mental health later on. (Doshi et al., 2023). Influencers when they share pictures about what they are eating usually include a lot of sugary, salty, oily, or alcoholic drinks which is not recommended for social media users especially youngsters as they are in their puberty phase and they tend to, later on, develop disease and be complexed like obesity, diabetes and more.

Conclusion

According to Instagram 2022, all the influencers never really wear or use the product that use for marketing purposes instead they are seen wearing branded clothes from people or places that they were not given to use or for their marketing content. They do not really adopt a healthy lifestyle instead they are seen eating luxury food which is very expensive and contain all the negative part which is oil, a lot of sugar, and not to forget salt. Social media is a glimpse of life that is not like what these influencers are showing us instead it is totally different from all the hardships imaginable in life.

In conclusion, influencers have both a negative and positive impact on the youth of our generation and they are more likely to be influenced and attracted by all sorts of influences but when we see things in a critical way, we can see and analyze that their is more negative effect compared to the positive ones. Influencers are marketing their content but most of their followers are youth and they are exposing them to all sorts of marketing content which according to them will be all good, especially for matters like skincare. They will be more prone and attracted to such things because it’s human nature to want to look pretty naturally. The influencers should not portray a life that they are not really living and instead show the real side of life and focus more on happiness instead of asking for advice from their followers. This will lead to people having the tendency to find them in these influencers or celebrities. It is advisable for the responsible party to always keep an eye on what their children are doing.

 

Reference list:

Cao, D., Meadows, M., Wong, D., & Xia, S. (2021). Understanding consumers’ social media engagement behaviour: An examination of the moderation effect of social media context. Journal of Business Research, 122, 835–846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.06.025

De Veirman, M., Cauberghe, V., & Hudders, L. (2017). Marketing through Instagram influencers: The impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude. International Journal of Advertising, 36(5), 798–828. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2017.1348035

Doshi, R., Ramesh, A., & Rao, S. (2023). Modeling Influencer marketing campaigns in social networks. IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, 10(1), 322–334. https://doi.org/10.1109/tcss.2022.3140779

https://www.childrenandscreens.com/media/press-releases/the-influencer-impact/

Kim, D. Y., & Kim, H.-Y. (2021). Influencer advertising on social media: The multiple inference model on Influencer-product congruence and sponsorship disclosure. Journal of Business Research, 130, 405–415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.02.020

Mero, J., Vanninen, H., & Keränen, J. (2023). B2B influencer marketing: Conceptualization and four managerial strategies. Industrial Marketing Management, 108, 79–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.10.017

 Ouvrein, G., Pabian, S., Giles, D., Hudders, L., & De Backer, C. (2021). The web of influencers. A marketing-audience classification of (potential) social media influencers. Journal of Marketing Management, 37(13-14), 1313–1342. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2021.1912142

Packer, J., Russell, S. J., Siovolgyi, G., McLaren, K., Stansfield, C., Viner, R. M., & Croker, H. (2022). The impact on dietary outcomes of celebrities and influencers in marketing unhealthy foods to children: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients, 14(3), 434. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030434

Vrontis, D., Makrides, A., Christofi, M., & Thrassou, A. (2021). Social Media Influencer Marketing: A systematic review, Integrative Framework and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4), 617–644. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12647

 Wu, J. (2022). The Pros and cons of Influencer marketing. Proceedings of the 2022 2nd International Conference on Economic Development and Business Culture (ICEDBC 2022), 1093–1097. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-036-7_161

 

 

 

 

 


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Comments

37 responses to “The Impact of Influencers on Social Media (Instagram) Users through online marketing.”

  1. Stephen.B.Bain Avatar
    Stephen.B.Bain

    Hi L.Foolee ,

    Social Media or Subject-Matter-Expert website … where would you go to first if/when researching a product ?

    Cheers
    SteveB

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Stephen
      I would check the website first and reviews from friends or even check on social media to have more feedback.

      Regards,
      L.Foolee

  2. Shane.Bundoo Avatar
    Shane.Bundoo

    Hi L.Foolee ,

    What about older users? You claimed that influencers have a psychological effect on the younger generation. Do you believe that influencers’ effects on older users are comparable to those they have on younger ones?

