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The more followers the better? The impact of food influencers on consumer behaviour in the social media context

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Tam DinhORCiD

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Abstract

© 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited.Purpose: The study explores the impact of food influencers on consumer behaviour in the social media context. It assesses the interplay between the number of followers an influencer has and the type of content this influencer communicates to the audience. Doing so, the research contributes to the strategic refinement of influencer marketing practices, especially in the food industry. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed an experimental between-subject design 2 (influencer type: micro vs macro) x 2 (content type: informational vs entertaining). It recruited 197 Prolific participants (45.7% female, Mage = 45.076), testing their perceptions towards the influencer and the endorsed product in the social media post. Findings: There was a significant interaction between influencer type and content type on consumers’ attitudes towards and their willingness to buy the advertised product. Specifically, the notion that “the more followers, the better” may only be applicable when consumers peruse the content for entertainment purposes, whereas while they read it for information purposes, a micro influencer (with hundreds to thousands of followers) may have as much impact on consumer behaviour as a macro influencer (with hundreds of thousands to a million followers). Originality/value: Our findings offer a nuanced understanding into the conventional wisdom that people often follow crowd behaviour. Using the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM), we explicate when the number of followers matters and when the content type prevails.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Misra A, Dinh TD, Ewe SY

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: British Food Journal

Year: 2024

Volume: 126

Issue: 12

Pages: 4018-4035

Print publication date: 20/11/2024

Online publication date: 03/09/2024

Acceptance date: 03/08/2024

ISSN (print): 0007-070X

ISSN (electronic): 1758-4108

Publisher: Emerald Publishing

URL: https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-01-2024-0096

DOI: 10.1108/BFJ-01-2024-0096

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