Title: Which people are loyal followers of influencers? An exploratory study

Authors: Javier A. Sánchez-Torres; Juan Sebastían Roldan-Gallego; Francisco-Javier Arroyo-Cañada; Ana María Argila-Irurita

Addresses: University of Medellín, Cra. 87 #30-65, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia ' Politécnico Gran Colombiano, Cra. 74 #52-20, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia ' Facultad de Economía y Empresa, University of Barcelona, Diagonal, 690-696, 08034 Barcelona – Spaink4, Spain ' Facultad de Economía y Empresa, University of Barcelona, Diagonal, 690-696, 08034 Barcelona – Spaink4, Spain

Abstract: Influencers are tools implemented in digital marketing as a communication mechanism between the brand and its target; however, there are few studies that observe the relationship between the personality of the follower and their attitude towards the influencer. The objective of this study is to explore whether personality traits influence positive attitudes towards influencers. An empirical study was carried out in Spain and Colombia with a sample of 381 individuals and cause-effect relationships were analysed using the partial least squares methodology. The results show that extroversion and disordered personality traits are related to positive attitudes towards influencers and there could be some differences between genders, specifically men with a calm personality and women with a sympathetic personality.

Keywords: influencers; personality; followers; social network analysis; internet marketing; digital marketing; partial least squares methodology; extroversion; disordered personality; calm personality; sympathetic personality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICT.2024.139828

International Journal of Information and Communication Technology, 2024 Vol.25 No.1, pp.25 - 34

Received: 02 Jun 2021
Accepted: 31 Mar 2022
Published online: 08 Jul 2024 *

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