The impact of Social Media Influencer’s (SMI) on the buying decisions of Generation Y

This research aims to analyse how social media influencers on Instagram influence the purchasing decision of Millennial consumers in the luxury watch industry in Swiss Romandie. The first part of this project discusses different elements surrounding influencer marketing and Millennial’s online buying behaviour. The second part investigates Millennials’ presence on social media and their relationship with influencers. The data collected in the analysis show how influencers impact the purchasing decision of Millennial. By combining the findings, the analysis and the literature review, it can be seen that Millennials are aware of the growing trend on influencer marketing on Instagram. Influencers in the fashion and lifestyle category are most followed by millennial consumers. Several key factors of attachment and affinity with influencers were derived from this analysis. For instance, style and physical appearance, aesthetic or similarities are among the drivers that attracts a follower to an influencer besides age and gender. Influencer are also seen as a source of inspiration for Millennials who look up to them for new ideas and inspirations on a daily basis. Safe to say they follow them as role models. Moreover, findings show that most of the Millennials trust influencers. However, this does not always lead to purchase behaviour as Millennials are vigilant and reluctant. Research show that Millennials have real interest in luxury, however not all of them can afford it. There is a fine line between bridging this gap, and it can be deduced that over time luxury brands would realize that a huge potential market is still untapped as some millennials are unable to afford the product even when they follow the influencer on social media. Furthermore, findings show that influencer marketing allow brands to increase their awareness by giving them more visibility and reach a vast audience. Research suggests that a blockbuster influencer would preferably be used for awareness while a microinfluencer for conversion. Choosing the right type of influencers for the right target audience will help luxury watch brands to boost their awareness and visibility and eventually increase their sales. However, in order to fully support these findings and hypotheses a deeper quantitative and qualitative study in necessary