Macquarie University
Browse

Impact of influencer diversity on social media engagement

Download (1.7 MB)
thesis
posted on 2025-01-22, 04:13 authored by Sunidhi Dhyani
This study investigates the impact of social media influencers’ (SMIs) gender diversity on social media users’ engagement, with a specific focus on the mediating role of perceived authenticity and the moderating role need for uniqueness. Addressing a gap in extant literature, data were collected via an online experiment testing two scenarios, a gender binary influencer versus a gender diverse influence, using AI generated images. A total of 426 Australian consumers were involved in the study. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 27, revealing social media influencers’ gender significantly affects social media engagement with greater engagement reported for the gender binary influencer. The proposed mediating effect of perceived authenticity and the moderating effect of need for uniqueness were not supported by the findings. The results underscore valuable insights for both theory and practice concerning social media marketing strategies. Further, the study offers directions for future research and suggestions to brands for enhancing social media engagement of users through influencer marketing.

History

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Literature review and hypothesis development -- Chapter 3: Methodology -- Chapter 4: Research findings -- Chapter 5: Implications and conclusion -- References -- Appendix A. Questionnaire -- Appendix B. Ethics approval

Awarding Institution

Macquarie University

Degree Type

Thesis MRes

Degree

Master of Research

Department, Centre or School

Department of Marketing

Year of Award

2024

Principal Supervisor

Cynthia Webster

Additional Supervisor 1

Elham Siuki

Rights

Copyright: The Author Copyright disclaimer: https://www.mq.edu.au/copyright-disclaimer

Language

English

Extent

122 pages

Former Identifiers

AMIS ID: 391032