Contracts, Credibility, and Control
Bertaglia, T., Goanta, C., Spanakis, G., & Iamnitchi, A. (2024). Influencer self-disclosure practices on Instagram: A multi-country longitudinal study.
Online Social Networks and Media, 46, 100298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.osnem.2024.100298
This article makes an important contribution to influencer marketing scholarship by examining disclosure practices at scale and across national contexts. Using a longitudinal computational design, the authors analyze more than a decade of Instagram activity from 400 influencers across four countries. That scope is a major strength because it shifts the discussion of disclosure away from isolated experiments and toward real-world creator behavior over time. The study shows that influencer monetization practices have become increasingly professionalized, but that disclosure patterns differ across legal and cultural environments. One especially useful finding is that national legislation appears directly related to differences in sponsored-content disclosure, suggesting that regulation can shape creator practice in measurable ways. The article also reports that sponsored posts tend to receive lower engagement on average, yet clear disclosure itself does not further depress engagement. This is particularly valuable for a literature review because it challenges the common assumption that transparency necessarily harms performance. Instead, it suggests that the commercial nature of the post matters more than the disclosure tag alone. The paper is highly relevant for research on transparency, platform governance, and the international regulation of influencer marketing. It also complements experimental work by showing how disclosure unfolds in practice rather than only under laboratory conditions. A limitation is that computational analysis cannot fully capture creator intent or audience interpretation. Even so, the study is a strong source for arguments about professionalization, legal compliance, and the institutional shaping of influencer disclosure strategies on Instagram.
Bleier, A., Fossen, B. L., & Shapira, M. (2024). On the role of social media platforms in the creator economy.
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 41(3), 411–426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.07.004
Bleier, Fossen, and Shapira provide a valuable platform-centered perspective on the creator economy, a perspective often missing from influencer research that focuses mostly on creators, audiences, or brands. The article uses a review-based approach supported by stakeholder interviews to examine how social media platforms shape the conditions under which creator markets operate. Its core contribution is to reposition platforms not as neutral intermediaries but as active economic and governance actors that structure visibility, monetization, dependence, and competition. This framing is especially important for a literature review because it helps explain why creator success cannot be understood solely through personal branding or content quality. Instead, platform incentives, algorithmic systems, and monetization tools shape what kinds of creators thrive, how creator labor is rewarded, and how risk is distributed. The article is particularly useful when paired with sources on authenticity and burnout because it highlights the structural setting in which those pressures arise. It also broadens the discussion beyond influencer marketing to the wider creator economy, making it useful for theoretical framing chapters. A major strength is its synthesis of platform literature with creator-economy dynamics, which gives the article conceptual depth and interdisciplinary relevance. A limitation is that, as a review and conceptual synthesis, it does not test specific causal mechanisms empirically. Still, it is a foundational source for understanding how platforms mediate relationships among creators, followers, and firms, and for arguing that influencer outcomes are embedded in platform power rather than driven only by individual strategy.
Eisend, M., He, J., & Chen, Y. (2024). A meta-analysis of the effects of sponsorship disclosure in influencer marketing.
Marketing Letters. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-024-09757-z
This meta-analysis is one of the strongest available sources for evaluating what sponsorship disclosure actually does in influencer marketing. Eisend, He, and Chen synthesize 288 effect sizes from 37 studies with 12,721 participants, allowing them to move beyond the contradictions of individual studies and provide a more reliable overall assessment. Their findings show that disclosure increases persuasion knowledge and brand recall but tends to reduce credibility, while overall effects on attitudes and conative outcomes are statistically insignificant. This pattern is especially important for a literature review because it complicates the oversimplified claim that disclosure either “works” or “doesn’t work.” Instead, the article demonstrates that disclosure shifts cognitive processing even when it does not always translate into clear changes in attitudes or behavior. The study is useful for discussions of transparency because it shows that disclosure’s primary function may be informational and ethical rather than purely persuasive. It also helps explain why marketers may remain ambivalent about disclosure despite regulatory requirements: transparency can improve recognition of advertising while weakening source credibility. A major strength is the study’s scale and quantitative integration, which provide a strong evidentiary base for theory-building and policy discussions. Another strength is its relevance across multiple strands of influencer research, including persuasion knowledge, source credibility, and disclosure design. A limitation is that meta-analytic conclusions depend on the quality and comparability of the underlying studies. Even so, this article is essential for any literature review examining sponsorship disclosure because it offers a rigorous synthesis of both its benefits and trade-offs.
