Influencer Authenticity – Conceptualization, Nature and Nomological Role

Be constantly different! How to manage influencer authenticity

“…In contrast to recent works, which conceptualize influencer authenticity as strongly dependent on the style of communication an influencer endorses a brand with (Audrezet et al, 2020), we define influencer authenticity as a personality characteristic or general nature of an influencer. This nature is naturally mirrored by the perceivable characteristics of his/her social media account and the associated information on his/her person (identifiable in the profile description) and his/her popularity (described by the number of followers or likes) (Lindmoser et al, 2022). Hence, we do not focus on self-determination theory and on whether the influencer perceives himself/herself as authentic.…”

Skilled communication on social media—the elephant in the room

“…Authenticity is not defined in the article; nor does a unified definition exist in medicine or psychology more generally, but we take it to characterise the means through which interaction between a communicator and a recipient induces feelings that the communicator is genuine in their messaging. 4 In an online space there is no contemporaneous interaction between participants, making authenticity harder to assess. Given the one-way delivery of information, online viewers of information likely consider and perceive authenticity in a very different way than they would if they were in the same room as the person providing the information.…”

“…3 Focus on mistakes can lead learners to avoid challenges, instead of embracing a growth mindset, in which errors are seen as areas of development (rather than evidence of failure). 4 As a group, medical students rate highly in perfectionism, which (when maladaptive) includes a propensity to focus on mistakes, a tendency that may increase in medical school.…”

“…Verheijden et al highlight that authenticity is vital for competent clinical communicators. Authenticity is not defined in the article; nor does a unified definition exist in medicine or psychology more generally, but we take it to characterise the means through which interaction between a communicator and a recipient induces feelings that the communicator is genuine in their messaging 4 . In an online space there is no contemporaneous interaction between participants, making authenticity harder to assess.…”