Exploring the credibility of online celebrities' Instagram profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users

TL;DR: The research findings show that celebrities on Instagram are influential in the purchase behaviour of young female users, however, non-traditional celebrities such as bloggers, YouTube personalities and ‘Instafamous’ profiles are more powerful, as participants regard them as more credible and are able to relate to these, rather than more traditional, celebrities.

About: This article is published in Computers in Human Behavior.The article was published on 2017-03-01 and is currently open access. It has received 693 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Credibility & Source credibility.

Summary

Introduction

• The growth of Instagram continues, with the majority of its users being young women.
• EWOM, Source Credibility Theory, Halo Effect, Celebrity Endorsement, also known as Keywords.
• Recently, one celebrity’s profile with the highest number of followers, reached 92 million (Instagram, 2016).
• This study examines the effects of Instagram upon consumers, with a specific focus on the increasing relevance of celebrity endorsers and their influence on female users within the 18-30 age groups (Pittman & Reich, 2016; Chua & Chang, 2016).
• Particular attention is paid to non-traditional types of celebrities who become famous through online media usage.

2.1. Self-Esteem and Self-Control in Buying Behaviour in the Context of

• Celebrities on Instagram Online information sharing is defined as a public phenomenon; a shared resource from which members of the public may benefit (Cheung & Lee, 2012) and often at the root of generating eWOM.
• The positive perception an individual creates on Instagram is likely to generate positive feedback from their followers in relation to those profiles (Kutthakaphan & Chokesamritpol, 2013).
• Page 5 of 25 Kropp et al., 2005; Rhodes & Wood, 1992) explain that individuals with low selfesteem are more susceptible to the opinions of others as they are seeking social approval and acceptance.
• These arguments would suggest that consumers with low selfconfidence are more easily influenced by celebrity endorsements on social media.
• The degree to which social media enhances one’s self-esteem depends upon whom users follow on their social network (Wilcox & Stephen, 2013).

2.2. Traditional and Non-Traditional Celebrities’ Endorsement in Online

• Platforms Celebrities are impactful when it comes to advertising products and services (Van Norel et al., 2014).
• More traditional celebrities include film stars, musicians, sporting icons, TV personalities, writers and others.
• These individuals are known to the public and their identification is based upon elements such as admiration, association, aspiration or recognition (Kutthakaphan & Chokesamritpol, 2013).
• Consumers will, in turn, associate certain brands with the celebrity endorser, which consequently adds dimensions of attractiveness and trustworthiness, assisting in building brand credibility (Spry et al., 2011).
• Several researchers argue that information is more credible when delivered by a product reviewer/blogger than an established celebrity (Wiley, 2014; Camahort, 2016).

2.3 Source Credibility Theory

• Source credibility is the extent to which the target audience views the source in order to gain expertise and knowledge in their understanding of the product/service (Teng et al., 2014; Ohanian, 1990).
• Kutthakaphan and Chokesamritpo (2013) argue that source credibility is also dependent upon the quality of the argument and persuasive strength of the endorser.
• This suggests that where reviews or statements regarding products and services are perceived as valid on Instagram, consumers will develop a positive attitude towards the brand being endorsed relative to these reviews (Spry et al., 2011).
• ‘Relevance’ is the extent to which the reviews are relevant and applicable (Teng et al., 2014).
• Celebrities who have personally experienced issues with their weight may be more credible and relevant endorsers of weight loss related products and services.

2.4. Halo Effect Theory

• The Halo Effect was first discovered by the psychologist Thorndike (1920) who, having conducted a social experiment, concluded that the perception of an individual can create either a positive or negative ‘halo’ around him/herself which can result in a blurring of their individual characteristics.
• Theory can wield a powerful influence upon the impressions the authors form of others (Smith et al., 2010).
• It is common practise for businesses to use the halo effect to their advantage; brands use the ‘halo’ of their reputation to justify charging premium prices for basic products (Smith et al., 2010).
• Theory is relevant in addressing the second research objective: to determine to what extent different types of celebrities on Instagram influence consumers’ buying intention and social identification with celebrities.
• Questions related to this theory will be raised with the intention of discovering how the halo effect can influence the perception an individual develops of an online celebrity and how this can influence trust.

3. Research Methods

• This study adopts a qualitative research method to meet the research objectives.
• In-depth interviews were used to explore the meanings behind Instagram users’ discussion (Bryman, 2015; Chua & Chang, 2016).
• This sampling is applied as it is impossible to state the probability of any member of the population being sampled; therefore it is difficult for any researcher to be confident that claims made about a specific sample can relate to the wider population (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015; Farrokhi & Mahmoudi-Hamidabad, 2012).
• In total, 18 face-to-face interviews were conducted with females aged 18-30 Page 10 of 25 location; the North East of England.
• Creswell’s model for data analysis in qualitative research was implemented within this study.

4. Results and Discussion

• The main themes identified throughout the interviews relate to; patterns of following celebrities on Instagram, celebrity types, the influence of eWOM upon participants’ purchasing and posting habits, the credibility and influence of different types of celebrities, and the halo effect in relation to Instagram celebrities.
• Participants categorised celebrities on Instagram and the majority were familiar with the term ‘Instafamous.’.
• Another participant further stated that she was most influenced by bloggers and lower-scale celebrities as she considered them to be more trustworthy and relevant to her than more traditional celebrities.
• Participant H described Instafamous persons as those with a strong presence online, usually ‘people with really nice lives and loads of money to be able to buy nice things and post about them and have good quality images.’.
• Respondent B favoured image enhancement features via the use of filters on Instagram; she enjoyed the way images were made more visually Page 12 of 25 participants had not considered how images may be manipulated but after reflection stated that this could influence the appearance and composition of a displayed product.

