Pet influencers on social media: The joint effect of message appeal and narrator

Zhang, Lu; Wei, Wei; Rathjens, Bobbie; Zheng, Yanyan

doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103453

Cited by 16 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Pet influencers can earn significant sums from their partnerships with brands, with some achieving a net worth of more than $100 million (Journalistate, 2018). They have also proven to be incredibly effective in attracting consumers' attention and influencing their behavior: according to Zhang et al (2023), pet influencers are significantly impactful in improving consumer responses (i.e., booking intentions) when the social media post has a rational appeal. In addition, Jacobson et al (2022) suggested that emotion and community are more important than interactions for pet influencers, that prefer to adopt an affective rather than interactive social presence strategy.…”

Section: Influencer Effectiveness and Pet Influencersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pawsitively powerful: Why and when pet influencers boost social media effectiveness

Di Cioccio,

Pozharliev,

De Angelis

2024

Psychology and Marketing

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In recent years, influencer marketing has emerged as a powerful tool for brands to create connections with their target audiences. Naturally, many companies have leaned on human influencers, but the increasing popularity of pet influencers (e.g., dogs and cats) represents a new avenue for brand promotion. This research asks the question: Why and when are pet influencers preferrable to their human counterparts in terms of boosting engagement and purchase intention? Across six experimental studies (N = 1166), we demonstrate that pet influencers lead to higher engagement with the promoted content and willingness to buy the advertised product (Study 1) because they are seen as more credible than human influencers (Study 2). Pet influencers are perceived as cuter, which in turn positively affects their credibility (Study 3). Specifically, whimsicality is the cuteness dimension that explains their greater credibility (Study 4). These effects are stronger when the promoted product is pet‐related (Study 5) and apply regardless of whether people own a pet (Studies 3–5). Finally, a clear cuteness manipulation supports the causal relationship between cuteness and credibility (Study 6). These findings affirm that pet influencers shape individuals' responses to promotional social media posts, enhance the field's understanding of the mechanisms that underlie influencer marketing effectiveness, and clarify how to implement more influential social media campaigns.

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Section: Influencer Effectiveness and Pet Influencersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pawsitively powerful: Why and when pet influencers boost social media effectiveness

Di Cioccio,

Pozharliev,

De Angelis

2024

Psychology and Marketing

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“…Before doing so, we stress two qualifiers. First, most, but not all studies, fell into only one category (e.g., in entertainment, animals function as both commodity and coworker; livestock veterinarians may treat animals both as commodity and client; social media influencers may work around and with their pets for content; Zhang, Wei, Rathjens, & Zheng, 2023). Second, while different species appear to dominate each category (e.g., dogs as coworkers, chickens as commodities), we do not probe these distinctions as the literature's, and our, emphasis is on the human experience.…”

Section: A Typology Of Employee-animal Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

All Creatures Great and Small: A Review and Typology of Employee-Animal Interactions

Quan,

Lam,

Schabram

et al. 2023

Journal of Management

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Employees interact with animals in a myriad of ways in the context of work. Herein, we seek to catalog this multiplex phenomenon in order to gain theoretical insights. Our article unfolds in four parts. First, we conduct an interdisciplinary review from which we develop a typology of four employee-animal interactions: working for, with, around, and on animals. Second, we outline the current research for each discrete category. Third, we consider key divergent experiences (e.g., the uniquely gendered nature of each) and convergent themes (e.g., all animal work is emotional and hierarchical) across the typology. Fourth, we supplement our review with two metasyntheses of other workplace team interactions—employee-employee and employee-machine/artificial intelligence interactions—to highlight how the study of human-animal interactions can address current conundrums in the organizational domain. We do so to demonstrate that considerations of employee-animal interactions can offer theoretical value to scholars, including those who may not have an inherent interest in the phenomenon. We complement theoretical extensions with suggestions for future research on core management topics, including humanizing workplaces, the future of work, and team collaboration.

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“…Similarly, Conde and Casais (2023) highlighted the role of para-social interaction, suggesting that followers who perceive a strong para-social relationship with an influencer are more likely to be influenced by that influencer's endorsements. Zhang et al (2023) found that informative content could effectively enhance followers' product knowledge and purchase intentions. In contrast, Bazi et al (2023) suggested that entertaining content could increase followers' emotional engagement and, consequently, their purchase intentions.…”

Section: Social Media Influencersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding the characteristics of the content, recent studies have explored the effects of different content attributes on followers' attitudes and behaviours. For instance, Zhang et al (2023) found that informative content could effectively enhance followers' product knowledge and purchase intentions. In contrast, Bazi et al (2023) suggested that entertaining content could increase followers' emotional engagement and, consequently, their purchase intentions.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of followers' purchase intentions toward brands endorsed by social media influencers: Findings from PLS and fsQCA

Foroughi,

Iranmanesh,

Nilashi

et al. 2023

J of Consumer Behaviour

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Given the rise of marketing through social media influencers (SMIs), this study aimed to investigate the influences of source credibility and content validity factors on followers' attitudes and intention to purchase brands endorsed by SMIs through brand engagement and brand expected value. The study assessed the moderating effect of product–influencer congruency. Data were collected from 429 individuals in Iran and were assessed using the “partial least squares” (PLS) and “fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis” (fsQCA) approaches. PLS results affirmed the significance of all direct relationships except the role of entertainment value on brand engagement and informativeness value on brand expected value. Product–influencer congruence positively moderated the effects of trustworthiness and expertise on brand expected value. fsQCA identified five solutions with various combinations of elements that lead to high purchase intention. The results of performing fsQCA revealed that three factors, namely attractiveness, entertainment value, and attitude, are necessary to achieve high purchase intention. fsQCA results challenged the PLS findings, indicating the importance of using an asymmetric approach in conjunction with PLS. Our study provides valuable insight for marketing influencers and practitioners on the importance of source credibility and content value factors in enhancing the effectiveness of SMI marketing activities and persuading customers to purchase endorsed brands.

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Pet influencers on social media: The joint effect of message appeal and narrator

Cited by 16 publications

References 66 publications

Pawsitively powerful: Why and when pet influencers boost social media effectiveness

Pawsitively powerful: Why and when pet influencers boost social media effectiveness

All Creatures Great and Small: A Review and Typology of Employee-Animal Interactions

Determinants of followers' purchase intentions toward brands endorsed by social media influencers: Findings from PLS and fsQCA

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