Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Future of Social Sciences
Year: 2023
DOI:
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The Impact of Influencers Marketing on Children’s Buying Behavior
Prof. Ljupka Naumovska
ABSTRACT:
The number of hours children spend on social media is constantly increasing. On the other hand, the children’s influence on family budget spending is on the rise as well. Influences as one marketing strategy with specific engagement power currently is one of the fastest growing advertising and sales method for companies of all type and size. Given the limited advertising literacy skills based of lack of cognitive ability to distinguish persuasive versus organic content, children under age 12, are a vulnerable target group when it comes to persuasion and advertising engagement. The exposure of children on social media is already a sensitive topic that opened a set of urgent and in some cases radical measures for regulation, yet not unified and completely applicable. Meanwhile Influencer Marketing stands as one of the least regulated, least ethical – grey zone in digital advertising industry. Sponsored posts, product placements, reels, all forms of Influencers Marketing are highly influential and may affect young children’s brand preferences, pressure for social acceptance via using some products, and even anxiety. Therefore, urgent attention is needed by regulators, parents, industry, and influencers. The paper elaborates detailed insights into how and why social media influencers became a new source in advertising offering very personalized and persuasive content. We then discuss the few studies that have been conducted on influencer marketing among young children (under 12) and compare them with the offered and in some cases applied regulations. Knowing that, research on how influencer marketing affects young children (under 12) is insufficient, this paper therefore aims to shed light on why and how social media influencers have persuasive power over their young followers and offers a platform for future research agenda.
Keywords: social media influencers, influencer marketing, children, digital advertising, persuasive content