    Regards,
    shane

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Shane
      concerning older users, not many elderly people take advice from influencers or follow people(influencers) regarding their opinion before buying anything. No, the effect will not be same because older people’s way of thinking and things that they consume is different compared to elderly people. The younger generation mostly spend their time scrolling on the internet compared to older people, also people having crossed the 45 years old barrier become very difficult to influence and they tend to focus on themselves or with experience that they have, they buy things that keep them in their comfort zones.
      Thank you for reading my paper

      Cheers,
      L.Foolee

      1. Shane.Bundoo Avatar
        Shane.Bundoo

        Hi L.Foolee,

        Yes you make a good point about the value of the older users, they mostly base purchase based on personal or relative’s experience.

        Thank you for the extra depth.

        shane

        1. L.Foolee Avatar
          L.Foolee

          Hi Shane
          I’m happy to have been able to answer your question
          You’re welcome

          Cheers,
          L.Foolee

  3. A.Nguma Avatar
    A.Nguma

    According to your chosen stream, why do you think influencers have an impact on communities?
    Do you think based on different communities, they will face the same marketing strategies in social media to raise awareness?

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Ana
      Thank you for reading my paper.
      Influencers have an impact on communities in terms of their purchase, the lifestyle they find is good and livable for them, and most of them spend their time scrolling on the internet rather than doing something productive or even socializing. I believe this cause I’ve seen people complaining about things they have done under the influencer’s influence or feedback that they thought was good.
      In a way yes because they do the same strategies that they have learned from other influencers and imply it everywhere but in a way no because different people have different ways of consuming things. They create engaging sections for people to have contact with the brand or with them directly also, the visually appealing content is irresistible for their community which is why they tend to fall for those influencers.

      Regards,
      L.Foolee

      1. A.Nguma Avatar
        A.Nguma

        Hi,

        Thank you for your feedback and understanding of what you think based on the question I asked by differentiating them in two different point of views.

        Regards,
        Anna

        1. L.Foolee Avatar
          L.Foolee

          Hi ana
          Thank you
          I hope I’ve answered your question

          Regards,
          Lakshana

  4. Mithil Nuckchady Avatar
    Mithil Nuckchady

    Hi Lakshana.You did a good job of explaining how, depending on the message they spread and the information they share, influencers may have either beneficial or harmful effects on young people.On the flip side, I believe that influencers may encourage distorted notions of beauty, materialism, and consumerism, as well as participate in risky or destructive activities.But do you believe that since they are in a time of life where they are discovering who they are, establishing their views and values, and looking for social approval, young people are more prone to be affected by influencers?

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Mithil
      You are absolutely right, first the youth are very much influenced by the influencers because they are in exploration of their true self which is their identity about who they really are and they are mostly affected by the beauty standards established like for ex. they must have a former breast or bigger lips to be in the beauty categories which is not the case in any ways. Also, those influencers make the youth addict to their devices which indirectly promotes negative and unhealthy behaviors, also creating unrealistic things and causing peer pressure, the feeling of wanting to form part of a group desperately.

      Regards,
      L.Foolee

  5. Avinash Assonne Avatar
    Avinash Assonne

    Hi Lakshana,

    Nice take on the different strategies used by influencers on social media. We share some similar perspectives regarding this as I have talked as well about how influencers specially on YouTube and Instagram have an impact on how people represent their digital identity online. Your paper did a good job at highlighting those strategies in detailed which are used by influencers that can have, sometimes positive effects but mostly negative ones on their audience. As you mentioned correctly in your paper, “we can see and analyze that their is more negative effect compared to the positive ones”. My paper too focuses primarily on the negative effects social media influencers and social media in general can have on people’s self-representation online. I’ve talked about “Parasocial Relationships” and this concept relates to many of your points that you brought up. Parasocial relationships are defined as unbalanced connections that media consumers make with media personalities/influencers. Lack of reciprocity or being unable to contact the renowned media figure characterizes these interactions (Hartman, 2016, as cited in de Bérail & Bungener, 2022, p. 170). If you want to delve deeper into this concept specially regarding YouTube influencers and their audience, check out this interesting scholarly article that I will cite below.

