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Traditionally, celebrities endorsed products in the 20th century but now with the dawn of social media, a new breed of celebrities i.e. Digital Influencers (i.e., Internet Microcelebrities—non-traditional celebrities—are those who narrate their personal lives and lifestyles and endorse brand, products and/ or services in their blog or social media posts) (Jimenez- Castillo, 2019) have come up. The study focuses on whether digital influencers influence their followers to buy the brands or products they endorse on their account, website, page, etc. and whether it leads to brand engagement and perception of people about the brand. As their social media marketing strategies, many companies hire or pay digital influencers to endorse their brand or product on their social media handles. This results in their ardent followers to get influenced and buy the products resulting in people trying it up.
Approaching a celebrity to endorse a product, positively affects consumers’ brand attitudes and purchase intention (Debasis Pradhan, 2016). The reason for celebrity endorsement is to enhance value to a brand name and the product or service being offered. According to (Dwivedi, 2015), advertising through a celebrity is useful in building brand equity. But finding a right fit is an intimidating task, as an improper celebrity endorser may or may not benefit the company. With the dawn of Social Media and considering the growth of these platforms. There were 500 million active Internet Users in early 2019 and according to Statista, currently the number is at 560 million users. Only 17% of total Indian Population could access the internet in 2015.
The study is being done to find the influence of Internet Microcelebrities and the power they have over their followers to make them purchase the brand they recommend. The study will help brands who look forward to establish themselves in the Indian Market. There have been numerous research studies related to the amount of influence that celebrity endorsements have on purchase intention and brand value. Traditional advertisements had celebrities endorse brands and products but now that people spend the vast majority of their time on their mobile phones especially on Social Media, it has become a platform where brands can tie-up with a new breed of celebrities- Internet Microcelebrities and increase their reach to an extensive audience. Hence this study would help to find out how effective the eWOM of such digital influencers can be. The study would also determine the mediating effect of brand engagement in self-concept and brand expected value on the effect of perceived influence of micro celebrities on purchase intention.