The authenticity of influencers in communicating values. An analysis of Instagram profiles
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/sce.02202Keywords:
influencer marketing, authenticity, values, axiology of communication, imageAbstract
This article addresses the relationship between influencers’ authenticity and their communication of values on social media. Authenticity, as one of the factors contributing to effectiveness, is understood in indexical terms as the consistency of actions with the influencer’s identity and internal motivations, whilst taking into account its potentially performative and market-driven nature. The aim of the research was to determine how commercial collaboration affects the communication of values, how audiences assess influencers’ authenticity, and how authenticity functions as a communication strategy. A content analysis was carried out on posts and stories (Instagram Stories) published on the Instagram platform by 20 influencers. The study was supplemented by a survey of 151 audience members. The results indicate that commercial collaboration influences the axiological dimension of messages—cognitive values dominate in promotional posts and Stories, and there is a greater absence of references to fundamental values, whilst non-commercial content favours the communication of hedonistic, aesthetic, vital and moral values, as well as the ‘being’ category. The survey reveals the audience’s ambivalence towards the authenticity of influencers and a tendency to perceive social engagement as selective and potentially instrumental.
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