1 research outputs found
How Social Media Influencer Collaborations are Percieved by Consumers
Within the social media community, influencers engage in a variety of collaborative practices such as tagging, reposting content from, or forming partnerships with other influencers and brands. While such collaborative efforts are a known practice, less is understood about how influencer collaborations affect consumers\u27 perceptions of the partnering influencers, specifically when a status differential exists within the collaboration. We suggest that such collaborative practices, specifically those where the focal influencer has a higher status than the collaborating partner, may help to weaken consumers\u27 perceptions that the influencer\u27s actions are purely selfâfocused. A pilot study, analyzing both influencerâinfluencer collaborations and influencerâbrand collaborations, provides evidence that influencers engage in collaborations with other influencers and brands of different status levels. Two studies then support our theorizing that influencers who collaborate with lowerâstatus influencers are perceived as less selfâserving and more altruistic, while influencers who collaborate with lowerâstatus brands are only perceived as less selfâserving. This suggests that, for influencers who desire to enhance how consumers perceive them, an effective strategy is to engage in collaborations with either a lowerâstatus influencer or brand