Conceptualising Influencer, Brand, and Audience Relationships on Social Media Platforms

The use of influencers by brands for marketing communications activities is a well-established approach. On social media platforms as the sector matures, definitions as to what constitutes an influencer and/or celebrity have evolved. This is alongside re-evaluations concerning how to classify various forms of influencer marketing communications as the lines become blurred. Furthermore, as influencers move from independent opinion-sharing towards contractual paid relationships with brands, there are acknowledged reputational and authenticity tensions that exist with their audiences. In this chapter we conceptualise this phenomenon, firstly by examining stakeholder relations as a dynamic construct, and secondly in presenting an influencer dual-process mediation model—which is an adaptation and harmonisation of the elaboration likelihood model and the dual mediation hypothesis model of advertising processing. The rationale is that judging performance relies upon a blend of hard and soft metrics linked to: reach, context, contracts, attitude, reputation, and power. Finally, we identify five central themes central to user/influencer relationships, which are inspiration, genuineness, trust, mental health, and vulnerability.