Deniz MADEN

6839

The Role of Digital Influencers in the Diffusion of New Products

Sosyal medya tamamen yeni bir ‘etkileyen’ grubu yaratmış, bilginin oluşum, erişim ve paylaşımını ve bireylerin içerik üretimine katılım şeklini değiştirmiştir. Bu yeni etkileyen grubu, “dijital etkileyenler” olarak adlandırılmakta, yüksek ağ potansiyelleri ve tüketicileri etkileme güçleri ile yeni bir fikir lideri grubunu temsil etmektedir. Dijital etkileyenlerin artan güçleri, giderek daha fazla markanın iletişim stratejilerinde, marka mesajlarının tüketicilere iletilmesi için kullanımlarını arttırmaktadır. Birçok marka, bu yeni fikir lideri grubunun etki gücünden yeni ürün girişleri için faydalanmaktadır. Bu araştırmada dijital etkileyenlerin yeni ürün girişi sürecinde mesaj yayılımında nasıl bir rol aldığı, “yeniliklerin yayılımı” kuramı perspektifinden ve dijital moda etkileyenlerinin yeni ürün girişlerine yönelik Instagram paylaşımları aracılığıyla incelenmektedir. Bu betimsel araştırmada nicel içerik analizinden yararlanılmıştır. Araştırmada, dijital etkileyenler aracılığıyla yeni ürünlerin yayılımı, sözlü ve görsel metinler aracılığıyla analiz edilmiştir. 
Anahtar Kelimeler:

Sosyal medya, marka iletişimi, dijital etkileyenler, yeniliklerin yayılımı, yeni ürün girişleri, Social media, brand communication, digital influencers, diffusion of innovations, new product entries

The Role of Digital Influencers in the Diffusion of New Products

Social media created an entirely new type of influencers and changed the way for generating, collecting and sharing information and how people contribute to content. These influencers are called the “digital influencers” and they represent new type of opinion leaders with a huge potential of network and influential power over consumers. Their growing power is leading them to be gradually included in brand communication strategies with the aim of transmitting brand messages to target consumers. In particular, many brands benefit from the huge influential power of this new group of opinion leaders for new product entries. This paper explains how digital influencers take place in diffusing brand messages for new product entries from the perspective of the ‘diffusion of innovations theory’ with an investigation directed to digital fashion influencers’ Instagram posts for new product entries. The research is a descriptive study and that utilize quantitative content analysis. Through an investigation of the verbal and visual texts of Instagram posts, this research seeks to understand the diffusion of new products through digital influencers. 
Keywords:

Social media, brand communication, digital influencers, diffusion of innovations, new product entries,

