Influencer Marketing and Electronic Word of Mouth: A Methodological Review

Abstract

Influencer marketing has gained immense popularity over the past years. Many organizations rely on social media influencers to promote their brands and reach out to target consumers. Academic research on influencer marketing is expanding rapidly and provides a greater understanding of how influencer marketing influences customers and thereby facilitate electronic word of mouth. Given the importance of social media influencers in the marketing literature and the fact that this study area is continuously evolving, a detailed and critical review of existing research on this issue is much needed. The main objective of the present study is to perform a methodological review on influencer marketing and electronic word of mouth. The review has been undertaken from the period of 2010 to 2022 based on 47 articles retrieved from the Scopus database. Descriptive analysis was carried out in order to get insights on the background of the studies in the sample. The study deploys coding process pertaining to methodological choices giving emphasis on, research design, sampling techniques, data collection methods, variable measurements, validity and reliability measures, and data analysis techniques. Conclusively, recommendations for future research are provided to shed light on unexplored realms pertaining to context and methodology on influencer marketing.