Analyzing Influencer Impact on Consumer Behavior in the 21st Century

This report explores the significant impact of influencers on consumer behavior in the 21st century, driven by the increasing use of social media platforms. It highlights how influencers build brand awareness, develop consumer relationships, and improve buying decisions through unbiased opinions. The report also discusses the role of influencers during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing their importance in online shopping and social media engagement. By understanding the dynamics between influencers, brands, and consumers, businesses can leverage influencer marketing to increase sales, enhance brand awareness, and foster stronger customer relationships. Desklib offers this report and many other resources to help students excel in their studies.

Understanding Customers

Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
An influencer is a person who has the power to create an impact on the purchasing decision of
other people due to their knowledge, position, authority and also a relationship with the audience
(Childers, Lemon and Hoy, 2019). The influencer has a following in different niches with whom
they engage. The size of the following of influence depends on the size of their niche. In 21st
century, these influencer individuals are considered as a marketing tools and also work as social
relationship assets for an organization with which they collaborate to attain the marketing
objective of the business. This essay includes analysation of the impact of influencers on the
consumer of 21st century. It also identifies the factors which also create an impact on the
consumer behaviour.
MAIN BODY
There is increasing growth in social media platform in 21st century as major number of people
are using smart phones and also these people are actively using social media platforms. There
are more than 3.4 billion people in the world which are actively using social media platforms
from all over the world. It is 45% of the total population of the world. People are following
social media influencer in order to take guidance for their decision-making (Farivar, Wang and
Yuan, 2021). There is the number of social media influencer available on social media who has
good reputation among people for purpose of their expertise and knowledge regarding a
specific topic. These influencers post about the different topics which are of their field on social
media channels which allow them to engage people with them. It helps these influencers to
develop an enthusiastic following on their social media account. These influencers become the
favorite of different businesses and brands as it allows them to promote their product through
this influencer. These social media influencers create trends and also create encouragement
among followers for purpose of buying a specific product.
There are the number of social media influencers who could be followed by a person. There are
different influencers in different filed. Some of the most followed influencer over the social
media platform include Jack Morris, Murad Osmann, Lauren bullen, Huda Kattan, Jamie Oliver
and others. All these influencers have worked in different fields like traveling, food and beauty
field. These influencers are making regular posts in the specific field and also collab with
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different brands. It gives rise to that brand and also helps them to promote their service
through the social media influencer. Among these social media influencer Jack Morris is one of
the travel influencers who is making content related to travelling. They are posting on their
according related to travelling video which make them to engage people who loves to travel.
They are recently promoting different brands like Aperol Spiritiz, Forestis, Aorus official and
other brands. In order to promote these brands, the influencer use photos and video to post
and also using caption which helps them to promote these brands (Kadekova and Holienčinova,
2018). These influencers are authentic and verified and also has a number of followers. These
people are experts in their field as they have knowledge of it. Due to their knowledge, people
follow them and also believing them. Social media influencers also increased in the past two
years due to the influence of pandemics. Due to the covid-19 impact, the government of
different countries is announcing a lockdown in their country. It results in social distancing,
increasing demand for remote working, increase demand for online shopping and heavy
dependence of the consumer on social media for converse, transact and engage (Ye and et. al.,
2021). There are different ways in which social media and its influencer create an impact on
consumer behavior and also the brand social strategy of the company. Explanation of
differences influencer of social media influencers over social media platforms are mentioned
below:
Building brand awareness: Social media influencers are the people who have a solid
understanding of the social media platforms, they are using. They also know how to use these
platforms in an effective manner, how to create impactful content that will engage the
audience and also create more awareness of the brand. These people have to take proper time
for the purpose of growing these followers and have a sense of affiliation with their following
(Karagür and et. al., 2022). With their content and storytelling, they are able to develop a
positive relationship with the audience and also to promote the brand of the company through
a story. It can be done by adding a caption to a post on Instagram or by a Youtube tutorial in