PDF

___

  • Baxter, P., Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers. The qualitative report, 13(4), 544-559.
  • Berelson, B. (1952). Content analysis in communication research. Illinois: Free Press.
  • Booth N., Matic, J. A. (2011). Mapping and leveraging influencers in social media to shape corporate brand perceptions, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 16(3), 184 -191.
  • Boynertalks (September 2017). Takip etmeniz gereken 30 Türk moda blogger’ı. Retrieved from: http://talks.boyner.com.tr/30-turk-moda-bloggeri.
  • Chatterjee, P. (2011). Drivers of new product recommending and referral behaviour on social network sites. International Journal of Advertising, 30(1), 77-101.
  • DeMers, Jayson (2017, March). Why Instagram is the top social platform for engagement (and how to use it). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2017/03/28/why-instagram-is-the-top-social-platform-for-engagement-and-how-to-use-it/#683ed1a736bd
  • Droge, C., Stanko, M. A., Pollitte, W. A. (2010). Lead Users and early adopters on the web: The role of new technology product blogs. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 27(1), 66-82.
  • Fan, T., Golder, P. N., Lehmann, D. R. (2017). Innovation and new products research: A State-of-the-Art review, models for managerial decision making, and future research directions. Berend Wierenga (Ed.), in Handbook of Marketing Decision Models (pp. 79-116). USA: Springer.
  • Fashion Theory Journal. (September 2017). Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScopeandjournalCode=rfft20.
  • Fawkes, J. (2012). Public relations and communications. Allison Theaker (Ed.), in The Public Relations Handbook (4th edition) (pp. 21-37). UK: Routledge.
  • Fill, C. (2009) Marketing communications: interactivity, communities and content (5th edition). England: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.
  • DeMers, J. (November 2017). Why Instagram is the top social platform for engagement (and how to use it). Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2017/03/28/why-instagram-is-the-top-social-platform-for-engagement-and-how-to-use-it/#472032b36bdc.
  • Freberg, K., Graham, K., McGaughey, K., Freberg L. A. (2011). Who are the social media influencers? A study of public perceptions of personality. Public Relations Review 37, 90–92.
  • Garcia, N., Sanzo, M. J., & Trespalacios, J. A. (2008). New product internal performance and market performance: Evidence from Spanish firms regarding the role of trust, interfunctional integration, and innovation type. Technovation, 28(11), 713-725.
  • Gillin, Paul. (2007). The new influencers: A marketer’s guide to the new social media. USA: Quill Driver Books.
  • Gleeson, K. (2011), Polytextual thematic analysis for visual data. Paula Reavy (Ed.), in Visual methods in psychology: Using and interpreting images in qualitative research (pp. 314–29). Hove: Taylor and Francis.
  • Goldsmith, R. E. (2012). New Developments in the Diffusion of Innovations. Victoria Wells and Gordon Foxall (Eds.) in Handbook of developments in consumer behavior (pp. 246-284). USA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Griffith, E. (2011). Bloggers mean business. Adweek, 52, 58–59. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/bloggers-mean-business-134757
  • Halvorsen, K., Hoffmann, J., Coste-Manière, I., Stankeviciute, R. (2013). Can fashion blogs function as a marketing tool to influence consumer behavior? Evidence from Norway. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 4(3), 211-224.
  • Hyman, H. H. (1960). Reflections on reference groups. Public Opinion Quarterly, 24(3), 383-396.
  • Influencer DB (April 2017). Retrieved from: https://www.influencerdb.net/blog/engagement-like-follower-ratio-explained/
  • Iyengar, R., Van den Bulte, C., Valente, T. W. (2011). Opinion leadership and social contagion in new product diffusion. Marketing Science, 30(2), 195-212.
  • Johne, A. (1999). Successful market innovation. European Journal of Innovation Management, 2(1), 6-11.
  • Jones, R. (2002). Challenges to the notion of publics in public relations: Implications of the risk society for the discipline. Public Relations Review, 28(1), 49-62.
  • Kaplan, A.M., Haenlein, M. (2010), Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media, Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68.
  • Kee, K. F., Mannucci, M., Sparks, L., Struppa, D. C., Damiano, A. (2013). Innovation diffusion, social media, and the Simplicial Model of Social Aggregation: Computational Simulation of Cluster Traversers for Community Health Interventions. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Annual Conference, London, UK. Retrieved from: http://www1.chapman.edu/~kee/PDF/C16.pdf.
