Sustainable Influence
Audrezet, A., de Kerviler, G., & Moulard, J. G. (2020). Authenticity under threat: When social media influencers need to go beyond self-presentation.
Journal of Business Research, 117, 557–569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.07.008
This article is highly valuable for research on influencer authenticity because it moves beyond the simple assumption that authenticity is a fixed personal trait and instead treats it as something influencers actively manage. Audrezet, de Kerviler, and Moulard examine how social media influencers respond when commercialization threatens their perceived genuineness. Using a three-step qualitative design, the study compares influencer-brand collaborations, influencer interviews, and authenticity signals in content. The authors identify two core authenticity strategies—passionate authenticity and transparent authenticity—and then develop a four-path framework: absolute authenticity, fairytale authenticity, fake authenticity, and disembodied authenticity. This framework is especially useful because it explains that authenticity is not merely about disclosing sponsorships or appearing “real”; it depends on how influencers reconcile commercial goals with self-expression and audience expectations. The article’s major contribution is conceptual: it shows that influencer credibility depends on more than self-presentation and that perceived authenticity can survive commercialization when influencers convincingly align brand partnerships with their values or communicate transparently about them. For a literature review, this source is important because it helps explain why some sponsored posts strengthen influencer-brand relationships while others trigger skepticism. It also provides a foundation for later studies on disclosure, over-endorsement, and authenticity management. A limitation is that the article is qualitative, so it offers rich theory-building rather than broad causal generalization. Even so, it is one of the most influential sources for understanding authenticity as a strategic and fragile resource in influencer marketing and is especially relevant to studies examining trust, persuasion, and audience response to sponsored content.
Che, S., Jin, X., Sheng, G., & Lin, Z. (2025). Seeking effective fit: The impact of brand-influencer fit types on consumer brand attitude.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 84, 104188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.104188
Che, Jin, Sheng, and Lin offer a timely and practically useful examination of brand-influencer fit by distinguishing between two specific forms: functional fit and image fit. Rather than treating congruence as a single broad idea, the authors show that different kinds of fit shape consumer responses in different ways. Across three studies, they find that both functional fit and image fit improve consumer brand attitude, but functional fit has a stronger effect. They further argue that certainty and pleasure mediate this relationship, while consumers’ cognitive styles moderate how strongly these mechanisms operate. This article is particularly useful because it refines the fit literature in influencer marketing. Much prior work treats “fit” as important without unpacking what kind of fit matters most. By separating practical alignment from symbolic or aesthetic alignment, the study gives a more precise explanation of why some brand collaborations appear persuasive and natural while others feel forced. For a literature review, this source supports arguments that effective influencer campaigns depend not only on reach or popularity but on the perceived logic of the partnership. It is also relevant for connecting authenticity, persuasion, and brand evaluation, since poor fit may undermine all three. One of the article’s strengths is its multi-study design, which increases confidence in the findings. A possible limitation is that it focuses on attitudinal outcomes more than broader long-term relationship effects. Still, this article is valuable for researchers studying endorsement strategy, message congruence, and the mechanisms through which influencer partnerships shape consumer brand perceptions in increasingly crowded digital markets.
Cheah, C. W., Koay, K. Y., & Lim, W. M. (2024). Social media influencer over-endorsement: Implications from a moderated-mediation analysis.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 79, 103831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103831
This article addresses a central concern in influencer marketing: what happens when influencers endorse too many products. Cheah, Koay, and Lim investigate over-endorsement and its effect on consumers’ purchase intentions through a moderated-mediation model. Grounded in the stimulus-organism-response framework, the study proposes that over-endorsement functions as a stimulus that shapes internal evaluations of the influencer—specifically authenticity and credibility—which then affect consumer purchase intentions. The authors also examine product interest as a moderator, allowing for a more nuanced view of when negative effects may be stronger or weaker. This source is especially useful because it directly addresses the commercialization problem often discussed in influencer research. While many studies focus on successful endorsement outcomes, this article examines the downside of excessive brand partnerships, making it highly relevant for discussions of audience fatigue, trust erosion, and authenticity loss. Its main contribution lies in showing that over-endorsement does not simply reduce effectiveness in a direct way; instead, it alters the psychological mechanisms through which audiences judge influencers. For a literature review, this article is important because it connects authenticity and credibility to concrete behavioral intentions, helping bridge theoretical and managerial conversations. It also complements qualitative work by empirically showing how repeated sponsorship exposure can damage an influencer’s persuasive power. A limitation is that it centers on purchase intention rather than actual consumer behavior, but this is common in marketing research. Overall, the study is a strong source for arguments about endorsement saturation, authenticity dilution, and the need for influencers and brands to manage sponsorship frequency carefully if they want to preserve audience trust and campaign effectiveness.
