Influencer marketing: An exploratory study on the motivations of young adults to follow social media influencers

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Abstract: The advent of social media has changed how businesses engage with their audience. Companies today are identifying key opinion leaders (also known as influencers) to promote their products via social media, leveraging the ability of these people to engage target audiences, generate recommendations via electronic word-of-mouth, and influence their followers to purchase the company’s products. However, little is known about what motivates people to follow these influencers. To address this gap in the literature, the present exploratory study aims to understand the reasons why young adults follow influencers. The findings contribute to the growing literature on influencer marketing by exploring the consumption of influencer content by young adults and their motivations for following influencers. The findings can help both companies and influencers improve their social media marketing strategy.

Keywords: social electronic word of mouth (eWOM), social influencer marketing, uses and gratifications theory

Flor Morton is a Research Professor of Marketing at Universidad de Monterrey. She holds a marketing degree from Tecnologico de Monterrey and a PhD degree in management sciences from EGADE Business School. Her research interests focus on consumer behaviour. She has worked as a marketing consultant for both national and international companies. She is currently a member of Mexico’s National Researchers System.