| Description |
While influencer marketing first dated back to the Gladiators in Ancient Rome and has been utilized to sell products in the modern era since 1890, the term "influencer" has gained new life with the rise of social media. Through continually exhibiting their lifestyle, Influencers earn a living by cultivating their image online and projecting a picture-perfect image of their life, which as a result, informs one's idealized self, the idealized version of oneself created from life experiences, the demands of society, and what one admires in role models. When influencers promote a product, they are endorsing it as a part of their lifestyle, and in turn, their audience's as well. However, one's idealized self does not match to one's actual self, and the purchases we make as consumers frequently are chosen with the goal of closing the gap between actual and idealized. With a clear vision of what life would look like with the product advertised by the influencer, consumers are much more likely to purchase, grasping at the idea of emulating their idealized self. However, this type of consumerism is dangerous, and can lead to a cycle, using purchasing goods as a coping mechanism, instead of doing the actual work to improve one's life. This thesis will evaluate how Social Media Influencers affect consumers idealized self and spending habits by assessing the difference in their willingness to pay for a product marketed by the manufacturer versus Social Media influencer. A combination of academic and marketing research will analyze the impact modern marketing techniques have had on mental health and explore the affect it has on consumer behavior. |
