ABSTRACT
This study examined social media influencers effectiveness and impact on consumer brand preference among undergraduates of Babcock University.
The study used survey research design in the study.
The result revealed that; Babcock University students were more exposed to Twitter, followed by Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram; social media influencer has a significant influence in creating awareness about carbonated drinks among Babcock University students; majority of Babcock University student are exposed to influencer marketing; Babcock University students has a positive opinion and perception about influencer marketing; Coca-Cola was the most preferred drink among Babcock University students, followed by Pepsi, Fanta and Seven-Up; Lastly, majority of Babcock University student buy carbonated drinks on a regular basis.
Finally, the chapter five of this study will discuss the summary, conclusion and will as well make recommendations on the subject matter.
The study concludes that influencer marketing is one of the marketing strategies that marketers and brands use to promote products and services, and as such it should be considered as a viable tool by organizations that want to promote its products and services and influence consumer buying intentions. The study further recommended that; organizations should engage the use of social media especially Twitter as it was found to be the most exposed media platform among the study respondents; organization should endorse more of influencers (celebrities) who are attractive and with a huge amount of followers in order to create more awareness their products and services to the vast audience; organizations that wants to get across its products and services to the audience should adopt the use of well known influencers or celebrities with a strong and compelling brand image to pass on information about the excellent picture of a product to a larger target audience.
Chapter One
Introduction
Background of the study
The use of influencer marketing is an important tool in recent times, this can influence buying behaviour and can be defined as the process of exploring, identifying, supporting and engaging people involved in high impact conversations. It is an important form of online marketing, in which the marketers target a sub-population of influential people, instead of the entire base of potential buyers, (Dhanesh, 2019). The term influencer marketing can be futher described as marketing products and services of those who engage to influence the purchasing appetite or behavior of other people, (Arora, 2019).
This form of purchasing influence is usually the outcome of fame, reputation or in some cases expertise of influencers. This form of marketing can also be similar to the word of mouth marketing. At strengthening its social media represent a crucial role and create appropriate conditions for the use of this instrument, (Lagree, 2019).
Branding, that is to say the use of celebrities a few years ago, has become more popular with bloggers over the years, but today, branding is also about ordinary consumers who have a quite a wield of influence on others. Influencer marketing can be said to be one of the fastest growing tools in reaching new consumers with the help of online media, (Byrne, 2017).
The use of influencer marketing is premised especially, on the trust and confidence of consumers acquired by opinion leaders. A large number of these influencers engage in blogging, that is, people who share their experiences, stories or interests with the wider base on the internet publicly, (Byrne, 2017).
These influencers usually have their own circle of interests, they even have not been originally the influencers, and they just became ones. In most cases many of these influencers are sportsmen, actors, adventurers. Each of them can influence another group of people, and each of them is also able to promote a different product, (Kadekova, 2018).
The essence of the influencer marketing is the right product promotion. An essential factor of this form of marketing is that the influencer must be identified with the product, so he or she will not recommend a product without any experience with it, or even absence of any knowledge of it. However, there can be modifications in this trend. Companies will benefit from an even deeper collaboration with influencers, which presents new opportunities. Influencers and agencies will establish more transparent and intensified relationships with each other, (Hughes, 2019).
World influencers prices are starting to grow enormously, so companies are increasingly using cooperation with micro-influencers. For businesses, the number of clicks, fans, or responses is often a misleading measure. Influencer marketing is prevalent in firm strategies, yet little is known about the factors that drive success of online brand engagement at different stages of the consumer purchase funnel, (Hughes, 2019).
That’s the way marketing practitioners may consider partnering with different influencer depending on their influencer marketing campaigns’ specific goals and take advantage of different influencer depending on whether marketers want to create more buzz about corporate initiatives or publicize products just launched.
Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy that uses key content creators to drive au-thentic conversation and engagement around a brand’s products and message. Influencer marketing identifies the individuals that have influence over potential buyers, and orients marketing activities around these influencers (Henderson, 2018). Influencer Marketing follows the concept of a ‘trusted advisor’ and is perceived as a resemblance to the older TV commercials, where celebrities are featured to leverage their popularity and advertise a brand
Consumer buying behavior refers to the multi-step decision-making process people engage in and the actions they take to satisfy their needs and wants in the marketplace. However, there is no single standard of behavior. Individual consumers behave differently based on psychological factors like motivation, and also due to environmental and situational forces, (De Veirman, 2018).
In recent times the business environment is significantly stiffening and competitive as well as fastly modifying. Hence for a brand to be recognized and successful there is need for consistent observation of the consumer behavior and as well as their choices or preference because consumers are of high importance in determining the success of the brand or product, (De Veirman, 2018).
