Management Journals | Marketing Management

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management

Identifying Further Research Areas Regarding Influence of Personal Brands on Digital Platforms: A Review

Article Details

Pub. Date	: Nov, 2022
Product Name	: The IUP Journal of Marketing Management
Product Type	: Article
Product Code	: IJMM20225
Author Name	: Khushboo Vaishnav, Sunny Bose, Sudeepta Pradhan and Vikas Gautam
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Marketing
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 113

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Abstract

This study aims to identify and analyze different categories of personal brands on digital platforms also known as influencers, who shape consumers’ attitudes and behaviors. It compares and contrasts the capabilities of three prominent categories of influencers: (1) Celebrities, (2) Internet Celebrities, and (3) Regular Users. The authors review 81 theoretical and empirical journal papers, generated from SCOPUS and Google Scholar search, where the source of influence on a digital platform was a ‘person or group of persons’. The PRISMA approach was adopted to conduct this systematic literature review. The findings indicate that the influence of personal brands on digital platforms is differential in nature. The findings of the review are presented in an organizing framework, listing out how these three categories influence consumers’ attitudes and behaviors as well as what factors (source, consumer, brand, content and platformrelated) are instrumental in their influence. We show how the nature and magnitude of these factors change, for each category, contributing to their ‘differential influence’.

Introduction

More than half of the total world population (62.5%) is using the Internet (Kemp, 2022). Democratization of technology and information has led to democratization of social capital and democratization of brand management (Asmussen et al., 2013). Social capital, an individual’s social asset, built through social connectivity and self-presentation (Asmussen et al., 2013) has gained momentum, especially after the diffusion of Web 2.0 technologies like social media, where anyone can indulge in selfbranding practices through investment in social relationships with return of reputation (Gandini, 2016). New breeds of personal brands have proliferated on such platforms that influence the attitudes/behaviors of others in the network due to their fame and reputation. 26% of the world population find products to purchase on social media, wherein apart from their friends and family, they follow varieties of personal brands like actors, musicians, food personalities, influencers, sportspersons, fitness experts, gaming experts, beauty experts, journalists, etc. (Kemp, 2022). The locus of power has shifted from brand-initiated marketing efforts to such digitally-empowered personal brands, leading to the democratization of brand management.