    Regards,
    Avinash

    Reference:

    de Bérail, P., & Bungener, C. (2022). Parasocial relationships and YouTube addiction: The role of viewer and YouTuber video characteristics. Psychology of Language and Communication, 26(1), 169-206. https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2022-0009

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Avinash
      Thank you for taking your time and reading my paper
      Influencers is a subject that is becoming more and more in vogue in today’s generation and even the locals are following.
      Influencers have a great impact on their communities and especially regarding their lifestyle which many people find it to be the healthiest way of living without further consideration of the actual reality.
      I will definitely check the scholarly article and broaden my knowledge on this topic. Thank you.

      Regards,
      L.Foolee

      1. Avinash Assonne Avatar
        Avinash Assonne

        No problem Lakshana 🙂 Can you please edit my previous comment. I have made a little typo – I wrote “Your paper did a good job in your paper* at highlighting those strategies in detailed…” If you could please remove the “in your paper” part, thank you in advance. I cannot edit my own comment here. I can only edit on my own post. The poster can edit any comments on his/her own post. After editing, you can delete this comment if you want. Thank you.

        Regards,
        Avinash

        1. L.Foolee Avatar
          L.Foolee

          Yes sure, don’t worry
          Thank you
          Regards,
          L.Foolee

          1. Avinash Assonne Avatar
            Avinash Assonne

            Thank you ^^

            Regards,
            Avinash

  6. Patrick.Osias Avatar
    Patrick.Osias

    Hi L.Foolee,

    You have discussed a prominent aspect of social media that poses a powerful tool in digital marketing, the influencer. With the sheer abundance of information and content online, I too believe social media influencers have a critical role in helping mass users in specific markets/audiences navigate what is best and meaningful to buy and use.

    You touched on the understanding of social media influencers not fulfilling their role in advocating proudly for a particular product or service, does this mean social media influencers are not the best tool for digital marketing? If this is the case, why do social media influencers have so much power even if they are not putting it to good use in one sense?

    Thanks,
    Patrick O

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Patrick
      Thank you for reading my paper
      No, social media influencers are the best tool for digital marketing because they do contents that are engaging and they always put reviews about their skin for ex. when they use the products. Influencers are powerful because they have many followers who follow each and every step about what they do and their lifestyle which encourages them and their power of encouraging people to continue to follow them.

      Regards,
      L.Foolee

  7. H.Lochee Avatar
    H.Lochee

    Hi Lakshana,

    Your paper was an interesting read and I have many opinions on the subject matter. I like how to mentioned both the pros and cons of the impact influencers have on their audiences in your paper.
    I am going to be very honest with my views and I look forward to hearing about your thoughts on them too.

    1. I agree that influencers do at times provide good and reliable information about products.

    2. I think that sometimes their staged appearance about their beauty standards, always appearing good for the camera whilst endorsing products to ‘trick, fool, or influence’ (whatever you may want to call it) audiences is purely manipulative and I am against that.
    I increasingly value authentic personalities on Instagram which is now infested with ‘fake’ and inauthentic influencers who are not even truthful to their personalities.

    3. I somewhat agree that the work that Influencers do may be in their comfort zone as it is categorized as affective labour. However do you really think that an influencer’s job is easy or really in their comfort zone? For example – If they endorse or market products that they have never used or been familiar with, is it still easy for them to authentically and accurately endorse this product while maintaining impartiality even if they are paid by the company to give good reviews regardless of the truth?

    4. It is true that influencers have a massive power over influencing audience perceptions and decisions. However because most endorsed ‘influencer products’ belong to the beauty, wellness and fashion industry, I do not find myself influenced by them as I do not consume those products. Also because I know their entire persona is a performance which I find myself repelled from because I see them as people who are just here for fakery and media attention. If you think about it, being an influencer requires no formal qualification and with the fact that there are no rules on social media, the way they portray themselves (which I discuss about in my aper pertaining to public figures applicable here) and behave, accompanied by their weak foundation in life (education and values) makes it hard for me to be influenced by them as; what authority or real knowledge do they have?

