Rizzo et al. (2024) Flashcards
Study’s aim
Explore the effectiveness of influencer marketing, particularly focusing on the engagement of consumers with sponsored posts on social media platforms. The study investigates whether the level of language arousal in influencers’ posts affects consumer engagement and trustworthiness perceptions differently for micro-influencers compared to macro-influencers
Language arousal
Refers to the level of activation or energisation evoked by specific wording in communication. In consumer psychology, arousal is associated with the intensity of language, with high-arousal language conveying strong emotional engagement
Intensity
Can be conveyed through words and paralangue elements like capitalisation, exclamation marks, and emojis, which emphasise and intensify messages in social media communication
Influencer marketing
Relies on social media content to engage consumers with effectiveness measured by metrics like likes and comments
Micro-influencers
Have fewer followers and share personal opinions
Macro-influencers
Have a large following and cast a wide net with their messages
Trust
A key driver of consumer engagement. Trust increases persuasion, so consumers are more likely to like and comment on posts when they feel like the influencer is more trustworthy
Persuasion knowledge model
Emphasises the central role of trust for social influence by detailing that when people recognise manipulativeness in a persuasion attempt, they infer low trustworthiness of the source, and then react negatively
High-arousal content
Tends to garner more engagement and sharing, particularly when it evokes emotions like awe or anger. However, it can also have null effects or even backfire, e.g. when the topic discussed is unrelated to the sharer’s interests or when it makes messages seem overly commercial or exaggerated, leading to decreased trust and engagement
Source of the message
Contingent influence in the relationship between language arousal and engagement with influencer-sponsored content. Remains unexplored
Influencer marketing campaigns
Typically pursue two main purposes; increasing awareness or encouraging trial. Posts aimed at increasing awareness tend to signal an informative goal, whereas posts encouraging trial indicate commercial goals. These two goals reflect the beginning and end of the consumer decision journey and affect the activation of consumer persuasion knowledge differently
Informative posts
Less likely to be perceived as advertising, thus reducing activation of persuasion knowledge. Therefore, for macro-influencers, high-arousal language may have a less negative impact if posts have an informative goal, as they are perceived as less instrumental
Study 1
Examines the impact of language arousal on engagement with influencer content, revealing nuanced effects based on influencer type and post-goal. High-arousal language boosts engagement with micro-influencers but dampens it with macro-influencers. Trustworthiness is a mediator, suggesting that consumers’ perceptions of trust influence their engagement with content. Goal of the post also moderates the relationship
Study 2
Replicated the observed effects in Study 1 across social media platforms, namely Instagram and TikTok. It also investigates the role of paralanguage, including non-verbal cues like emojis and capitalisation in influencing engagement with content. The study confirmed that high-arousal paralanguage contributes to increased engagement, particularly with micro-influencers
Study 3a
Delved deeper into the underlying mechanisms linking language arousal, trustworthiness, and engagement with influencer content. Through serial mediation analysis, the study explains how language arousal influences engagement by shaping consumers’ perceptions of trustworthiness. The study highlighted the moderating role of influencer type
Study 3b
Shifted focus to exploring how language valence moderates the effect of language arousal on engagement. Revealed that counterbalancing valence of language arousal can mitigate the negative impact of high-arousal language for macro-influencers
Study 4
Investigated how the goal of the influencer post moderates the effect of language arousal on engagement. Found that informative posts can attenuate the negative effect of high-arousal language on engagement with macro-influencers. Also, the study extended the understanding of language arousal by examining its implications for consumer choice likelihood, highlighting the broader impact beyond traditional engagement metrics.
Counterbalanced valence
Both positive and negative assessments
