Brand-Influencer Collaborations and Change in Content Strategy
(A2022-107283)

AUTHORS

Anwesha De, Bocconi University; Beth Fossen, Indiana University

ABSTRACT

With the rapid rise in the number of social media users and the increase in the amount of time spent on social media, social media platforms present brands with a more dynamic and interactive platform to engage consumers. However, despite the increasing investments in social media over recent years, there are concerns about the contribution of these investments to firm performance. Therefore, we investigate the role of influencers on social media platforms by focusing on two specific questions: 1) How do collaborations between brands and social media influencers impact engagement? 2) How does the change in content strategy by influencers collaborating with brands impact engagement? Using the tweets from 75 social media influencers across three industries, we find that brand-influencer collaborations hurt engagement. Additionally, we find that the change in the content strategy through a change in arousal of the branded tweets hurts brand engagement.