Nano, Micro, Macro, Mega: Examining the Different Types of Social Media Influencers and Their Impact on Consumer Attitudes & Behaviour

Lim, Hui Yan (2024) Nano, Micro, Macro, Mega: Examining the Different Types of Social Media Influencers and Their Impact on Consumer Attitudes & Behaviour. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

Social media influencers (SMIs) have become powerful voices, influencing trends, society and consumer preferences. To develop loyal fan bases and interact with viewers on a personal level, these people have taken advantage of social media sites like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. But in the online communities today, there are many different types of SMIs and each has an individual style and niche. SMIs stand out from traditional celebrities because they are able to establish genuine connections with their fans while gaining credibility and trust. Brands and marketers have begun to utilise SMIs because of the changing environment of digital communication. Previous scholars have discussed how SMIs have helped in shaping brand awareness, brand attitudes and purchase intentions based on their characteristics. However, Belanche, Casaló, Flavián and Ibáñez-Sánchez (2021) mentioned that many researchers have focused on the successfulness of brand promotional activities and the influencers itself but ignored the followers' perception towards the influencers. Therefore, this thesis tends to examine the public attitudes towards different types of SMIs (nano, micro, macro and mega) and the effectiveness of different types of SMIs on brand awareness, brand attitudes and purchase intention. The entire investigation will be supported by Theory of Congruity and Source Credibility Theory, because people are more likely to develop and maintain satisfying relationships with those who are congruent with, if there is an imbalance relationship, attitude change, also to determine whether the credibility characteristics of SMIs will influence the public attitudes. Results show that there’s a positive significance of public attitudes towards SMIs and the effectiveness of SMIs on brand awareness, brand attitudes and purchase intention. The Pearson-Correlations Test and the ANOVA one-way comparative mean test proves that the public has different attitudes towards different types of SMIs based on their characteristics, and it subsequently congruency becoming main driving factors that lead to various effectiveness on organisational communication. Keywords: Social media influencers, public attitudes, brand awareness, brand attitudes, purchase intention