User Behaviors, User Engagement, and Consequences
Paper Type
Completed
Paper Number
2107
Description
Consumer engagement with SMIs in social media is critical for the viability and success of social media platforms, the popularity of SMIs, and the return of brands’ investment. Despite the importance of consumer engagement with SMIs in social media, little is known about the role of an emerging design feature-Sponsorship Disclosure (SD). This study aims to examine how the presence of sponsorship disclosure affects consumer engagement with the SMIs’ posts (including like, comment, and share). Using a panel dataset from a large social media platform in China, we used the approaches of PSM and DID to validate our assumptions. The results reveal that after the first presence of sponsorship disclosure in an SMI’s post, consumers’ engagement with the SMIs’ posts significantly decreases. Additionally, “comment” and “share” of the SMIs’ posts decrease less than “like”. Our findings provide both theoretical and practical implications for influencer marketing and social media platforms operate.
Recommended Citation
Qiang, Zhang; Wang, Panpan; and Zhao, J Leon, "“This Post is Sponsored”: How Does Sponsorship Disclosure Affect Consumer Engagement with Social Media Influencers?" (2020). ICIS 2020 Proceedings. 13.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2020/user_behaviors/user_behaviors/13
“This Post is Sponsored”: How Does Sponsorship Disclosure Affect Consumer Engagement with Social Media Influencers?
Consumer engagement with SMIs in social media is critical for the viability and success of social media platforms, the popularity of SMIs, and the return of brands’ investment. Despite the importance of consumer engagement with SMIs in social media, little is known about the role of an emerging design feature-Sponsorship Disclosure (SD). This study aims to examine how the presence of sponsorship disclosure affects consumer engagement with the SMIs’ posts (including like, comment, and share). Using a panel dataset from a large social media platform in China, we used the approaches of PSM and DID to validate our assumptions. The results reveal that after the first presence of sponsorship disclosure in an SMI’s post, consumers’ engagement with the SMIs’ posts significantly decreases. Additionally, “comment” and “share” of the SMIs’ posts decrease less than “like”. Our findings provide both theoretical and practical implications for influencer marketing and social media platforms operate.
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