    To conclude my views, I consciously place influencers whom I follow on Instagram in 2 categories: Good influencers and bad influencers. There is a clear distinction, I am sure you can relate to your own experienced from following influencers on Instagram. Who do you categorise as good and bad influencers?

    I for once categorize good influencers are ones who are honest, modest, authentic, and share valuable morals and cultural values which i align myself with. Bad influencers are ones who are deceptive: endorsing products lying about claims, posing in sexually provoking ways, clearly acting for the camera, lack of respect and good treatment of other people, exhibiting unstable psychological characteristics and those who are completely different people from what you perceive online to their real-life personalities who toil for media attention and likes to be successful (This is something I also talk about in my paper).

    Your paper and mine share similarities as we both talk about Instagram. It would be nice to hear some of your thoughts on the questions I have asked above. But overall, I think everyone should be on guard and aware by who they let themselves be influenced by as influencers, you may argue, are just walking advertising and marketing billboards online made for companies to promote their products.

    Regards,
    Yaj

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Yaj,
      Thank you so much for an in depth reply. I really appreciate that you have checked my paper and this has really helped broaden my knowledge about various points.

      Thank you
      Lakshana

      1. H.Lochee Avatar
        H.Lochee

        My pleasure, I invite you to read my paper which can further your understanding and underlying intricacies of self-representation online: https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2023/ioa/1236/the-issues-public-figures-face-around-self-portrayal-on-instagram-profiles-juggling-between-their-private-and-public-identities/#comment-1269

        1. L.Foolee Avatar
          L.Foolee

          Hi Yaj
          Thank you
          I will definitely do so and do further research on it

          Thanks
          L.Foolee

    2. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi yaj
      I forgot to answer your question
      I accidentally deleted it.
      So, to answer your question, yes it is still possible to review a product that they have never used because the brand agency will do like an induction to the influencer which will allow them to post about the product, there was a product name Nicky cosmetic, a brand known for its hair product, the influencers would act as if they are using the product but in fact, they are just putting it and cutting the in-between where they wash it off due to the harmful ingredient that it contains, but since they are being paid they can’t reveal the true impression that they have come into conclusion with.

      Those influencers do not really have an advanced education otherwise they wouldn’t have opted to be an influencer and waste their time showing people their lifestyle and ending up being criticized most of the time, however since you are a well-educated person, it definitely does make it difficult for you to be influenced by them but there are people that are easily influenced or most of the people in their community are a fan of what they do and how they live, so they will not think twice before investing in everything that is being shown to them through the influencer.

      Actually, we cannot classify influencers as good or bad influencers instead we can see throughout the type of content that they post what are they trying to show us for example if the influencer is posting about social justice, mental health, a positive message like Selena Gomez does through a use of her cosmetic line’s page (Rare Beauty). We can also see through influencers that post authentic content as well as what type of vibe are they putting out. Regarding bad influencers, some people may consider that bad influencers are influencers that show put forward the use of tobacco, drinking alcohol, and doing things apart from studying and working instead of encouraging their followers to do the contrary.
      In the end, good or bad influencers’ determination comes from a person’s faith and values and decides who to follow and support.

      Thank you
      Lakshana

  8. Mickey.Dichiera Avatar
    Mickey.Dichiera

    Hi Lakshana.

    I appreciate the research and work you have put into your paper. For debate purposes, I’d like to address the following:

    “they are the future of our tomorrow because they have worked to build a good reputation”. – It is true that influencers must build a reputation/following in order to sell products to fans, however, I strongly disagree that they are the future of tomorrow. In-fact influencers today are meeting a potent decline and fatigue in their ability to maintain a trustworthy fanbase. Social media users today have become tired of the unrelatable marketing and lifestyle of said influencers, and now desire more honest and authentic engagement. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/influencer-marketing-is-dead-long-live-commune-economy-1361623/

    That is not to say ‘influencing’ is dead, but in relation to your statement, the evolution of influencer culture is seeing drastic differences and influencers will need to work much harder to connect with a following in order to establish a meaningful reputation tomorrow.

