Lately, the increasing prevalence of social media within society has led companies to allocate an increasing portion of budgets to marketing collaborations with influencers. Among the diriment issues in the relationship between brands, influencer marketing agencies and the influencers themselves, the engagement generated on followers by the content enjoyed occupies a prominent position. Over the past 20 years, variables related to engagement in social media content have been extensively analyzed in the literature, including the actual expenditures incurred by companies for their influencer marketing campaigns. However, most of these studies have been conducted in China on social media platforms that are not present in Western countries. With our thesis, we aim to fill this literature gap by assessing how different factors act on engagement in two of the most widely adopted platforms in Western countries, Instagram and TikTok. Unlike the up-to-date academic research, our thesis focuses on more economic aspects, based on the actual costs incurred by companies for influencer marketing activities. The empirical results of the study allow establishing important considerations useful for companies eager to expand and optimize their marketing strategy with social media partnerships. Indeed, it has been shown that TikTok allows reaching more potential consumers than Instagram and that video content generates less engagement when compared to content of a static nature. In addition, the presence of creative content or slice of life content decreases the average level of engagement when an influencer is involved in commercial partnerships. Based on these and other findings, theoretical contributions to the research and managerial implications for companies are outlined, as well as limitations of the study conducted and an agenda for future research.
Ultimamente, la crescente diffusione dei social media all'interno della società ha portato le aziende a stanziare una parte sempre maggiore dei budget destinati agli aspetti di marketing per attività di collaborazione con gli influencer. Tra i temi dirimenti nel rapporto tra i brand, le agenzie di influencer marketing e gli influencer stessi, l'engagement generato sui follower dai contenuti fruiti occupa una posizione di rilievo. Negli ultimi 20 anni, in letteratura si sono analizzate a fondo le variabili legate all'engagement nei contenuti social, tra cui il costo effettivo sostenuto dalle aziende per la campagna stessa. Tuttavia, la maggior parte di questi studi è stata condotta in Cina su piattaforme social che non sono presenti in Occidente. Con la nostra tesi cerchiamo di colmare questo gap della letteratura, valutando come diversi fattori agiscano sull'engagement in due delle piattaforme tra le più utilizzate in Occidente, Instagram e TikTok. A differenza degli studi svolti sinora nell'ambito accademico, la nostra tesi è incentrata su aspetti di carattere più economico, basandoci sui costi reali sostenuti dalle aziende per le attività di influencer marketing. I risultati empirici dello studio permettono di stabilire importanti considerazioni utili alle aziende desiderose di ampliare e ottimizzare la loro strategia di marketing con partnership sui social media. Si è dimostrato, infatti, che TikTok permette di raggiungere un numero maggiore di potenziali consumatori rispetto a Instagram e che i contenuti video generano minore engagement se paragonati a contenuti di natura statica. Inoltre, si è visto che la presenza di contenuti creativi o di spaccati di vita diminuisce il livello medio di engagement quando un influencer è coinvolto in partnership commerciali. Sulla base di questi e di altri risultati, vengono delineati i contributi teorici alla ricerca e le implicazioni manageriali per le aziende, nonché i limiti dello studio svolto e una agenda per la ricerca futura.
Assessing influencer marketing campaigns: how different drivers impact engagement
Romani, Federico;Speranza, Leonardo
2023/2024
Abstract
Lately, the increasing prevalence of social media within society has led companies to allocate an increasing portion of budgets to marketing collaborations with influencers. Among the diriment issues in the relationship between brands, influencer marketing agencies and the influencers themselves, the engagement generated on followers by the content enjoyed occupies a prominent position. Over the past 20 years, variables related to engagement in social media content have been extensively analyzed in the literature, including the actual expenditures incurred by companies for their influencer marketing campaigns. However, most of these studies have been conducted in China on social media platforms that are not present in Western countries. With our thesis, we aim to fill this literature gap by assessing how different factors act on engagement in two of the most widely adopted platforms in Western countries, Instagram and TikTok. Unlike the up-to-date academic research, our thesis focuses on more economic aspects, based on the actual costs incurred by companies for influencer marketing activities. The empirical results of the study allow establishing important considerations useful for companies eager to expand and optimize their marketing strategy with social media partnerships. Indeed, it has been shown that TikTok allows reaching more potential consumers than Instagram and that video content generates less engagement when compared to content of a static nature. In addition, the presence of creative content or slice of life content decreases the average level of engagement when an influencer is involved in commercial partnerships. Based on these and other findings, theoretical contributions to the research and managerial implications for companies are outlined, as well as limitations of the study conducted and an agenda for future research.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
2024_10_Romani_Speranza_Tesi.pdf
accessibile in internet solo dagli utenti autorizzati
Dimensione
5.52 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
5.52 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
2024_10_Romani_Speranza_Executive.pdf
accessibile in internet solo dagli utenti autorizzati
Dimensione
671.82 kB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
671.82 kB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in POLITesi sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
https://hdl.handle.net/10589/227792