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Influencers and their motivations to create content: A qualitative typology based on an international survey
Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing,
11
(2),
190-204
(2023)
Abstract
Social media influencers (SMIs) have become an internet phenomenon with significant impact on public opinion. Although SMIs are becoming more professional and are differentiating themselves in terms of content and communication styles, quantitative indicators such as reach and engagement rates are still at the centre of marketers’ attention. This study identifies and tests five qualitative types of social media influencers (‘storyteller’, ‘rationalist’, ‘expert’, world-changer’ and ‘extravert’) based on four key motivational factors for content creation from a broad international sample. The authors find differences regarding the relative frequencies of the identified SMI types between the surveyed countries. This study provides substantial insights for researchers and brand managers seeking to better understand influencer types and manage influencer relations respectively.
Keywords: social media influencers; content creation; motivation-based typology; intercultural differences; factor analysis; cluster analysis
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Author's Biography
Florian Haumer is Professor of Media Management and Dean of the Faculty of Culture, Media and Psychology at Macromedia University. He earned a doctorate in communication science from Dresden University of Technology. His research focuses on new forms of public communication (influencers), sustainability management and communication and the role of technology and psychology in the context of transformation processes. His work has been published in renowned journals and he regularly discusses his research results at international conferences on media management and communication science. He is also the founder and managing director of the consultancy haumer&konsorten GmbH, which has been working on performance marketing, strategic brand management and Big Data analytics since 2011.
Castulus Kolo is professor of Media Management and president at Macromedia University in Germany. He has a doctorate in physics from research at CERN, Geneva, and an additional one from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, in Social Anthropology. After extensive practice in applied research with Fraunhofer Society, he gathered management experience in strategy consulting and as board member of a publisher’s digital venture. Generally, his publications are focused on preconditions, diffusion, and effects of media innovations. His current research interest is devoted to social media influencers as content creators and as a new type of entrepreneurs in the creative industries. In his academic community he serves as a board member of the International Media Management Academic Association (IMMAA) and since 2023 is president of the European Media Management Association (emma).
Alexander Roth is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Cologne, where his dissertation deals with value co-creation among different actors in the context of electronic sports service ecosystems. Particular areas of interest are novel media technologies such as augmented and virtual reality. Before his appointments at the University of Cologne and the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, where he also works as a research and teaching assistant, he studied sport and performance in his bachelor’s studies and psychology in sport and exercise in his master’s studies at the German Sport University in Cologne.
Rafael Schwarz is a managing director at Territory Influence, the social media and influencer marketing agency. Rafael specialises in business strategy and new business development, leading teams of sales and marketing experts across Europe. After graduating with a master’s degree from the University of Vienna, Rafael started his career in the brand management department of Procter & Gamble Austria. He also served in local and international sales and marketing leadership roles at Reckitt, Mars and Henkel in Germany, Switzerland and the UK before joining Territory Influence in 2013. Rafael is an international thought leader in the field of fast-moving consumer goods and social media, and CEO/CMO adviser with more than 20 years’ expertise in business strategy, change management, marketing and sales leadership, innovation management and P&L delivery, as well as a Forbes Communications Council expert and host of #TheSocialCorner podcast.
