Engl. transl.: Keeping Up with the #Instafamous: an experimental research on the impact of influencer marketing on young consumers

The current project proposes a dual mediation model to explain how youngsters are affected by sponsored influencer posts. First, a sponsored influencer post may influence youngsters because they do not recognize the post as advertising and perceive it to be more credible. Second, a sponsored influencer post may induce negative social comparison, which in turn negatively affect youngsters’ state self-esteem and leads to a higher persuasiveness of the message. The project further examines the boundary conditions of this effect by examining the moderating role of attainability of the comparison target, bragging and consumer materialism. To conclude, the moderating role of an ad disclosure will be examined. This will result in specific guidelines on an ethical use of influencer marketing.