European Commission. (2023). Influencer Legal Hub.
European Commission.
The European Commission’s Influencer Legal Hub is a highly useful policy and practice resource for understanding how European regulators frame influencer responsibilities. Rather than functioning as an academic study, it offers practical legal guidance on transparent commercial communication, due diligence, and consumer rights in the influencer economy. Its value for a literature review lies in showing how public institutions have moved beyond general advertising law toward influencer-specific compliance resources. This reflects the growing recognition that influencer marketing poses distinct challenges around disclosure, misleading endorsements, and direct selling through social media. The resource is especially relevant for work on regulation because it translates broad consumer-protection principles into concrete expectations for creators and brands. It also helps demonstrate that transparency is not just a theoretical ideal but a legal obligation increasingly formalized in policy infrastructures. Used alongside empirical disclosure studies, the hub provides a regulatory benchmark against which observed influencer behavior can be assessed. It is also useful for highlighting that legal guidance is now part of the professionalization of creator labor. A limitation is that the hub is normative and instructional rather than analytical; it tells users what they should do, but does not itself measure how often creators comply or what effects compliance has. Even so, it is an important contextual source for showing that influencer marketing is now governed through dedicated institutional tools, and that European consumer protection bodies increasingly treat influencer communication as a specific domain requiring legal literacy, transparency, and accountability.
European Commission. (2023). Introduction to intellectual property and focus on copyright: Legal brief.
European Commission.
This European Commission legal brief is useful for situating influencer and creator work within the broader framework of intellectual property regulation, especially copyright. Although it is not focused exclusively on influencer marketing, it is highly relevant because creators routinely work with music, images, video clips, brand assets, and other protected content. The brief introduces core intellectual property concepts and provides practical guidance on copyright-related obligations, making it a valuable background source for discussions of creator professionalism and legal risk. In a literature review, this source works best as a regulatory complement to scholarship on monetization and platform labor. It helps show that influencer work is not only about persuasion and authenticity, but also about rights management, ownership, reuse, and infringement risk. This is especially important as creators increasingly operate as small media businesses rather than hobbyists. The brief also strengthens arguments that the creator economy depends on legal competencies beyond disclosure, including an understanding of how content can be lawfully created, shared, licensed, or monetized. A limitation is that the document is practical and introductory, so it does not offer empirical evidence or theory. However, that is also part of its usefulness: it reflects the concrete knowledge regulators think creators need. For research on the professionalization of digital creators, this source helps demonstrate that copyright literacy is part of contemporary platform labor. It is particularly relevant for analyses of creator entrepreneurship, digital production, and the hidden legal infrastructures that shape what creators can publish and monetize online.
Federal Trade Commission. (2023). Disclosures 101 for social media influencers.
Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC’s Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers is a foundational U.S. guidance document for understanding disclosure expectations in influencer marketing. The guide states plainly that influencers must disclose any material connection with a brand, including relationships involving payment, gifts, discounts, family ties, or employment. Its major value in a literature review is that it provides a concise regulatory standard against which disclosure research can be interpreted. When studies examine whether consumers notice disclosures or whether disclosure harms credibility, this guide helps establish the legal baseline: transparency is not optional when a material connection exists. The document is also useful because it emphasizes clarity, conspicuousness, and creator responsibility. This matters for research on platform communication because it shows that disclosure is not merely a brand obligation; influencers themselves are expected to ensure compliance. For literature on authenticity, the guide is relevant because it formalizes transparency in ways that intersect with but are not identical to perceived genuineness. In other words, legal disclosure and felt authenticity are related but distinct concepts. A limitation is that the guide is not research-based in the scholarly sense and does not address every nuance of audience response or cross-platform practice. Still, it is an essential source for any review involving disclosure, sponsorship, or advertising ethics. It provides the regulatory language that underpins much of the U.S. debate and helps connect academic findings about persuasion knowledge and trust to actual compliance expectations in influencer marketing practice.
