University of Twente Student Theses
Selecting the right influencers and products to restore an organization's image : Restoring a company’s reputation after an image crisis with the help of influencer marketing
Holtkamp, Theresa (2018) Selecting the right influencers and products to restore an organization's image : Restoring a company’s reputation after an image crisis with the help of influencer marketing.
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| Abstract: | Even if literature on influencer marketing holds multiple studies with many different approaches to find the best suited influencer for a campaign, there still is no manifested approach, and further investigation on how to select the best suited influencer is needed. There are several factors like the promoted product itself or the organization’s reputation that may have an important impact on the selection of an influencer. This study examines the effectiveness of influencer marketing and the promoted product’s type on an organization’s image after a corporate crisis. It is investigated, if an organization with corporate crisis needs to work with different influencers and products for an effective influencer campaign to better the organizational image than an organization with solid reputation. Therefore, the study distinguishes three independent variables: influencer type, product type, and organizational reputation. Regarding the organizational reputation, two automobile manufacturers, one with harmed reputation (VW) and one with solid reputation (BMW) are examined. Further, two types of social media influencers are distinguished. The influencer’s type is defined as either niche- or lifestyle-focused. Influencers with specific expertise in their field are called niche-focused influencers and influencers that concentrate on promoting certain living patterns and self-images are called lifestyle-influencers in this study. At last, the promoted product’s type is distinguished as either new or established. To summarize, the quantitative main study employed a 2x2x2 between subjects design in the form of an online questionnaire (n = 304). In the online survey, four different variables of organizational image are investigated: trust, risk propensity, innovativeness, and social responsibility. The study finds that only the variable reputation has a main effect on all four image variables. Further, an interaction effect between product newness and reputation on the image variable innovativeness is proven. In summary, this study proves a relevance of corporate reputation for the organization’s image but does neither find a different effectivity of niche-influencers and lifestyle-influencers on the corporate image nor a difference in the effectivity of new and old products on the organization’s image. Further investigation on the best suited influencer and product for an influencer campaign by organizations in crises is necessary. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies |
| Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/76334 |
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