4.2. Theme 2: Product Reviews on Instagram

• All participants, to a certain extent, were influenced by reviews on Instagram, depending on individual interests and types of celebrities and accounts which they followed.
• Thoumrungroje (2014) argued that a ‘friend’ online becomes an effective information source and therefore eWOM is generated amongst similar consumers who are connected to each other.
• Users are keen to maintain a positive online presence on Instagram and tend not to post negative information as the positive perception an individual creates is likely to generate more positive feedback from Page 13 of 25 type of media (Kutthakaphan & Chokesamritpol, 2013).
• Participant B reasoned that using a product which a celebrity also used made her feel good about herself as she then had common ground with her idols and others on the platform.
• Female users seek the opinions of others to inform decisions as, presumably, they are less confident in their own decision making and trust others more.

4.3. Theme 3: Source Credibility Theory and Celebrity Endorsement

• All users considered celebrities as a trustworthy source of information online.
• Participant D never considered ‘bigger’or ‘star’ celebrities but automatically associated Instagram celebrities as bloggers and models, finding them more influential on her purchasing behaviour and decisions as these celebrities were considered more relatable.
• Previous research argues that companies hope that the performance and perception of a celebrity is parallel to the success of the brand which they endorse (Elberse & Verleun, 2012; Nicolau & Santa-Maria, 2013).
• The halo effect can wield a powerful influence on the impressions the authors form of others (Smith et al., 2010).
• One of the current study’s users said they would trust a new online celebrity, especially if they were familiar, or would ‘follow’ some of their followers.

5.1. Contribution

• This work provides further understanding of its usage.
• The research conducted within this study discusses, in particular, the impact of eWOM and online celebrity endorsements within the Instagram platform, drawing upon Source Credibility and Halo Effect Theories.
• This suggests it is essential for brands to utilise Instagram effectively when determining a target audience; they must consider what type of celebrity would be the most effective in appealing to a particular target group.
• Respondents noted that lower-scale types of celebrities were most influential, as these categories were perceived as more credible and relevant to female users, particularly with regard to purchase decisions as the products and services they were endorsing were more affordable to participants.

5.3. Research Limitations and Future Research

• As Instagram appears to be widely used by females (Sheldon & Bryant, 2016; Statista, 2016) it would be interesting to explore the reasons behind this phenomenon; perhaps by conducting an analysis of the factors which influence different social media usage across genders, in particular, investigation into source credibility and self-esteem of consumers.
• Following Celebrities’ Tweets About Brands: The Impact of Twitter-Based Electronic Word-of-Mouth on Consumers’ Source Credibility Perception, Buying Intention, and Social Identification With Celebrities.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the future works in this paper?

Future research could further explore Instagram in relation to brand recall, visual communication, use of figurative language within the images portrayed and viewer participation. It would also be interesting to study cross-cultural differences in the use of Instagram, as this media growers faster in some countries ( e. g. USA, Russia and Brazil ) than in others ( Statista, 2016 ). The sample of respondents was drawn from the same region of the UK enabling the authors to Page 19 of 25 However, future research should employ a larger sample size to further test the findings of this research. In terms of theory building, further work could be conducted to test source credibility ( Ohanian, 1990 ) and self-presentation models in relation to online communication. 

Q2. What are the contributions in this paper?

This study investigates the impact of Instagram upon source credibility, consumer buying intention and social identification with different types of celebrities. 

Q3. What are the main themes identified throughout the interviews?

The main themes identified throughout the interviews relate to; patterns of following celebrities on Instagram, celebrity types, the influence of eWOM upon participants’ purchasing and posting habits, the credibility and influence of different types of celebrities, and the halo effect in relation to Instagram celebrities. 

Q4. What is the effect of celebrity endorsement?

When participants were asked whether they would be willing to purchase goods from an unfamiliar website that became known to them solely via a celebrity endorser, they responded that they would be willing to trust the celebrities to whom they aspire, as they presume that celebrities value their position of power and are unlikely to abuse it, therefore their opinions regarding a particular brand or website would be considered credible. 

Q5. What did the participant say about the influence of bloggers and lower-scale celebrities?

Another participant further stated that she was most influenced by bloggers and lower-scale celebrities as she considered them to be more trustworthy and relevant to her than more traditional celebrities. 

Q6. What is the main argument of Moore?

Moore (2010) argues that consumers search for information via online reviews to reduce the perceived risk inherent in purchase decisions. 

Q7. What did they say they would do if they were to post a negative review on an?

Participants E and F both claimed they would be more likely to post a negative review on an alternative review-specific website as opposed to Instagram in order to maintain a positive position online. 

Q8. What is the degree to which social media enhances one’s self-esteem?

The degree to which social media enhances one’s self-esteem depends upon whom users follow on their social network (Wilcox & Stephen, 2013). 

Q9. What is the purpose of this study?

As this study is of an inductive nature, the researchers were able to create categories and common themes as identified within the data during analysis.