Abstract:

Employee influencers are becoming increasingly visible in social media brand communication, yet empirical research examining how consumers respond to them remains limited. Although organizations are now increasingly encouraging employees to act as brand advocates online, empirical research examining how consumers interpret and evaluate employee-generated content remains in its infancy.

This preliminary study investigates how perceived expertise and perceived authenticity of employee influencers influence brand attitude and brand trust. The study focuses specifically on understanding how consumers evaluate employee-generated content within a social media context.

A simulated Instagram scenario featuring a fictitious fitness brand and employee profile was embedded within an online survey. Participants were asked to imagine encountering the employee’s post while browsing their social media feed. Data were collected from 76 active social media users. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the proposed relationships between perceived expertise, perceived authenticity, brand attitude, and brand trust.

The findings indicate that both perceived expertise and perceived authenticity positively influence brand attitude and brand trust. However, perceived authenticity emerged as the stronger predictor across both outcome variables. These results suggest that while consumers value employees’ knowledge and competence, they respond more strongly to communication that appears genuine and personally invested. Even within a modest sample, employees' authenticity appears to play a central role in shaping short-term brand perceptions.

As a preliminary investigation with a relatively small sample, this study offers early empirical evidence supporting the strategic potential of employee influencers in social media marketing. The findings provide direction for future research to examine these relationships using larger samples and more rigorous experimental designs. Managerially, the results suggest that organizations seeking to leverage employee voices online should prioritize authentic communication alongside expertise to strengthen brand attitude and trust.

Please choose your submission type: Full Paper

Primary Track: Marketing and Retail

Keywords: Branding and Identity;Consumer behaviour and psychology;Marketing communications;Marketing strategy;Retail

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Prof Biswajita Parida