Federal Trade Commission. (2023). Endorsements, influencers, and reviews.
Federal Trade Commission.
This FTC resource is valuable because it places influencer marketing within the wider regulatory framework governing endorsements, testimonials, and consumer reviews. Unlike the shorter influencer booklet, this page serves as a broader guidance hub that connects influencers and marketers to the revised 2023 Endorsement Guides and related plain-language materials. Its relevance for a literature review lies in demonstrating that influencer advertising is now treated as part of a larger ecosystem of potentially deceptive promotional practices, including misleading reviews and endorsements. That broader framing is useful because it situates influencers not as a niche anomaly but as one part of a wider truth-in-advertising problem. The source is especially useful when discussing evolving regulation, since the FTC explicitly notes that the Endorsement Guides were revised in 2023 to reflect current advertising practices, including social media. This makes the document important for showing that the regulatory environment is dynamic and responsive to digital market change. It also supports arguments that disclosure requirements must be understood within a wider concern for consumer deception, not just sponsorship labeling. A limitation is that the page functions more as a portal than as a standalone analytic text, so its strongest value is contextual and legal rather than theoretical. Even so, it is an important reference point for literature reviews concerned with influencer disclosure, review manipulation, and platform-based advertising ethics, especially when the goal is to connect academic research to current U.S. regulatory practice and enforcement logic.
Hofstetter, R., & Gollnhofer, J. F. (2024). The creator’s dilemma: Resolving tensions between authenticity and monetization in social media.
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 41(3), 427–435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.07.003
Hofstetter and Gollnhofer directly address one of the most central tensions in creator-economy research: how creators can remain authentic while pursuing monetization. The article conceptualizes this conflict as “the creator’s dilemma,” arguing that creators often begin by producing content they genuinely enjoy, but face growing pressure as monetization opportunities expand. This tension matters because increased commercial activity can alter both self-perception and audience perceptions of authenticity. The article is especially valuable for a literature review because it condenses a major conceptual problem into a clear and memorable framework. It helps explain why authenticity is unstable in social media markets and why commercialization can feel threatening even when it is economically rational. The piece is useful alongside empirical work on sponsorship disclosure and over-endorsement because it supplies the conceptual backdrop for those phenomena. It also fits well with scholarship on burnout and platform pressure, since monetization dilemmas are rarely purely personal; they are shaped by broader market expectations. A major strength is the article’s conceptual clarity and its relevance across multiple creator sectors. It is particularly helpful for building theory sections that need to connect self-branding, commercialization, and audience trust. A limitation is that the article is concise and more conceptual than data-heavy. Still, its contribution is substantial: it gives researchers a strong organizing concept for understanding why creator work is marked by recurrent tensions between earning income and maintaining the sense of genuineness on which creator success so often depends.
Karagür, Z., Becker, J.-M., Klein, K., & Edeling, A. (2022). How, why, and when disclosure type matters for influencer marketing.
