Är influencers trovärdiga? : En kvalitativ studie om konsumenter upplever trovärdighet i influencer marketing

Sammanfattning: Background: The development of social media has generated new communication and marketing strategies. Influencers is a phenomenon that has developed with social media and has become increasingly important for marketing strategies for companies. Influencers have a stronger credibility and impact on consumers then companies, which has led to more companies taking advantage of influencers on social media. YouTube is a growing social media platform that allows companies to expose and market themselves through an influencer. Purpose and research question: The study will clarify factors that may be of importance to the credibility of an influencers marketing and business collaborations. The purpose of this essay is to gain an understanding if consumers experience credibility of influencer marketing, which results in the following research questions: • Do consumers experience credibility in influencers marketing and business collaborations? • What factors may be of importance to the credibility of an influencers marketing and business collaborations? Method: The study applies a qualitative approach consisting ten individual semistructured interviews with consumers who are 16 to 24 years old and take part of influencers on YouTube. The interview guide for the semistructured interviews consists of 14 questions divided into three themes. The material that was obtained during the interviews has been compiled and analyzed using the chosen theories, which is communication, e-WoM, influencer marketing as a marketing strategy, influencers as opinion leaders and trust. Results and conclusion: The results show that all respondents thinks that influencer marketing is credible. The respondents also feel that the credibility of influencer marketing is affected by the trust to an influencer and that the trust and credibility to an influencer can be affected depending on various factors.