Impact of Social Media Influencers on Brand Loyalty through Image

Presenting Author Presenting Author- -Megha SHARMA SHARMA Dhruv SAINI Dhruv SAINI Track name Track name- -MeghaAMI MeghaAMI- -01 DhruvAMI DhruvAMI- -01 01 Megha 01 EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AND BRAND INFLUENCERS AND BRAND ENDORSERS ON BRAND LOYALTY ENDORSERS ON BRAND LOYALTY THROUGH BRAND IMAGE THROUGH BRAND IMAGE -Dhruv SAINI, Megha SHARMA & Sharad GUPTA

ABSTRACT: Celebrity Endorsement (CE) and Social Media Influencers (SMI): an Important tool for Customer Decision Making Purpose. Aims at developing a model of relationships among CEs, SMIs, brand image, and brand loyalty. Important managerial implications and multiple directions for future research conclude this article.

INTRODUCTION: Very often, marketers spend lot of their resources in terms of money and effort to endorse and advertise their products and services through SMI and CE (Erdogan, 1999). CEs help in increasing awareness of the brand and creating a positive image of the brand in consumer s mind (Sharma & Kumar, 2013). CEs remain the primary tools in mass media till a few years back. With the increasing acceptance of social media in today s fast-paced life, many SMIs impact the buying decision of consumers by improving brand image and consequently the brand loyalty of the consumers

LITERATURE REVIEW: CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS: SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS: Celebrity endorser is a person whom people know for his/her achievements in his/her respective fields other than that of the products or services that he/she endorse (Friedman and Friedman, 1979). SMI is considered as a person who has gained high popularity on social media sites and social networking sites. We refer to social media sites and social networking sites collectively as Social Media . There can be negative impact of celebrity endorsement as well if there is over endorsement or in case the celebrity s reputation nosedives due to any unforeseen reason (Hassan & Jamil, 2014). More consumers buy based on recommendations of SMIs as compared to that of family members and thus showing that SMIs are trusted higher than family members for their recommendations for buying any product (Jain et al., 2016).

BRAND LOYALTY: BRAND IMAGE: Brand image can be defined as a set of beliefs and ideas that people have about a particular brand. Brand loyalty can be defined as a promise or commitment that the consumer or buyer shows to the seller of the product or service by buying repeat edly from a particular brand without switching to any other brand. Formulated based on recommendations, viewpoint, and suggestions offered by celebrity endorsers, social media influencers, family, friends, and others. Brand loyalty consists of both behavior and attitude loyalty, and both must be present for brand loyalty (Dick & Badu, 1994; Oliver, 1997).

DISCUSSION: To establish the how CEs and SMIs impact brand image and brand loyalty. To evaluate whether CE or SMI have greater impact on consumer decision making. To outline different directions in which future research can proceed.

SMI and CE influence Brand loyalty through multiple pathways

Proposition 1 Proposition 1 (P1): in in CE CE increases the increases the brand image image and vice versa. and vice versa. (P1): Increase Increase brand Proposition 2 Proposition 2 (P2): brand image increases the brand brand image increases the brand loyalty and vice versa. loyalty and vice versa. (P2): Increase in Increase in Once a celebrity is associated with a brand, their ongoing life effects the lives of the brand, which is the main reason that choosing the apt celebrity for the marketing activity is very important. A particular set of beliefs play an important role in the buying behavior of the consumer, which in long term develops brand loyalty towards a product or a service. In this way, brand image is also associated with the brand loyalty. CE can impact the brand image positively as well as negatively A positive brand image would lead to higher brand loyalty and a negative brand image would reduce the brand loyalty.

Proposition 3 Proposition 3 (P3): Increase in CE increases the brand loyalty. (P3): Increase in CE increases the brand loyalty. Research shows that CE increases sales. The brand using celebrity will have higher price due to involvement of celebrity and that in turn gives an image of better-quality product than that of relatively lower- priced competing brand. Proposition 4 Proposition 4 (P4): Increase in SMIs increases the brand image. (P4): Increase in SMIs increases the brand image. Proposition 5 Proposition 5 (P5): SMIs can increase the brand loyalty towards a brand (P5): SMIs can increase the brand loyalty towards a brand and reduce brand loyalty towards competing brand. and reduce brand loyalty towards competing brand. SMIs have the power to influence people as they can provide their feedback relating to any product, thereby creating an electronic word of mouth. Relation of SMIs and Brand becomes stronger with interactivity and authenticity that create an emotional attachment leading to brand loyalty of people towards it (Fun & Yi, 2020).

IMPLICATIONS: Managers can leverage both CEs as well as SMIs in their advertising strategies. Managers can expect to have influence on not only the brand image but also the brand loyalty due to their focus on CEs and SMIs. Managers must focus on some important aspects for selecting CEs and SMIs.

CONCLUSION: We set out to explore how CEs and SMIs impact brand loyalty using secondary sources of information. FUTURE SCOPE OF STUDY: The first of these would be the examination of these multiple pathways from CEs and SMIs to brand loyalty. Second, future research can compare effectiveness of CEs and SMIs through these pathways. Third, future research can compare these pathways across product categories and geographic locations.

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