‘To trust or not to trust’: The impact of social media influencers on the reputation of corporate brands in crisis

Abstract

Corporates often partner with social media influencers to bolster brand image after crises.Although existing evidence suggests that influencers have a largely positive effect on brands, yet there is paucity of research on the role of influencers in corporate crisis communications.Across two studies, we examine the impact of influencers on consumers' perception of corporate brand in crisis. Drawing on persuasion knowledge theory, we identify pitfalls associated with influencers, such as inferences of manipulative intent, which negatively affect perceived trustworthiness and corporate reputation. The downside of engaging influencers in crisis communications can, however, be offset by influencer and the brand communicating values-driven motives of their partnership. Our findings imply that corporate brands should respond to crises through a bolstering strategy that promotes existing corporate goodwill, without influencer's involvement. When leveraging on influencers' support, however, brands should endeavor to inoculate manipulative inferences by communicating the values-driven motives behind the brand-influencer partnership.

Social media influencer marketing: A systematic review, integrative framework and future research agenda

“…Specific steps in the strategy include: planning (setting the objectives of the campaign and the role of SMIs), recognition (identifying relevant SMIs), alignment (matching SMIs with the products or services promoted), motivation (rewarding SMIs in a way that aligns with their social role) and coordination (negotiating, monitoring and supporting the influence of SMIs). Other topics discussed include the role of influencers in seeding strategies (Hinz et al., 2011; Lanz et al., 2019), in corporate crisis communications (Singh et al., 2020) and as part of a holistic approach to social media marketing (Appel et al., 2020; Voorveld, 2019).…”

“…From the lens of social comparison theory, research focuses on the role of upward social comparison exerted by influencers in affecting brand perceptions and guiding consumer behaviour (e.g., Lee & Watkins, 2016). Attribution theory is used as a theoretical background to explicate consumers’ causal explanation of influencers’ actions and promotion strategies and subsequently their responses to influencers’ persuasive messages (e.g., Singh et al., 2020). Evidently, research on SMIs has relied heavily on models and theories that are widely applied in marketing, advertising and celebrity endorsement literature in an attempt to explain the efficacy of influencer marketing strategies.…”

Exploring the Relationship Between Visual Aesthetics and Social Commerce Through Visual Information Adoption Unimodel

“…Besides, online consumers nowadays are fed up with the commercial-driven “advertorials” on social media. They perceive these ads as compelling persuasion knowledge manipulated by the brands or presenters and, therefore, would not take them as the source of information (Singh et al, 2020 ). In the lens of visual communication, we suggest that the visual aesthetics of self-presentation of micro-celebrity is a compound visual information that can attract attention, provide aesthetic experiences, and convey useful information.…”

Brand Crisis Response Strategies: A Typologies Continuum

“…Brand crisis is a source of uncertainty and change of organization (Hewett & Lemon, 2019) as it happens unpredictably (Barton, 1993;Coombs, 2007aCoombs, , 2007bBundy et al, 2017) and unexpectedly; such an event might result in negative consequences for organizations (Brown & Ki, 2013;Wang & Laufer, 2019). Precisely, brand equity (Ahluwalia et al, 2000;Dawar & Lei, 2009;Dutta & Pullig, 2011;Singh et al, 2020), brand reputation, and financial outcome (Barton, 1993;Hewett & Lemon, 2019) might be negatively influenced by crisis as can be seen clearly from the following practical examples: Malaysian Airlines (2016), Audi China (2017), Uber (2017), United Airlines (2017), Korean Air (2018Air ( −2019, Dolce andGabbana (2018 and.…”

“…Precisely, each crisis type indicates a different level of organizational and customer attribution responsibility (Coombs & Holladay, 2002;Bundy et al, 2017). The more responsibility customers have towards a brand, the more negative perception they construct (Lange & Washburn, 2012;Cheng & Lee, 2019;and Singh et al, 2020).…”