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Micro-influencer marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic: New vistas or the end of an era?
Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing,
9
(4),
354-370
(2022)
Abstract
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have incurred losses or shut down entirely. At the same time, however, COVID-19 has ushered in new opportunities for some people, notably micro-influencers, whose low overheads make them extremely appealing to companies whose advertising budgets have taken a hit. According to the popular literature, micro-influencers have much greater credibility than popular celebrities and mega-influencers. The findings presented in this study, however, suggest otherwise. Specifically, this study uses both quantitative and qualitative approaches to analyse the results of a survey involving 1,012 participants from Italy, France and Germany, and finds that micro-influencers who are not known personally to their followers have only a minor influence on purchase behaviour.
Keywords: micro-influencer; influencer marketing; consumer behaviour; consumer psychology; social media marketing; marketing
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Michael Gerlich is a lecturer and researcher at Anglia Ruskin University, where his research focuses on elite studies and changes in consumer behaviour. He also teaches at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences and the Swiss Business School in Zürich. During the past 25 years, he has worked as an adviser to the President and the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, the Cabinet of Ministers in Uzbekistan and various ministers for economic affairs in Azerbaijan, in addition to holding leading positions within GIZ (the German Development Bank) and the International Finance Corporation. He has also held posts at various academic institutions, including the Tashkent State Economic University, where he was Dean of the International Business School.
