Influence of Celebrities and User Review for Social Media Marketing

Frannie Seitz

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

WRIT 3577W

Jason Tham

What’s Next in Rhetoric, Technology, and the Internet:

Marketing On Social Media

            Since the introduction of Facebook, Instagram, and other forms of social media platforms, their purposes have expanded into resources such as electronic word of mouth (eWOM) for consumers looking for reviews and conversations on products before committing to a purchase. There are many different ways that eWOM is used to share information regarding a product. There are standard reviews through Facebook pages that allow for discussion and occurs between users and mostly friends or acquaintances. Another form is marketing through social media influencers, who share their review on a specific product directly on their page to reach their followers. The third form comes from online celebrities who have a large influence on the purchase decisions of young female users. By examining three different scholarly articles, I will go into depth in how each of these forms of marketing have changed social media and the purchasing decisions of online users.

            The role of social media has expanded and evolved into a marketing platform. The reviews from online consumers facilitates word of mouth communication, according to a study conducted by Chen and colleagues. The advancement of the Internet has created an unparalleled stage for the sharing of product experiences through eWOM and consumer reviews. Several studies have explored motivations for posting reviews and found factors such as opinion leading, originality, and product-involvement are all drivers for sharing experience. From experience, I use various forms of social media to look for reviews. I use Facebook for reviews from close friends and families which I would consider eWOM. When going to new restaurants, I typically use Instagram to views photos that help decide if it’s good or not and also use Yelp for more in-depth reviews about the service and quality of food. I find it very helpful, and I share my review usually if there is a benefit for me. Some businesses give discounts if a user shares a review or their location to increase traffic to their social media. For example, I have used Yelp to receive a discount simply by using their “Check-In Offers” by posting that I was at an establishment. This example shows Red Stag Supperclub offering a discount for a “$4 for 1 Happy Hour Drink Anytime!”. I have noticed that many users share their reviews to obtain a higher status and influence level on the social media platform. For example, with Yelp, the more you check in a provide helpful reviews the higher your status goes up. I believe users can also be rated based on how helpful a review was. This type of profile status doesn’t only exist on platform such as Yelp. It also occurs on Instagram and Facebook, but is expressed based through different variables which will be explained.

            Along with the Internet and introduction of social media platforms eWOM and consumer reviews have expanded to create new discussions online that wouldn’t exist otherwise. The effect of these dialogues influence buying choices in numerous ways, according to a study conducted by Erkan. The study established a conceptual model to form results the confirm that value, reliability, practicality and variation of information, desires of information and positions toward information are the key considerations of eWOM in social media that encourage consumers’ purchase decisions. The authors research model displayed purchase intention as a construct that is based on the variables mentioned above.  
The results from the study found that the influence of eWOM is highly dependent on consumers’ behavior towards eWOM information. Their study provides marketers a frame of reference to better understand eWOM and alter their product mix to better fit the eye of the consumer and their behavior to ultimately improve their marketing strategies. From experience, I have worked with various businesses who all use social media to market their products and I have found their strategies all differ depending on the product sold as well as their mission/vision. One company sought to reach consumers on an emotional standpoint and favored opinions and reviews that positively reflected their nonprofit aspect of the business model. Another company treated their negative reviews as a strategy to fight back and turn it into humor, by replying to the reviews by reiterating who the company is and what they stand for. They used the reviews to create discussion between other users which increased the volume of traffic. Although these companies had different strategies for using eWOM, they both favored consumers’ attitude towards information to help influence purchasing intentions.

            Companies also rely heavily on the credibility of the reviewers and influencers on social media. I have found this method most used on Instagram; especially with celebrities. As supported through a study conducted by Djafarova, in-depth interviews with female, Instagram users found that consumer buying intention is highly influenced by identification with various types of celebrities. Social media influencers are non-traditional celebrities and include bloggers, YouTube personalities, and ‘Instafamous’ profiles. This type of marketing relying on business connections between a company and the influencer as a middleman to reach a large population of users. For example, a company called FitTea has a marketing strategy that reached out to users by paying Instagram celebrities to post photos that positively reflect their product. I believe this type of strategy is highly impactful especially with women, because they trust and rely on the behavior of who they follow to direct their purchasing decisions. Kylie Jenner’s post is just one example of how FitTea uses celebrities to reach a large audience to market their product. I think it is a very successful strategy, because young women’s purchase decisions are highly influenced by who they follow on social media.

             To conclude, the introduction of the Internet and the creation of social media platforms has provided a new marketing strategy for businesses to not only implement product reviews, but also use online celebrities to influence the purchasing decisions of users. Through eWOM and consumer influence, online reviews impact the purchasing decisions of online users of Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms such as Yelp. Companies and users alike rely highly on ethos to sell a product and buy a product. Companies use social media influencers to reach a large audience that relies heavily on the purchasing decision and review of one person. eWOM and consumer reviews rely heavily on the positivity/negativity of a product to influence a purchase decision. As online social media platforms expand, so will the marketing techniques that draw consumers to make purchasing decisions. I believe that eWOM, online reviews, and social media influencers will become one the largest forms of marketing and advertising in the next few years.

References:

Chen, Yubo, Scott Fay, and Qi Wang. "The Role of Marketing in Social Media: How Online Consumer Reviews Evolve." SSRN Electronic Journal (2011): 85-94. Elsevier. Web. 9 May 2017.

Djafarova, Elmira, and Chloe Rushworth. "Exploring the Credibility of Online Celebrities' Instagram Profiles in Influencing the Purchase Decisions of Young Female Users."Northumbria Research Link. Elsevier, 01 Mar. 2017. Web. 09 May 2017.

Erkan, Ismail, and Chris Evans. "The Influence of EWOM in Social Media on Consumers€™ Purchase Intentions: An Extended Approach to Information Adoption." Computers in Human Behavior 61 (2016): 47-55. Elsevier. Web. 9 May 2017.