From influence to de-influence: exploring the impact of negative feedback by social media influencers
Faegheh Taheran, Abdolali Mortazavi, Veronica L. ThomasPurpose
This paper aims to address the academic research gap on “de-influencing,” where influencers share negative feedback about brands. Specifically, the authors define de-influencing, explore its impact on consumers’ attitudes toward targeted brands (H1a and H1b) and examine its effect on engagement intentions (H2) via the underlying mechanism of consumers’ affective reactions (H3). The research contributes to the literature on influencer marketing, electronic word of mouth, negative advertising and affect-as-information in advertising.
Design/methodology/approach
Across three studies (n = 460), a pilot study using secondary data from TikTok, and a fourth study that appears in the Supplementary material, this research tests the proposed hypotheses using online panels and student samples. In the hypothesis-testing studies (Studies 1–3), the authors use employ between-subjects experimental designs in which the influencer’s endorsement strategy is manipulated (de-influencing, positive influencing) and consumers’ attitudes, engagement intentions, and affect are measured. Enhancing the robustness of their findings, the authors examine different product categories, both fictitious and real brands, and known and unknown influencers. Further, Study 2 employs a longitudinal design.
Findings
The findings show that de-influencing leads to more negative attitudes toward the brand and reduces consumers’ intention to engage with the posted content. Importantly, the impact of de-influencing on consumers’ attitudes was more pronounced (i.e. carries more weight) compared with positive influencing. In addition, consumers’ affective reactions was identified as the underlying mechanism explaining why de-influencing (vs. positive influencing) reduces engagement intentions. Finally, although de-influencing enhanced perceptions of helpfulness, these positive perceptions do not translate into improved attitudes toward the influencer or greater engagement intentions (i.e. did not benefit the influencer).
Research limitations/implications
The paper acknowledges several potential limitations and areas for future research. One limitation is that the findings may not apply to influencers whose personal brand is built on negativity or “honest reviews,” as consumers may more readily engage with their negative content. In addition, future research should examine how the language and tone used in expressing negative opinions shape consumer perceptions and engagement. Finally, future studies could investigate how brands can recover from negative endorsements and identify the conditions under which de-influencing may actually strengthen brand trust or credibility.
Practical implications
The research highlights significant implications for both influencers and brands. For influencers, de-influencing fails to bolster consumer engagement or improve consumer attitudes, suggesting they should address grievances privately with brands to avoid negative consequences. For brands, the study emphasizes the importance of monitoring influencer content, particularly in the context of de-influencing, as it can sway consumer perceptions of both familiar and unfamiliar brands. Brands should implement corrective actions, such as apologies or product replacements, to mitigate negative impacts. In addition, contracts with influencers should include clauses to manage negativity and protect brand reputation.
Originality/value
De-influencing is a novel persuasion strategy that has recently been adopted by influencers. Despite its growing popularity in influencer marketing and calls for research on de-influencing in the academic literature, de-influencing suffers from a lack of academic research and empirical investigation. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first works to conceptually define this phenomenon, empirically investigate the outcomes of such negative strategies and address calls for research on the unexplored dark side of influencer marketing.