Research & Ethics
- Lauren Avero
- Aug 28, 2020
- 3 min read
Hello and Welcome back to my ethnography project research!
In this week’s post I'll be outlining some of the main background research in regards to the understanding of social media influencers and the idea of digital trust for marketing purposes and overviewing potential ethical issues within my research.
Background research
Despite the growing interest in digital influencers as a brand communication tool in recent years, much remains to be explored to understand how they can build a bond with their followers that shapes their perceptions and behaviours towards the endorsed brands. Using the following sources I’ve gained crucial information that I will soon build upon my own ethnographic research.
The role of digital influencers in brand recommendation: Examining their impact on engagement, expected value and purchase intention
This article explores how effective digital influencers are in recommending brands via their online content by examining whether the potential influence they have on their followers may affect brand engagement in self-concept, brand expected value and intention to purchase recommended brands. This article has given me an insight into the influential power of digital influencers through the media dependency theory whilst having a data collection from a sample group about the impact of brand recommendations.
Brand communication through digital influencers: Leveraging blogger engagement
The source elaborates upon the role of bloggers in brand communication, and reveals how brands can engage with influencers, currently considered as online opinion leaders. According to the two-step flow communication theory developed by Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955) outlined in this article, rather than having a general and direct marketing, marketing publicised by mass media are filtered by opinion leaders. The theory claims that inter-personal communication is more powerful in affecting attitudes of individuals compared to mass media. This is crucial in my ethnographic research as it highlights the idea of ‘digital trust’ from an influencer to their audience.
The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Purchase Intention and the Mediation Effect of Customer Attitude
This article details into the idea of social media marketing is an influential marketing method. This source emphasises the importance of trust or credibility within the influencer for audiences to build brand loyalty as opposed to celebrity endorsement which are more instrumental in raising brand awareness among consumers. This article has helped understand the different consumer attitudes and how that dictates what an influencer shares and what their audience gains from influencers.
Ethics
All research conducted needs to be mindful of the ethical issues involved in both the process of conducting research and its end product, considering issues of confidentiality, anonymity and consent. Due to focusing on SarahsDay as an individual its crucial to consider the various ethical issues upon this ethnographic research. Although the content is published online for the public to view it is important to prioritise confidentiality, privacy, ownership and consent.
I plan to embrace a nature of ethical research where I immerse myself into this digital field site as a silent observer who seeks to absorb all that is seen and experienced within the virtual space. This method allows me to ethically explore the research in question without raising ethical issues.
Until Next Time, Live and Laugh,
References:
Ebru Uzunoğlu, Sema Misci Kip, Brand communication through digital influencers: Leveraging blogger engagement, International Journal of Information Management, Volume 34, Issue 5, 2014, Pages 592-602,
David Jiménez-Castillo, Raquel Sánchez-Fernández, The role of digital influencers in brand recommendation: Examining their impact on engagement, expected value and purchase intention, International Journal of Information Management, Volume 49, 2019, Pages 366-376
Lim, X.J., Radzol, A.M., Cheah, J. and Wong, M.W., 2017. The impact of social media influencers on purchase intention and the mediation effect of customer attitude. Asian Journal of Business Research, 7(2), pp.19-36.
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