“I've never seen a client say: ‘Tell the influencer not to label this as sponsored’”: An exploration into influencer industry ethics

To Eat the Cake and Have It, too: How Marketers Control Influencer Conduct within a Paradigm of Letting Go

“…I based my examination on three data sources: (1) I conducted a secondary analysis (Mason, 2007) of data gathered in two expert interview studies on the management of influencer campaigns (Borchers & Enke, 2021) and on influencer industry ethics (Borchers & Enke, 2022). In these studies, Nadja Enke and I interviewed influencers and marketers from client organization and influencer agencies in Germany ( n = 48).…”

“…As long as influencers enjoy sufficient autonomy, they can act authentically even within endorsement settings. In fact, from the marketers’ perspective, it is one of the great strengths of influencer marketing that it overcomes the traditional contradiction between authenticity and commerciality (Borchers & Enke, 2022; Wellman et al, 2020).…”

“…While many influencers go through a process of professionalization (Duffy, 2017; van Driel & Dumitrica, 2021), the current stream of emerging, often underage influencers entering the industry is a source of ongoing irritation. Another factor is the double-sided loyalty of influencers who are beholden to both their clients and their followers (Borchers & Enke, 2022). Because the status of influencers depends on their followers, they might be inclined to value loyalty to their followers higher than loyalty to their clients.…”

“…In doing so, this work contributes to emerging research on power structures in the influencer industry (Arriagada, 2021; Bishop, 2021; Duffy, 2017; O’Meara, 2019; Stoldt et al, 2019). This article examines these structures by investigating the control mechanisms that interfere with influencers’—publicly propagated and ethically conceded (Borchers & Enke, 2022)—autonomous conduct. In particular, it adds to the body of knowledge by systematically accounting for marketers’ set of control techniques from the perspective of organizational control theory (e.g., Tompkins & Cheney, 1985).…”

Between conspicuous and conscious consumption: The sustainability paradox in the intermediary promotional work of an online lifestyle site

“…In the same fashion, the impact of the influencer medium Goop leans upon the trustful relationship that it manages to build between the editors and the audiences by framing the individual’s consumption in a preferable and acceptable way. Influencer media can thus be seen as organizations in the digital public sphere that cross and dissolve boundaries between public relations, advertising, and journalism (Borchers and Enke, 2022) and, like influencers, are successful in creating strong parasocial relationships with audiences based on “co-fabricated authenticity” (Colucci and Pedroni, 2021: 989).…”