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 39(2), 313–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2021.10.004
Karagür, Becker, Klein, and Edeling offer one of the most nuanced discussions of disclosure strategy in influencer marketing by showing that disclosure is not a single uniform intervention. Instead, the article examines how different disclosure types influence consumer reactions and under what conditions those effects vary. The study finds that disclosure outcomes depend in part on influencer characteristics such as follower numbers and prior endorsement activity. At the same time, consumers can value transparency, with advertising disclosures increasing perceived trustworthiness and engagement in some conditions. This source is particularly useful because it moves past the binary question of whether disclosure is “good” or “bad” and instead asks how, why, and when it matters. That makes it highly relevant for literature reviews on sponsorship transparency, persuasion knowledge, and advertising effectiveness. The article also helps bridge regulatory concerns and managerial practice by showing that disclosure design can shape both ethical clarity and performance outcomes. A major strength is the article’s attention to conditional effects, which is important in a field where contradictory findings are common. It also complements later meta-analytic work by offering a more detailed explanation of mechanisms and boundary conditions. A limitation is that disclosure environments have continued to evolve with platform changes and regulatory updates, so later work is needed for contemporary application. Even so, this article remains a key source for understanding that disclosure effectiveness depends on type, context, and influencer profile rather than on transparency alone.
Alcántara-Pilar, J. M., Rodriguez-López, M. E., Kalinić, Z., & Liébana-Cabanillas, F. (2024). From likes to loyalty: Exploring the impact of influencer credibility on purchase intentions in TikTok.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 78, 103709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103709
This article is useful for understanding how influencer credibility functions within platform-specific social commerce, particularly on TikTok. Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response model and Commitment-Trust Theory, the study investigates which factors shape influencer credibility and trust, and how those perceptions affect loyalty, purchase intentions, and recommendation behavior. With data from 880 active TikTok users, the research offers a strong empirical basis for linking interpersonal perceptions to downstream commercial outcomes. The source is particularly valuable for a literature review because it helps explain how influencer marketing moves beyond awareness or engagement and into relationship-based outcomes. Its emphasis on trust and loyalty is important in social commerce contexts, where users do not simply consume content but may use influencers as cues for shopping decisions. The platform-specific focus is also useful, since TikTok’s high-speed, entertainment-driven environment differs from earlier influencer settings often studied on Instagram. A major strength is the article’s integration of credibility and trust with behavioral intentions, allowing it to connect classic source-evaluation ideas with digital commerce outcomes. It is especially relevant alongside studies on authenticity, since credibility and authenticity often overlap but are not identical. A limitation is that it relies on reported intentions and loyalty-related outcomes rather than observed purchase behavior. Even so, the article is a strong source for showing that influencer credibility is central not only to persuasion, but also to the cultivation of commerce-oriented trust and loyalty in short-form video environments.
Michaelsen, F., Collini, L., Jacob, C., Goanta, C., Kettner, S. E., Bishop, S., Hausemer, P., Thorun, C., & Yesiloglu, S. (2022). The impact of influencers on advertising and consumer protection in the Single Market.
European Parliament.
This European Parliament study is one of the most useful policy-oriented sources for understanding influencer marketing at a market-system level. It examines the impact of influencers on advertising and consumer protection in the European Single Market, with particular attention to risks for consumers and challenges for regulators. The report is valuable because it goes beyond narrow disclosure questions and addresses influencer marketing as a rapidly expanding commercial system with cross-border enforcement implications. For a literature review, this source is especially helpful in establishing why influencer regulation has become a major public-policy concern. It identifies best practices, reviews emerging risks, and offers recommendations for future action, making it a strong bridge between academic research and policymaking. The report is also useful for demonstrating that influencer marketing is now recognized as a significant and effective form of online advertising, but one that raises concerns around transparency, vulnerability, and consumer deception. A major strength is its institutional breadth and practical relevance. It can support arguments about the professionalization of influencers, the need for coordinated oversight, and the inadequacy of relying solely on informal norms. A limitation is that, as a policy study, it is broader and less theory-driven than journal articles. Still, it is highly valuable as a contextual and regulatory source. In a literature review, it works particularly well alongside empirical studies on disclosure and authenticity because it shows why those issues matter not only for marketing effectiveness but also for consumer protection and public governance.
Liao, J., & Chen, J. (2024). The authenticity advantage: How influencer authenticity management strategies shape digital engagement with sponsored videos.
