An investigation of influencer body enhancement and brand endorsement

Abstract

Purpose As the cosmetic surgery industry grows and diversifies, societal beauty standards have shifted to include images of surgically enhanced bodies. With the increased use of influencer marketing, it is important for marketers to understand consumer perceptions of these modified appearances. This paper aims to use the lens of perceived morality (PM) to investigate consumer perceptions of cosmetic surgery services and the effect of enhanced body appearance on consumer interest in an endorsed brand. Interpersonal similarity (IS) is tested as a boundary condition. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach was taken with a qualitative study and two online experiments. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling (NStudy 1 = 133) and Amazon Mechanical Turk (NStudy 2 = 202; NStudy 3 = 270). Findings The themes uncovered in the qualitative study revealed that cosmetic surgery services were acceptable when internally motivated but may signal inauthenticity. The findings of Study 2 suggested consumer interest in an endorsed brand was negatively impacted by body enhancement (BE), with PM as the underlying mechanism. Study 3 results demonstrated IS moderated this effect. The indirect effect was significant only for those low in IS. Originality/value This research contributes to the underexplored area of cosmetic surgery services and its role in influencer marketing. The findings extend the literature on consumer attitudes and perceptions toward these services and provides insight into the intersection of BE and morality. The contribution is notable, as marketers increasing rely on social media influencers, many of whom have undergone cosmetic surgery services and enhanced their body appearance, to promote their brands.

The Influence of Social Media on the Decision of Rhinoplasty Among Adults in the Western and Southern Regions of Saudi Arabia: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study

“…Both findings align with the findings of the present study as Snapchat was the most used social media platform (64.69%) and pictures of celebrity before and after rhinoplasty was the most reported reason to undergo rhinoplasty. This could be a result of facilitated accessibility to Snapchat as one of its features is to recommend influencers' accounts where most of them are posting the results after doing the procedure [9][10][11].…”

The transformative potential of AI-enabled personalization across cultures

“…Specifically, respondents in these countries were approached through direct messages and the link to the online survey was also posted on social media with a request to spread the message, thereby creating a snowball convenience sample (e.g. Lefebvre and Cowart, 2022; Menidjel et al. , 2023).…”

“…Specifically, respondents in these countries were approached through direct messages and the link to the online survey was also posted on social media with a request to spread the message, thereby creating a snowball convenience sample (e.g. Lefebvre and Cowart, 2022;Menidjel et al, 2023). This sampling procedure implies that potential respondents were located around these channels, which is not seen as a limitation given the focus on AI-enabled personalization.…”