  • Hahn, K. H. and Lee, E. J. (2014). Effect of psychological closeness on consumer attitudes toward fashion blogs: the moderating effect of fashion leadership and interpersonal LOV, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing: Bridging Fashion and Marketing, 5(2),103-121.
  • Ingram D. (June 2017). Instagram to add label for paid product endorsements. Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-instagram-influencers/instagram-to-add-label-for-paid-product-endorsements-idUSKBN1951T5.
  • Kratz, C., Reimer, B. (1998). Fashion in the face of postmodernity. Arthur Asa Berger (Ed.), in The postmodern presence: Readings on postmodernism in American culture and society, (pp. 193-211). USA: Altamira Press.
  • Krishnan, T. V., Bass, F. M., Kumar, V. (2000). Impact of a late entrant on the diffusion of a new product/service. Journal of marketing research, 37(2), 269-278.
  • Le guide noir. (August 2017). Retrieved from: https://www.leguidenoir.com/.
  • Mahajan, V., Muller, E., Kerin, R. A. (1984). Introduction strategy for new products with positive and negative word-of-mouth. Management Science, 30(12), 1389-1404.
  • McElreath, M. P., Blamphin, J. M. (1994). Partial answers to priority research questions—and gaps—found in the public relations society of America's body of knowledge. Journal of Public Relations Research, 6(2), 69-103.
  • McQuarrie, E. F., Miller, J., Phillips, B. J. (2012). The megaphone effect: Taste and audience in fashion blogging. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(1), 136-158.
  • Mulgan, G., Tucker, S., Ali, R., and Sanders, B. (2007). Social innovation: what it is, why it matters and how it can be accelerated. Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship working paper. Retrieved from: http://eureka.sbs.ox.ac.uk/761/.
  • Nisbet, M. C., Kotcher, J. E. (2009). A two-step flow of influence? Opinion-leader campaigns on climate change. Science Communication, 30, 328–354.
  • Phillips, Barbara J., and Edward F. McQuarrie (2010). Narrative and persuasion in fashion advertising. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(3), 368–92.
  • Porter, L., Sweetser, K., and Chung, D. (2009). The blogosphere and public relations: Investigating practitioners' roles and blog use. Journal of Communication Management, 13(3), 250-267.
  • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations, (5th ed.). New York: Free Press.
  • Shankar, V. (2008). The evolution of markets: Innovation adoption, diffusion, market growth, new product entry, and competitor responses. Scott Shane (Ed.), in Handbook of technology and innovation management (pp. 57-112). Great Brittain: Wiley.
  • Shih, C. F., Venkatesh, A. (2004). Beyond adoption: Development and application of a use-diffusion model. Journal of marketing, 68(1), 59-72.
  • The culture trip. (August 2017). Retrieved from: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/turkey/articles/10-turkish-fashion-bloggers-you-should-follow/.
  • Uzunoğlu, E., Misci Kip, S. (2014). Brand communication through digital influencers: Leveraging blogger engagement. International Journal of Information Management, 34, 592-602.
  • Van den Bulte, C., Stremersch, S. (2004) Social contagion and income heterogeneity in new product diffusion: a meta-analytic test. Marketing Science, 23(4), 530–544.
  • Van der Merwe, R.,Van Heerden, G. (2009). Finding and utilizing opinion leaders: Social networks and the power of relationships. South African Journal of Business Management, (3), 65-76.
  • Woodward, S. (2016). Humble Blue Jeans: Material Culture Approaches to Understanding the Ordinary, Global, and the Personal. Heike Jenss (Ed), in Fashion studies: Research methods, sites, and practices (pp. 42-57). New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Akdeniz Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Dergisi-Cover
  • Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 3 Sayı
  • Başlangıç: 2003
  • Yayıncı: Akdeniz Üniversitesi
Arşiv
Sayıdaki Diğer Makaleler

Sinema Dergilerinin Ulusötesi Temalı Filmlere Yaklaşımı Bağlamında Kültürlerarası Farklılıklar: Positif (Fransa) Ve Altyazı (Türkiye) Dergileri Üzerine Bir Envanter Çalışması

Serhat YETİMOVA, Battal ODABAŞ

Dijital Yerli Gazetelerin Sosyal Medya Stratejileri ve Sosyal Medyanın Haber Okunurluğuna Etkisi

İlke Atik Taşkıran

The Role of Digital Influencers in the Diffusion of New Products

Deniz MADEN

“Google Gazeteciliği” mi “Empati Editörü”lüğü mü? Gazetecilikte SEO Editörlüğü ve Dönüşen Gazetecilik Pratikleri Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Elif KORAP ÖZEL, Şadiye DENİZ