Journal of Business Research, 185, 114937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114937
Liao and Chen make a strong contribution by focusing on how influencers actively manage authenticity in sponsored videos and how those strategies affect digital engagement. Rather than treating authenticity as an inherent personal quality, the article conceptualizes it as something strategically signaled through message construction. The study finds that authenticity management matters for engagement and that its effects are shaped by contextual factors such as influencer competence, sponsorship disclosure, and influencer-brand fit. Specifically, competence strengthens the effects of two-sided messages, disclosure affects engagement, and brand fit reduces the influence of self-identity construction. This article is especially useful because it links authenticity strategy to measurable behavioral outcomes, making it a strong bridge between symbolic communication theory and platform analytics. For a literature review, it is valuable in showing that sponsored content can remain engaging when authenticity is managed skillfully rather than assumed automatically. The paper also supports the broader argument that authenticity in influencer marketing is constructed through signals, not merely possessed. A major strength is its focus on sponsored video, an increasingly important content form across short-form and long-form platforms. It also complements earlier qualitative authenticity research by offering more systematic evidence about strategic tactics. A limitation is that digital engagement does not necessarily capture long-term trust or deeper persuasion. Even so, this is an important source for research on influencer authenticity because it demonstrates that how influencers frame sponsorships can meaningfully shape audience response, especially when authenticity signals are reinforced by competence and contextual congruence.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2024). OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2024.
OECD Publishing.
The OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2024 is not an influencer-specific source, but it is highly useful for situating the creator economy within a broader account of digital transformation, infrastructure, and policy. The report examines the technologies, industries, and governance issues shaping contemporary digital economies, including the ICT sector, connectivity, trust, and emerging technological frontiers. Its main value for a literature review on creators and influencers is contextual. It helps place influencer marketing inside a wider digital ecosystem characterized by platform expansion, data-driven markets, technological dependence, and shifting governance priorities. This is especially important for avoiding overly narrow interpretations of the creator economy as only a cultural or marketing phenomenon. The report can support arguments that creator labor is embedded in broader digital-economic shifts rather than standing apart from them. It is also useful for discussions of trust and policy, since OECD reports often emphasize the institutional conditions needed for sustainable digital development. A strength of the source is its authority and breadth; it provides a macro-level policy frame that complements micro-level studies of creators and consumers. A limitation is that it does not focus directly on influencer practices, so its use in a literature review is mainly contextual rather than explanatory. Even so, it is a valuable background source for framing the creator economy as part of larger transformations in digital markets, innovation, and governance. It works especially well in introductory sections that need to connect platform-based creator activity with broader developments in the digital economy.
Pan, M., Blut, M., Ghiassaleh, A., & Lee, Z. W. Y. (2024). Influencer marketing effectiveness: A meta-analytic review.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-024-01052-7
Pan, Blut, Ghiassaleh, and Lee provide one of the broadest syntheses currently available on influencer marketing effectiveness. Their meta-analysis integrates 1,531 effect sizes from 251 papers, making it exceptionally valuable for identifying robust patterns across a fragmented literature. The article examines antecedents, mediators, and moderators of influencer marketing effectiveness and is therefore useful not only for summarizing what works, but also for clarifying why and under what conditions it works. This breadth is a major contribution because influencer research often relies on narrow theories or single predictor sets, making the field difficult to integrate. For a literature review, this source is especially helpful as a backbone study. It can support claims about the overall effectiveness of influencer marketing while also grounding discussions of which characteristics and mechanisms matter most. The article is particularly useful for organizing prior scholarship into a coherent explanatory framework. A major strength is its ability to reveal general patterns without relying on a single platform, product type, or consumer context. It also offers high evidentiary value because of the scale of its synthesis. A limitation is that meta-analysis can flatten contextual nuances that may matter in fast-changing platform environments. Still, this study is essential for literature reviews on influencer marketing because it provides a rigorous, comprehensive overview of the field and helps resolve inconsistencies across prior findings. It is especially useful for connecting studies on credibility, fit, disclosure, and engagement within one integrated account of effectiveness.