which features of products are explained in a simpler manner. Effective social media influencer
has the capability to weave the message of a brand in their own style in order to look it as a
promotional message that makes it look authentic.
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Developing consumer relationship: It is important for a brand to develop a good relationship
with their consumer. It enables the loyal customer to put effort for purpose of purchasing their
favorite products from specific brands. It reflects the importance of building a connection with
the target market and also needs to develop the brand in order to satisfy the needs of the
target consumer (Kim and Kim, 2021). It is important in order to build affiliation with the tribe
and also helps them to attain status. Consumers are the people who trust the recommendation
of their peers as they believe it to be more trustworthy in comparison to advertisements. In this
context, social media influencers create an important role that allows customers to trust a
brand. If a product is accepted by the customer, it will start to gain a reputation in the
marketplace and also helps to develop an initial relationship with customers.
Improve buying decisions with unbiased opinion: Social media influencers are the ones who
are experts in creating a story. These people have the capability to communicate with the
audience without pretending to be salesy. One of the reasons for it, is that consumers have an
interest in influencers which helps them to relate to different things at a personal level. The
consumer knows these influencers, likes them and also follows trends adopted by those people.
These influencers put ads on their social media account and also communicate to their
audience about the product, ways to use these products, whether these products create value
for money and not. Based on the trust gained by influencers of consumers helps them to boost
the reputation of a brand also helps them to get a significant result.
These followers are engaged with these people in different manners like by liking their posts
and commenting on it. Customers also share these posts to their other friends which allow
them to link with these brands. It is important for both the customers as well as the business to
understand who is the influencer (Trivedi and Sama, 2020). AS business in order to select the
influencer who are related to their field as in order to promote a resort or a hotel, a business
needs to approach to travel blogger as they are target audience is interested in traveling
activities. It is also important for the customers to understand the influencer as people only
follow follower who is involved in activities of their interest. It is also important for customers
and businesses to understand things to be posted by influencers as whether they are posting
the right things or things that can offend other people as a collab with an influencer who
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creates a negative impact also create a negative impact on the image of the company. It is
creating opportunities for businesses like tourism activities before going to anywhere, people
take reviews of that destination from Youtube for purpose of gathering general information and
it also helps them to understand their reviews about the place (Vrontis and et. al., 2021).
CONCLUSION
From above mentioned project report, it can be concluded that there are increasing trends in
social media marketing and influencer marketing in the marketplace. It creates opportunities for
the business as it allows them to increase sales of products, increase awareness of products,
building a good relationship with the customers. It is important for the business as it allows them
for the purpose of attracting a number of customers to a brand. By adopting the right approach
and right influencer, a brand can get a different advantage in the market as an influencer of these
social media influencers over the customer is more in comparison to an advertisement.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Childers, C.C., Lemon, L.L. and Hoy, M.G., 2019. # Sponsored# Ad: Agency perspective on
influencer marketing campaigns. Journal of Current Issues & Research in
Advertising, 40(3), pp.258-274.
Farivar, S., Wang, F. and Yuan, Y., 2021. Opinion leadership vs. para-social relationship: Key
factors in influencer marketing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 59,
p.102371.
Kadekova, Z. and Holienčinova, M., 2018. Influencer marketing as a modern phenomenon
creating a new frontier of virtual opportunities. Communication Today, 9(2).
Karagür, Z., and et. al., 2022. How, why, and when disclosure type matters for influencer
marketing. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 39(2), pp.313-335.
Kim, D.Y. and Kim, H.Y., 2021. Trust me, trust me not: A nuanced view of influencer marketing
on social media. Journal of Business Research, 134, pp.223-232.
Trivedi, J. and Sama, R., 2020. The effect of influencer marketing on consumers’ brand
admiration and online purchase intentions: An emerging market perspective. Journal of
Internet Commerce, 19(1), pp.103-124.
Vrontis, D., and et. al., 2021. Social media influencer marketing: A systematic review,
integrative framework and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer
Studies, 45(4), pp.617-644.
Ye, G., and et. al., 2021. The value of influencer marketing for business: A bibliometric analysis
and managerial implications. Journal of Advertising, 50(2), pp.160-178.
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