Beauty Influencer Subtypes' Effect on Consumer Attitudes: A Case Study

In the modern age of marketing and the growing use of influencer marketing, the use of these influencers and social platforms is rapidly evolving. With the rise of TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there was a shift as consumers started to prefer short-form video content and new influencers started to gain popularity. The beauty industry in particular had a large increase in marketing as new influencers popped up with a new style, leading to changing consumer desires and attitudes. This case study aims to aid future researchers in understanding a new topic of research in the rapidly changing marketing world. For this study, I defined three subtypes of beauty mega-influencers: first-mover beauty influencers, who have been in the industry for a decade or more, controversial influencers, who actively create content but have problematic pasts, and beauty lifestyle influencers who gained their popularity on TikTok and their styles develop parasocial relationships with their followers. I gathered a sample of sponsored posts on both TikTok and Instagram to look into the effectiveness of each type’s style for marketing use and how consumers reacted to these types of posts. With this sample, I tested how the credibility within each group and as individuals affected consumer attitudes, and which group is the most effective overall in receiving positive attitudes in terms of response to persuasion. This was done by comparing engagement rates and tracking attitudes in each comment section. My findings found that those with all three facets of credibility, knowledge, expertise, and attractiveness, received the best responses from their audience, and this was found mostly within the newer, TikTok-based beauty lifestyle influencers, however, each subtype had different advantages. There was also the unexpected finding of platform difference, and how much effect that had on consumer attitudes overall.