The Power of Influencers : Instagram users view on influencers and influencer marketing

It is now increasingly common for companies to communicate with their consumers via influencers and in recent years it has become one of the most successful marketing tools for companies. Influencers do not only have the power to influence hundreds of thousands of people at the same time, but previous research has also shown that they are credible and reliable marketers. Influencers are seen as the marketers of the future. This research investigates the audience’s view on influencers and influencer marketing with several theoretical perspectives as a basis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight experienced Instagram users and the research findings show that influencers can be defined in different ways and have different meaning for different people. They are also considered to be a source of great influence. The findings also show that the view on influencer marketing is relatively negative and that influencers, with the exception of some, are not particularly credible as marketers. Furthermore, we discuss several factors that may affect the credibility of an influencer