Peres, R., Schreier, M., Schweidel, D. A., & Sorescu, A. (2024). The creator economy: An introduction and a call for scholarly research.
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 41(3), 403–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.07.005
This editorial introduction is an important agenda-setting piece for creator-economy scholarship. Peres, Schreier, Schweidel, and Sorescu frame the creator economy as a major and underdeveloped domain for research, arguing that creators—from streamers and bloggers to artists and service providers—represent a significant shift in how talent is monetized through digital content. The article is especially useful for a literature review because it provides a high-level conceptual map and explicitly calls for deeper scholarly engagement. Rather than focusing narrowly on influencer campaigns, it broadens the frame to include creators as economic actors operating within new digital market structures. This makes it ideal for positioning an influencer-focused project within a larger academic conversation. The article’s strength lies in its field-building function. It identifies the creator economy as more than a passing trend and signals that it deserves sustained theoretical and empirical attention. It is particularly helpful in introductory sections that need to justify why creators matter to marketing, management, and digital economy research. Another strength is that it appears in a special issue alongside related creator-economy pieces, making it a useful entry point into that cluster of scholarship. A limitation is that, as an editorial, it is necessarily broad and does not provide detailed empirical evidence. Even so, it is highly valuable because it formalizes the creator economy as a legitimate research domain and encourages scholars to examine creators not only as communication agents, but as central participants in evolving digital markets and value systems.
Saternus, Z., Mihale-Wilson, C., & Hinz, O. (2024). Influencer marketing on Instagram—The optimal disclosure strategy from influencers’ and marketers’ perspectives.
Electronic Markets, 34, 60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-024-00743-x
Saternus, Mihale-Wilson, and Hinz offer a particularly practical contribution to disclosure research by comparing outcomes from both influencer and marketer perspectives. Through two field experiments and an online survey conducted with an active Instagram micro-influencer, the study examines multiple disclosure strategies, including explicit sponsorship disclosure, concealing disclosure, impartiality disclosure, and no disclosure. Its central finding is that the best disclosure approach depends on whose outcome is prioritized. From a marketer’s standpoint, the most effective strategy is when influencers present products as genuine recommendations while using impartiality disclosure. From an influencer’s standpoint, the optimal strategy varies depending on whether the goal is to maximize engagement or credibility. This article is especially useful because it resists one-size-fits-all disclosure advice. Instead, it shows that disclosure decisions involve trade-offs across stakeholders and performance criteria. For a literature review, this source is valuable in demonstrating that transparency is not simply an ethical or legal issue; it is also a strategic design decision with differential effects. A major strength is the article’s use of field experimentation, which gives it stronger ecological validity than many lab-based disclosure studies. It is also highly relevant for managerial implications because it directly addresses real campaign choices. A limitation is that Instagram-specific findings may not fully generalize to other platforms with different user behaviors and interface designs. Even so, the study is a strong source for analyzing disclosure strategy as a multi-objective problem involving credibility, engagement, brand outcomes, and stakeholder priorities.
Spörl-Wang, K., Krause, F., & Henkel, S. (2025). Predictors of social media influencer marketing effectiveness: A comprehensive literature review and meta-analysis.
