Abstract:
The emergence of Web 2.0 and widespread adoption of social media come has
drastically changed the marketing landscape. In recent years, advancements in online
communications and technologies have resulted in the decline of traditional broadcast
media and has brought about change in the way companies and brands market
themselves. In order to stay afloat in the competitive marketing industry, companies have
resorted to using social media influencers to promote their products and/or services on
social media platforms, particularly YouTube.
YouTube is one of the leading video-on-demand platforms and its core audience
consists of Generation Z consumers. Despite the growing pervasiveness of brand-related
UGCs produced by social media influencers on the site, there has been very little research
on it, thus, this study was done to identify what attributes are associated with effective
social media influencers on YouTube, and to know how Generation Z perceive these
influencers and the sponsored-brand related UGC that they put out.
Qualitative methods for data collection and data analysis were used throughout
the study, with semi-structured interviews as the main method of data collection. Eleven
semi-structured interviews with Generation Z consumers were conducted. The findings
revealed that honesty, credibility, expertise, and being knowledgeable are the attributes
often associated with effective social media influencers on YouTube. It also showed that
Generation Z consumers perceive sponsored brand-related UGC as a normal part of the
influencer’s life; they are generally accepting of brand-related UGC as long as
influencers disclose that they are sponsored.
Future research should explore whether similar findings can be generalized to
different generational profiles and if the same attributes can be observed from effective
influencers from other social media platforms. Future studies should also look into
external and environmental factors and see how these affect the purchase intentions of
consumers.