    “influencers are indirectly people working for their community by doing a collaboration with other brands to raise awareness on certain products because it is their job”. – Not necessarily. Some influencers do not work with brands or raise awareness of products. Influencers do not have “responsibilities or loyalty” to a brand unless they choose to collaborate. It is not their ‘Job’.

    “The influencers have a psychological impact on them because they are young and influenceable so they influence their way of dressing, thinking, and lifestyle in general.” – This is true, which is what makes influencing so dangerous in the wrong hands. Did you look into the ways in which an influencer can impact young minds besides body image?

    “Those people should detach themselves from online platforms and take a good look at themselves and their lifestyle, whether it is appropriate for the way they are living and spending some family time with their close ones to make us better and share critical points of view in terms of their time spent online.” – Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. There is an addictive nature to influencer culture, which is why their marketing proved successful. Would you tell an alcoholic to just detach from their beverage and take a good look at themselves? No. It takes much more complex than that. I would love to hear your recommendations as to how you would approach this.

    “influencers have both a negative and positive impact on the youth of our generation and they are more likely to be influenced and attracted by all sorts of influences but when we see things in a critical way, we can see and analyze that their is more negative effect compared to the positive ones” – Influencers do have negative and positive impacts, but your paper seemed slightly scattered. The positive influence discussed was much stronger than the negative, so I’m unsure as to where your argument has landed.

    Regardless, your paper has certainly stirred up a debate which is what this conference is all about.

    Best of luck,
    Mickey

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Mickey
      Thank you so much for an in depth reply, I really appreciate it. I also like how you’ve analysed the points critically in my conference paper.

      Thank you
      Lakshana

      1. L.Foolee Avatar
        L.Foolee

        Hi Mickey
        To reply to your question, influencers can have an impact on their diet and their mental health, and things that they assumed are good but it is indirectly a danger for them and they can also influence their purchases like the things to be consumed or even the type of mentality to keep up with to promote a healthy growth and lifestyle. They can also impact their choice of career options based on their personal opinions or experiences faced by them, but not everyone is likely to face the same experiences or do the same career choice.

        Thank you
        Lakshana

  9. P.Itnac Avatar
    P.Itnac

    Hi Lakshana,

    I I admire the research and effort you put into your conference paper. I enjoyed it. Do you consider today’s Instagram influencers to be a positive example? Considerably might it ever be improved, in your opinion?

    Best regards,
    Pratikshabye.

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi pratikshabye,
      Thank you for taking the time to read my paper.
      According to me, I see two sides to the story first yes because they help us with many things like the give us their opinion about many difficult things in life especially for people who have problems opening up due to past trauma, they distract us from many little things to keep their community healthy and happy but I would also say No because most of the social media users are adolescents and they have no idea about whatever they are seeing is not always true right, so they get easily influenced by those influencers. I don’t think that it can be improved because we can’t control what the influencers will be posting or marketing today so it is difficult. I created a Facebook account at the age of 16 I was still young and the first thing I did was follow celebrities to check on their daily lifestyle and the latest purchase made. I thought that this is the perfect lifestyle and it seems healthy and beautiful, but when my sister caught me she was angry she explained to me that whatever I’m seeing is fake but since I was blinded by that, it was only with time did I realize that whatever she said was actually true.

      Best Regards,
      Lakshana

  10. Shaveena.Appa Avatar
    Shaveena.Appa

    Hello there, Lakshana.

    As someone who dislikes marketing, I must admit that I enjoyed reading your paper because it was not too long to read and your writing was extremely fluid.

    I’d want to know if you believe social media platforms have any responsibility to control the information produced by influencers and guarantee that it doesn’t prove to be misleading or detrimental to their followers. And how can influencers strike a balance between wanting to generate entertaining material and being ethical and conscious of the effect that it may have upon their followers?

    Kind regards,
    Shaveena Appa.

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Shaveena
      Thank you for taking the time to read my paper. Thank you for the compliment.
      Yes, social media platforms do have the responsibility to check on the information being put forward otherwise they might face cancel culture and be banned from the platform itself. Some influencers do make a balance between the content that they put forward they will put forward content that are more enjoyed by their community and before following an influencer we will see the type of content that they put forward toward their community and they must know when they must be ethical and when they must produce entertaining contents however some influencers do make any difference to such and they blur the thin line between reality and showoff.
      They should be transparent with the followers and state when they are endorsing a sponosrship and not to mislead their followers.
      They should be true to themselves and provide authentic contents instead of compromising their integrity for the sake of monetary gain.