Journal of Business Research, 186, 114991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114991
This article is highly valuable because it focuses specifically on the predictors of influencer marketing effectiveness and attempts to synthesize a literature that has often been fragmented across theories and outcome measures. Spörl-Wang, Krause, and Henkel combine a literature review with a meta-analysis to develop a more holistic framework for understanding what drives effective influencer campaigns. According to the available summaries, the article centers particularly on engagement and purchase intention and organizes existing explanations into major theoretical groupings, including credibility, engagement, congruence, and persuasion. This is useful for a literature review because it helps structure a crowded field and makes it easier to connect disparate findings. The article’s value lies not only in identifying important predictors, but also in clarifying overlaps and inconsistencies in prior research. That makes it especially helpful for writing synthesis sections or developing conceptual models. It also complements broader meta-analyses by narrowing the focus to predictors rather than the entire chain of influencer effects. A strength is its integrative ambition and its attempt to build a generalized model of effectiveness. A limitation is that some available metadata suggest the final publication date and pagination trail may lag the year shown in your citation, so the exact bibliographic details should be checked before final submission. Still, this is a strong source for explaining that influencer effectiveness is shaped by a combination of source features, relational cues, fit mechanisms, and persuasion processes rather than by any single variable in isolation.
Thomason, S. J., Moulard, J. G., & Rice, D. H. (2024). Embracing entrepreneurship in the creator economy: The rise of creatrepreneurs.
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 41(3), 436–451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.07.006
This article is especially useful for expanding creator-economy research beyond branding and content strategy into entrepreneurship. Thomason, Moulard, and Rice argue that content creators should be understood as entrepreneurial agents, or “creatrepreneurs,” who create, appropriate, and grow value through digital content ventures. Based on academic literature, industry reports, and expert interviews, the article defines the scope of creators’ entrepreneurial activity, proposes a taxonomy of creator venture models, and develops a framework of success drivers at both environmental and individual levels. This is highly valuable for a literature review because it reframes creators as business actors rather than merely promotional intermediaries. It helps explain why issues such as authenticity, monetization, legal literacy, and platform dependence should also be read through the lens of entrepreneurial strategy. The article is particularly useful for linking influencer studies with entrepreneurship, innovation, and venture creation scholarship. A major strength is its conceptual breadth and its effort to organize a fast-growing but theoretically scattered domain. It also complements platform-focused research by highlighting the creator side of value creation. A limitation is that its framework is more conceptual than causal, so it is best used to guide theory and positioning rather than to support narrow empirical claims. Even so, it is a strong source for literature reviews seeking to show that creators are not only media personalities but also entrepreneurial actors navigating opportunity, risk, growth, and value capture in platform-dependent markets.
Van Berlo, Z. M. C., Gijsenberg, M. J., & Voorveld, H. A. M. (2025). Disclosing the virtual nature of virtual influencers: The effect of disclosure prominence on source credibility and persuasion.
Journal of Interactive Marketing, 69, 100742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2025.100742
Van Berlo, Gijsenberg, and Voorveld examine a growing issue in influencer research: how to disclose that an influencer is virtual rather than human, and what difference disclosure prominence makes. Integrating the source credibility model and persuasion knowledge model, the authors compare prominent disclosure, subtle disclosure, and a human baseline. Their results show that prominently disclosed virtual influencers are perceived as less credible than subtly disclosed virtual influencers or human influencers. Source credibility mediates the relationship between disclosure prominence and brand attitude or purchase intention. Interestingly, product digitality does not appear to moderate these effects as predicted. This article is valuable because it extends disclosure research into the domain of virtual influencers, where transparency concerns go beyond sponsorship and into the nature of the communicator itself. For a literature review, it is especially useful for connecting authenticity, source credibility, and transparency in emerging AI-mediated marketing contexts. A major strength is that it pushes the field to consider new forms of disclosure that may become increasingly important as synthetic personalities proliferate. It also offers a clear mechanism-based explanation for why disclosure prominence matters. A limitation is that virtual influencer norms are still evolving, so responses may shift as audiences become more accustomed to synthetic creators. Even so, the article is a strong source for arguing that transparency remains essential in virtual influencer marketing, but that the design and salience of such transparency can significantly shape credibility and persuasion.
Vrontis, D., Makrides, A., Christofi, M., & Thrassou, A. (2024). Influencer marketing unlocked: Understanding the value chains driving the creator economy.
