Instagram celebrities and positive user responses. The mediating role of user “like”

Abstract

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to compare the effects of two types of celebrities (Instagram celebrity vs. traditional celebrity) on users' willingness to look for product information (promoted products). User “likes” (user's intention to give “like” the promoted brand post) and Instagram involvement are examined as applied moderators in the proposed theoretical model of this research.Design/methodology/approach203 participants contribute to an experimental study and were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (Instagram celebrity vs. traditional celebrity). An American-South African woman as a traditional celebrity and an American woman as an Instagram celebrity were selected for this study.FindingsThe outcomes demonstrate the power of Instagram celebrity in excess of the traditional celebrity. In addition, the findings indicate how users are more eager to “like” the post promoted by the Instagram celebrity. It also confirms that highly involved users (vs. lowly involved users) have a greater effect on the relationship between the Instagram celebrity and users' willingness to look for the product information.Practical implicationsManagerial implications for social media marketing and Instagram marketing campaigns are provided. From the view of marketing planning, the findings speak to the potency of campaigns using Instagram celebrity as an effective branding strategy.Originality/valueThis research in addition to highlighting the role of user “like” and user involved with Instagram, contributes to a better understanding of the importance of the promoted product information search in online marketing campaigns.