      Regards,
      Lakshana

  11. Erwan Lucas Rene Avatar
    Erwan Lucas Rene

    Hi Lakshana,

    This is an interesting topic that you’ve investigated in! Many youngsters nowadays adopt their lifestyles based on the content provided to them by a lot of influencers through various social platforms especially Instagram. Through my own experience, I came across a lot of content produced by influencers where they were encouraging people to work out, eat healthy, and so on, but while doing that, they were still entertaining their audiences with such type of content.
    So, my question to you is, don’t you think that it is more beneficial for the people consuming these types of content to actually apply those practices through their own life but also at the same time by enjoying the steps as they are following their favorite influencers? What characteristics would be appropriate to you to build a perfect influencer?

    Regards,
    Erwan 🙂

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Erwan
      Thank you for taking the time to read my paper. It is beneficial to apply those content only if is beneficial for them and it will make a good change in their lifestyle. However, when the followers consume too much of the content shared by those influencers they have the tendency to lose their identity and create a mix between their beliefs and the things that they are consuming on an online basis. There are influencers like Selena Gomez who has created a makeup brand called ‘Rare Beauty and on their Instagram page, they share many good and positive quotes to stay focused and to remain motivated through every battle that people go through at least once in their life. Most of the influencers share sponsored advertising products which is not really good for their community most of the time, however, they do so only to keep the income generation high a well-known influencer named ‘Maddy Burciaga’ was pregnant, and even during her painful time which was during the delivery, she had the time to post stories about the sponsored products that she has received which clearly shows how some influencers are blinded by money.

      People who are authentic and share good and positive content that will help their communities also, people who will engage with their community and be present to share things without being too harsh. Also, to be able to share their knowledge with their community without expecting anything in return.

      Thank you
      Lakshana

  12. Veronica.Sparks Avatar
    Veronica.Sparks

    Hi L.Foolee

    I like the way you’ve teased out your arguments and like how you’ve addressed inauthenticity. I’m curious to know if you think the influencer style of Instagram marketing will have an end date?

    Kind regards,
    Veronica Sparks

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Veronica
      Thank you for taking the time to read my paper. It is difficult to predict because being an influencer is the latest trend right now. Influencers’ ways of introducing their communities to the latest product and also sharing content that is to the liking of their followers. However, with time there may come a moment when the effectiveness of the influencers will stagnate due to new marketing ways being made available. It is unlikely to predict the future however with time the marketing techniques might change due to a change in consumer behaviors also.

      Kind Regards,
      L.Foolee

  13. mahisha Avatar
    mahisha

    Hi Lakshana,
    i discovered your paper due to Avinash and i am glad that he shared your post with me. The impact of influencers is a topic that i like to discuss about. Do you think influencers should follow up on a product or company that they have previously promoted? I have seen some influencers promoting a product only after they tried it a few times. There are some influencers that only promote products that they believe in. However there are many influencers out there promoting products without much research or even without trying it first. Some of the products that they promote are harmful or does not work the way it is supposed to. There are many cases of teenagers having health issues after taking health products that influencers have promoted. Some of them are long-term, permanent health issues or even death.

    1. L.Foolee Avatar
      L.Foolee

      Hi Mahisha
      Thanks to Avinash who has forwarded my paper to you and thank you for taking the time to read my paper.
      Yes, I think this will help resolve the main issue people face after buying a product based on the influencer’s advice.

      1. It helps show transparency and accountability, as it shows that the influencer has a sense of responsibility and transparency towards their communities and allows them to share their personal experiences and address any related issue.

      2. They will have long-term credibility because when they will post about them using the product, it will show a sense of authenticity and how they are truly valuing the product that they are promoting.

      3. By following up they can provide valuable and assured feedback to their community. They can show how the product can be improved and provide feedback received from other people who have used the product. The feedback provided can be beneficial to both customers and the company as well.

      Thank you
      L.Foolee

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