Hübner, M., Thalmann, J., & Henseler, J. (2025). Blending in or standing out? The disclosure dilemma of ad cues of social media native advertising.
Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1636910. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1636910
Hübner, Thalmann, and Henseler examine an increasingly important issue in influencer and native advertising research: whether ad disclosures and related commercial cues are noticed by users and how those cues affect attention and engagement. The article frames this problem as a “disclosure dilemma.” If ad cues blend into the feed, users may miss the commercial intent; if they stand out too strongly, they may prompt rapid disengagement. Using a mixed-methods design with participants exposed to mock Instagram feeds containing organic and sponsored posts, the study investigates how disclosures and call-to-action buttons function in realistic scrolling environments. This source is especially relevant for literature on transparency and persuasion because it captures the tension between ethical disclosure requirements and marketing effectiveness. Rather than assuming disclosure either helps or hurts, the study asks a more realistic question: under what conditions do users even notice the cues, and what happens when they do? That makes it highly valuable for research on influencer authenticity, native advertising, and platform-specific user behavior. The article’s strength lies in its attention-based perspective, which complements prior work focused mainly on self-report attitudes or intentions. It also helps explain why regulatory compliance alone may not guarantee meaningful transparency if disclosures are visually weak or cognitively overlooked. For a literature review, this article is useful in linking disclosure design, ad recognition, and user response in social media environments. A limitation is that mock-up feeds may not fully reproduce the complexity of everyday platform use. Even so, the study makes an important contribution by clarifying that disclosure effectiveness depends not only on legal presence, but on actual perceptual salience and audience processing in fast-moving digital contexts.
Influencer Marketing Hub. (2025). Creator Earnings Report 2025.
https://influencermarketinghub.com/creator-earnings-report-2025/
The Creator Earnings Report 2025 is a useful industry source for contextualizing the economic realities behind influencer labor and monetization. Produced by Influencer Marketing Hub in partnership with NeoReach, the report presents the creator economy as a rapidly expanding industry and highlights how creators generate income, build influence, and navigate platform-based work. One of its most important contributions is its emphasis on uneven earnings distribution. Although the broader creator economy continues to grow, the report suggests that financial rewards remain concentrated among a relatively small subset of top creators, while many others struggle to cross meaningful monetization thresholds. For a literature review, this report is valuable not because it offers peer-reviewed theory, but because it provides current industry evidence that complements academic discussions of commercialization, burnout, precarity, and authenticity. It helps explain why influencers may accept frequent sponsorships, diversify revenue streams, or intensify content production even at the risk of over-endorsement and audience skepticism. In that sense, it is especially useful alongside academic work on trust and authenticity because it reveals the structural pressures shaping creator decisions. The report also supports broader arguments that influencer work is neither casual nor uniformly lucrative; rather, it is economically stratified and increasingly professionalized. A limitation is that, as an industry report, its methods and framing may be more market-oriented than critical, and its figures should be interpreted carefully. Nevertheless, it is a strong background source for demonstrating the scale, commercialization, and inequality of the contemporary creator economy. It is especially relevant for discussions of why creators balance personal branding, sponsorship, and platform dependence in ways that can affect both well-being and audience trust.
Kim, D. Y., & Kim, H.-Y. (2021). Trust me, trust me not: A nuanced view of influencer marketing on social media.
