Reputation Burning: Analyzing the Impact of Brand Sponsorship on Social Influencers

47 Pages Posted: 8 Apr 2022 Last revised: 29 Nov 2023

See all articles by Mengjie (Magie) Cheng

Mengjie (Magie) Cheng

Harvard University - Business School (HBS)

Shunyuan Zhang

Harvard University - Business School (HBS); Harvard University

Date Written: March 31, 2022

Abstract

The growth of the influencer marketing industry warrants an empirical examination of the effect of posting sponsored videos on influencers' reputations. We collected a novel dataset of user-generated YouTube videos created by prominent English-speaking influencers in the beauty and style category. We extracted a rich set of theory-driven video features and used DiNardo-Fortin-Lemieux reweighting to construct comparable treatment and control groups matched at the influencer-video level. The empirical analysis of the matched sample revealed a reputation-burning effect; that is, posting a sponsored video, compared with posting an equivalent organic video, cost the influencers 0.19% of their reputation (operationalized as the number of subscribers). The reputation-burning effect was stronger among the influencers with larger audiences. An analysis of likes, comments, and comment texts revealed a larger gap in audience response between sponsored and organic videos among the influencers with larger (vs. smaller) audiences. The reputation-burning effect was mitigated when a high fit existed between the sponsored content and the influencer's “usual” content and when the promoted brand was less well known. Our study empirically tested the assumption of several theoretical works. Moreover, it contributes to the literature on influencer marketing and celebrity endorsements, and provides managerial implications for influencers, brands, and social media platforms.

Keywords: influencer marketing; social influencer; brand sponsorship; video analytics

Suggested Citation

Cheng, Mengjie (Magie) and Zhang, Shunyuan, Reputation Burning: Analyzing the Impact of Brand Sponsorship on Social Influencers (March 31, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4071188 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4071188

Mengjie (Magie) Cheng (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Business School (HBS) ( email )

Soldiers Field Road
Morgan Hall
Boston, MA 02163
United States

Shunyuan Zhang

Harvard University - Business School (HBS) ( email )

Soldiers Field Road
Morgan Hall
Boston, MA 02163
United States

Harvard University ( email )

1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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