Investigating Consumer Engagement with Influencer- vs. Brand-Promoted Ads: The Roles of Source and Disclosure

Brands’ investments in influencer marketing have been escalating over the past few years. This study proposes and explicates how two similar and comparable sets of advertisements, namely influencer- versus brand-promoted ads (i.e., influencer-generated ads and brands’ reposting/featuring of influencer ads), can affect consumer engagement, consumer sentiment, and topics of comments differently. Results of text analysis show that influencer-promoted ads enjoy significantly higher engagement in terms of consumer liking and commenting than that of brand-promoted ads among apparel brands on Instagram. Consumers express a significantly higher percentage of negative sentiment and a lower percentage of positive sentiment in their comments on brand-promoted ads than on influencer-promoted ads. Consumers demonstrate cultlike appreciation for influencers’ product sharing and show high involvement in the advertised products in influencer-promoted ads. Nonetheless, brand-promoted ads also positively affect consumers’ interests in the online stores and/or the advertised products.