Journal of Business Research, 134, 223–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.024
Kim and Kim provide a strong theoretical and empirical account of how trust develops in influencer marketing and why that trust matters for both relational and commercial outcomes. Drawing on social exchange theory, the article examines whether influencer source characteristics—expertise, authenticity, physical attractiveness, and homophily—serve as relational resources that foster trust. The study then links trust to follower loyalty and marketing outcomes such as product attitude and purchase intention. Importantly, the authors also identify relationship strength as a moderator, showing that trust dynamics are more complex than a simple one-way persuasion process. This article is especially useful because it treats influencer marketing as relational rather than purely transactional. Instead of reducing persuasion to message exposure, Kim and Kim emphasize that followers respond through ongoing perceptions of reciprocity, similarity, and credibility. For a literature review, this source is highly relevant when discussing the mechanisms through which influencer characteristics shape audience behavior. It also helps distinguish authenticity from other persuasive cues, showing that trust emerges from multiple dimensions rather than from “being real” alone. Another strength is that the article bridges branding outcomes and interpersonal relationship theory, making it useful across marketing and media studies discussions. The moderation by relationship strength is particularly valuable because it suggests that the same influencer traits may not work equally well for all audiences. A limitation is that the study focuses on trust-building factors without fully addressing broader structural issues such as sponsorship saturation or algorithmic pressure. Even so, it remains a foundational source for understanding trust formation in influencer marketing and for explaining how personal credibility translates into loyalty, favorable product attitudes, and consumer intentions.
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 extend authenticity research by focusing specifically on sponsored videos and the ways influencers manage authenticity to shape digital engagement. The article argues that authenticity is not merely an inherent personal quality but a strategic communication outcome shaped by message design and contextual cues. The authors find that authenticity management strategies influence engagement with sponsored videos, and they identify several conditional effects: influencer competence strengthens the effects of two-sided messages, sponsorship disclosure affects engagement, and influencer-brand fit reduces the effect of self-identity construction on engagement. These findings make the article especially relevant for current debates about how sponsored content can remain persuasive without appearing overly commercial. A key strength of this source is its attention to multiple authenticity strategies rather than a single broad authenticity construct. It shows that engagement depends on how influencers frame sponsorships, balance self-expression with persuasion, and signal competence and credibility to audiences. For a literature review, the article is useful because it connects authenticity management directly to observable digital engagement outcomes, offering a bridge between symbolic brand communication and platform metrics. It also complements earlier qualitative work by giving a more systematic account of how authenticity strategies operate in a specific content format. This makes it especially valuable for studies on video-based platforms, sponsored storytelling, and creator-brand partnerships. A limitation is that engagement metrics do not always reveal long-term trust or deeper audience attitudes. Still, the article makes an important contribution by showing that authenticity in sponsored videos is not accidental; it is constructed through strategic choices that can either strengthen or weaken consumer response depending on fit, disclosure, and perceived influencer competence.
Sprout Social. (2025). 29 influencer marketing statistics for your social strategy in 2025.
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/influencer-marketing-statistics/
Sprout Social’s 2025 statistics page is a practical secondary source that consolidates recent influencer marketing data across campaign goals, platform trends, B2C and B2B practices, and strategic performance indicators. Although it is not a peer-reviewed academic study, it is useful in a literature review as a current industry snapshot. The article highlights several notable trends, including widespread collaboration with multiple influencers at once among B2C brands, growing interest in influencer content among B2B marketers, the effectiveness of always-on influencer programs, and the continued importance of platforms such as TikTok for engagement, especially among Gen Z audiences. The source is especially helpful for establishing the contemporary relevance of influencer marketing and for demonstrating how extensively brands now integrate creators into broader communication strategies. For academic writing, its main value lies in background framing rather than theory-building. It can support claims that influencer marketing has matured into a mainstream strategic function rather than a niche tactic. It is also useful for showing how different sectors define campaign goals, such as brand awareness, credibility, trust, engagement, and revenue growth. These insights pair well with scholarly studies on authenticity and fit because they reveal the business incentives behind influencer partnerships. A limitation is that the article aggregates data from surveys and reports rather than presenting one unified research design, so it should be used carefully and ideally alongside peer-reviewed evidence. Even so, it provides timely and accessible evidence about current marketer behavior, platform priorities, and strategic trends. In a literature review, this source works best as contextual support for arguments about the scale, normalization, and strategic sophistication of influencer marketing in 2025.
Wellman, M. L., Stoldt, R., Tully, M., & Ekdale, B. (2020). Ethics of authenticity: Social media influencers and the production of sponsored content.