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-024-01073-2
Vrontis, Makrides, Christofi, and Thrassou offer a broad strategic framework for understanding influencer marketing within the creator economy. The article argues that influencer marketing has become a dominant force and therefore requires deeper theoretical treatment. Its key contribution is an equity-driven framework that analyzes how value is generated and distributed across the relationships among firms, influencers, followers, and digital platforms. This is especially useful because it moves the discussion beyond campaign tactics and examines the value chains that underpin influencer markets. For a literature review, this source is valuable when explaining how creator-economy actors are interdependent rather than isolated. It shows that influencers create customer equity for firms, manage and extract value from audiences, and operate within platforms that also seek to maximize user value. This multi-actor perspective is particularly helpful for connecting branding, platform governance, and creator labor. A major strength is the article’s systems-level lens, which complements micro-level studies on authenticity or disclosure. It can also support arguments about why influencer marketing should be studied as an ecosystem rather than just as endorsement behavior. A limitation is that the framework is broad and strategic, so it may not provide detailed operational measures for empirical use. Even so, it is a strong conceptual source for literature reviews that seek to connect influencer marketing with the larger creator economy and to explain how value circulates through the linked interests of brands, influencers, audiences, and platforms.
Grgurić Čop, N., Culiberg, B., & First Komen, I. (2024). Exploring social media influencers’ moral dilemmas through role theory.
Journal of Marketing Management, 40(1–2), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2023.2241468
The article you listed under Wellman et al. appears to be misattributed. The published study with this title is by Grgurić Čop, Culiberg, and First Komen, and it offers a valuable role-theory perspective on influencer ethics. The authors examine how influencers perceive their role among brands, followers, and society, and what moral dilemmas arise from these competing expectations. Their findings suggest that influencers move among different role conceptions depending on which stakeholder demands they prioritize, creating ongoing ethical tension. This is a highly useful source for literature reviews because it adds a strong sociological and ethical framework to a field often dominated by effectiveness metrics. It helps explain why disclosure, sponsorship selection, and authenticity management are not simply strategic choices but also moral negotiations. The article is particularly valuable alongside work on authenticity and regulation because it shows how influencers interpret and justify their actions within complex relational environments. A major strength is its use of role theory, which offers a structured way to understand conflicting obligations. It also deepens the literature by foregrounding influencer self-understanding rather than focusing only on audience perceptions. A limitation is that the study appears qualitative and interpretive, so its value lies more in conceptual insight than statistical generalization. Even so, it is an important source for any literature review dealing with ethics, transparency, and the normative tensions of monetized self-presentation in social media environments.
Zhang, Y., Liu, X., & Chen, J. (2025). Understanding the impact of influencer authenticity strategies on engagement.
Electronic Commerce Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-025-10078-0
This article extends authenticity research by identifying specific external signs through which influencer authenticity is strategically communicated and then testing their effects on engagement. Based on signaling theory, the study focuses on three authenticity-related signals visible in online content: emotion, image, and brand disclosure. Using field data from Weibo in China and a two-stage control function approach, the authors examine how these signals influence digital engagement. The article is especially useful because it breaks authenticity down into more observable and operational dimensions. Rather than treating authenticity as a vague umbrella construct, it asks which specific cues audiences can detect and how those cues shape engagement outcomes. That makes it highly relevant for literature reviews seeking more precise conceptualization. The study is also valuable because it relies on field data rather than purely experimental or self-report measures, giving it stronger real-world grounding. A major strength is its signaling perspective, which aligns well with the broader authenticity-management literature and helps explain how creators strategically perform genuineness in platform environments. It is particularly useful alongside studies on sponsored videos and self-disclosure, since it highlights disclosure as one of several authenticity-relevant signals rather than as a separate issue. A limitation is that the platform and cultural context may shape how those signals are interpreted, which may affect generalizability. Even so, this article is a strong source for showing that influencer authenticity can be analyzed through concrete communicative markers that meaningfully shape engagement in digital commerce settings.