It is therefore, important for the organization to determine the best possible method to influence consumers on the buying behavior of the brand or product, it is pertinent to note that the type of influencing and the method of influencing goes a long way in convincing the consumer towards purchasing the product, (De Veirman, 2018).
Statement of the problem
Organizations in recent times in a bit to push for sales and popularity of their products or brands tends to explore the use of what is considered the new age type of marketing strategy, one of such is the use of influencers, taking into consideration the fact that a large junk of their target audience uses the internet and social media platforms also coupled with the fact that smart devices are almost handy for everyone, organizations are tapping into this to project and market their brand or products. The use of influencers can be worthwhile due to the fame and popularity, as well as the high numbers of followers or fan base such influencers have, majority consider whatever this influencers say has the real deal due to their confidence in them.
In addition, based on the tenets of influencer marketing, companies usually call on social media influencers such as bloggers with thousands of followers in their social media accounts as their brand ambassador (Tap influence 2017). Messages announced by social media influencers are often perceived as more trustworthy or reliable and compelling to consumers, and have been substantiated by 82% of followers' polls, in which consumers are reported to be more likely to follow their favorite influences' recommendations (Talaverna 2015). Compared to celebrity endorsement promotion strategy, the use of social media influencers are regarded as more credible, trustworthy and knowledgeable due to their amiability in building rapport with consumers (Berger et al. 2016), especially for businesses that target the younger generations. According to a Neilsen marketing survey, influencer marketing yields “returns on investments” (ROI) in multiple times higher as compared to digital marketing (Tapinfluence 2017). In contrast, celebrity endorsement are more instrumental in raising brand awareness among consumers, whilst social media influencers play a highly significant role in driving product engagement and brand loyalty (Tapinfluece 2017) as they are more capable of communicating to a niche segment. Organisations believe that endorsement can warrant the factuality of product information (Amoateng and Poku 2013; Sassenberg et al. 2012). Reflecting on this popular trend, social media influencers as a brand endorser has grown more sought-after especially among new and small online businesses. It has also been shown or reported that approximately 80% of online marketers are of the opinion that social media influencers are prospective endorsers who tremendously contribute to their organizations at higher levels (Forbes 2017). Such statistical proofs can ascertain the effectiveness of social media influencers in stimulating consumers' purchase intention. Recent influencer marketing reports also revealed an estimated 50% of the brands earmarked an uptick fund allocation in hiring social media influencers to promote their brands (Forbes 2017). Hence this study seeks to explore the use of brand influencers effectiveness and impact on consumers brand preference, specifically using a case study of Pepsi drink.
Aim and objectives
This study is aimed at examining the use of brand influencers effectiveness and impact on consumers brand preference, using a case study of Pepsi drink.
Objectives
Research questions
1.What social media are Babcock university students exposed to?
2.What level of awareness does the social media influencers bring to Babcock university students about carbonated drink?
3.What percentage of frequency are Babcock university students exposed to influencer marketing
4. What opinions do Babcock university students have on influencer marketing
5. What carbonated drinks are most preferred by Babcock university students
6. What is the level of purchase decision of Carbonated among Babcock university students
Significance of study
This study will be of significance in the following ways, it will be of benefit to organizations on how they can adopt the use of influencers to effectively and successfully market their products or brands, this study will also enhance the knowledge of organizations on how the public perception of their brands or products, due to the feedbacks they will receive via the influencers, thereby prompting the organization to make modifications and adjustments where necessary, this study will also be of benefit to both the organizations and influencers on the type of advertisement contents the audience are attracted to, and how it can easily influence consumer preference over other related brands. This study will also be of benefit by adding to the already existing body of literature.
Scope of study
This study focuses on examining the use of brand influencers effectiveness and impact on consumers brand preference, using a case study of Pepsi drink. This study adopts the use of quantitative form of research, to obtain the relevant data for this study, questionnaires are randomly distributed among respondents to elicit responses.
Definition of terms
Influencers
Influencers can be described as people who have access to a massive audience and can effectively persuade others to act based on their recommendations. Considerably an influencer is expected to have the tools and authenticity to captivate the attention of numerous audience consistently and can motivate others.
Brand
A brand simply means an identifying symbol, mark, logo, name, word, and/or sentence that organizations adopt to differentiate their product from others.
Consumer
Consumers can be described as people or organizations that purchase products or services. .
Brand preference
The brand preference are markers of the strength of a brand in the hearts and minds of customers, brand preference signifies which type of brands are preferred under assumptions of equality in price and availability.