Journal of Media Ethics, 35(2), 68–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/23736992.2020.1736078
Wellman, Stoldt, Tully, and Ekdale make a distinctive contribution by examining influencer sponsorship through the lens of ethics rather than only persuasion or branding effectiveness. Using a qualitative case study in the travel and tourism media industry, the authors argue that influencers rely on an “ethics of authenticity” when producing sponsored content. According to the study, this ethical framework has two main principles: being true to oneself and one’s brand, and being true to one’s audience. This framing is highly useful because it shows that authenticity is not just a marketing asset but also a moral logic that influencers use to justify and guide their commercial decisions. For a literature review, this article is important because it broadens the discussion beyond whether sponsorship works and asks how influencers themselves understand responsible practice. It helps explain why creators may reject certain partnerships, disclose selectively, or frame brand deals in ways that preserve personal identity and audience trust. The article is particularly valuable when paired with studies on disclosure and over-endorsement, since it highlights the normative tensions beneath those phenomena. A major strength is its interpretive depth: rather than measuring authenticity as a variable, it explores how influencers actively negotiate authenticity under commercial pressure. A limitation is that its industry-specific focus may reduce generalizability across other creator sectors. Even so, the study is influential because it offers a richer vocabulary for understanding sponsored content as an ethical performance shaped by branding, labor, and audience obligation. Overall, it is an excellent source for literature reviews concerned with authenticity, transparency, influencer labor, and the moral boundaries of monetized self-presentation online.
Zheng, H., & Ling, R. (2021). Drivers of social media fatigue: A systematic review.
Telematics and Informatics, 64, 101696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101696
Zheng and Ling’s systematic review is highly relevant for research on creator burnout, platform pressure, and the emotional costs of digital participation. The article synthesizes the emerging literature on social media fatigue, which it defines as a cluster of negative emotional responses associated with social networking activities, including tiredness, burnout, exhaustion, frustration, and disinterest in communication. One of its most useful contributions is the categorization of fatigue drivers into three levels: individual, relational, and environmental. This multi-level framework is especially helpful because it avoids reducing fatigue to a purely personal weakness and instead shows that platform use, interpersonal expectations, and surrounding media environments all contribute. For a literature review, this source is valuable as a conceptual bridge between influencer marketing studies and broader social media well-being research. Although the review is not limited to influencers, its framework can be readily applied to creators who face intensified social demands, algorithmic visibility pressures, audience interaction burdens, and constant content production requirements. The article is also useful because it identifies gaps and future research directions, making it a strong foundation for discussing burnout as an underexamined outcome of digital labor and commercialized self-presentation. A strength of the paper is its broad synthesis across a still-developing field. A limitation is that it addresses social media users generally, so influencer-specific experiences must be inferred rather than directly tested. Even so, it is an important source for establishing that fatigue is shaped by structural and relational conditions, not just usage volume. In work on creators and influencers, this article helps frame burnout as a predictable consequence of sustained platform engagement rather than an isolated individual problem.
Milmo, D. (2025, July 5). “You can’t pause the internet”: Social media creators hit by burnout.
The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/jul/05/cant-pause-internet-social-media-creators-burnout
Milmo’s Guardian article is a strong journalistic source for illustrating the lived experience of creator burnout and for adding contemporary human context to academic literature on social media fatigue and influencer labor. The article reports that many creators experience severe exhaustion because their work combines content production, editing, brand management, audience interaction, and constant adaptation to platform algorithms. It highlights creator testimony that online work cannot easily be paused without risking visibility, income, and relevance. The piece also cites survey data indicating that half of creators had experienced burnout and that a substantial proportion had considered quitting. This article is especially useful in a literature review when paired with scholarly sources such as Zheng and Ling’s review of social media fatigue or authenticity research on commercialization. Its value lies in showing how structural pressures discussed in theory—platform dependence, audience expectations, monetization instability, and nonstop visibility demands—are felt in practice by creators themselves. The article also helps demonstrate that creator burnout is not a fringe issue but a growing labor concern in the influencer economy. As a newspaper source, it is not a substitute for peer-reviewed evidence, and that is its main limitation. However, it contributes up-to-date examples, concrete creator voices, and timely evidence that the psychological strain of digital labor has become publicly recognized. In an annotated bibliography, this source works well as a current affairs complement to academic studies because it captures the emotional and occupational realities behind the polished image of influencer success. It is particularly relevant for arguments about precarity, invisible labor, and the sustainability challenges of maintaining an always-on online persona.
