How Do Influencer Marketers Affect Brand Associations? a Semiotic Instagram Study in the Sports Fashion Industry

Master Thesis, 15 credits, for the degree of Master of Science in Business Administration specializing in International Business and Marketing Spring Semester 2018

How do influencer marketers affect brand associations? A semiotic Instagram study in the sports fashion industry

Linus Juhlin & Miretta Soini

School of Health and Society

ABSTRACT

Author Linus Juhlin & Miretta Soini

Title How do influencer marketers affect brand associations?

Supervisor Christian Koch

Examiner Timurs Umans & Jens Hultman

Abstract Influencer marketing is an important tool to change and reinforce consumers brand associations. Influencers post content that is trying to create intended brand associations. The consumers’ reactions then decide what the realized brand associations are. The purpose of this study is to explore through semiotic and netnographic Instagram analysis how influencer marketing affects brand associations in the sports fashion industry. This research has a qualitative methodology and has used semiotic and netnographic analysis to explore the case of Gymshark. The research consists of 100 analyzed posts from Instagram influencers related to Gymshark. It was found that influencers’ personal brands affect the realized brand associations. Also, gender has an affecting role on both, intended and realized brand associations.

Keywords Influencer Marketing, Word of Mouth, Brand Associations, Signaling Theory, Tribal Marketing, Social Media, Instagram, Sport’s Fashion Industry

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to express our gratitude towards the people involved in the process of writing this paper.

We would like to thank Timurs Umans for his input on the topic of our research and methodological decision making. We would also like to thank Christian Koch, for his continuous feedback and advice during the writing process. Lastly, we would like to thank Jens Hultman for his guidance and examination of the paper.

Our gratitude also goes to our families and friends for encouragement and dealing with our stress. We would also like to thank each other for the constant support, engagement, and making the writing process enjoyable.

Thank you!

Kristianstad, May 31st 2018

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Linus Juhlin Miretta Soini

TABLE OF CONTENT

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 7

1.1 Background ...... 7

1.2 Problematization ...... 9

1.3 Research purpose ...... 10

1.4 Research question ...... 11

1.5 Focus of the study ...... 11

1.6 Outline ...... 11

2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...... 13

2.1 Brand Associations ...... 13

2.1.1 Attributes ...... 14

2.1.2 Benefits ...... 14

2.2 Signaling theory ...... 15

2.3 Tribal marketing ...... 17

2.4 Word of mouth & eWOM ...... 19

2.5 Influencer Marketing ...... 20

2.5.1 Social Media & Instagram ...... 21

2.6 Theoretical model ...... 22

3 METHODOLOGY ...... 24

3.1 Research approach ...... 24

3.2 Choice of methodology ...... 24

3.3 Time horizon ...... 25

3.4 Research strategy ...... 26

3.4.1 Case selection ...... 26

3.5 Data collection ...... 27 4

3.6 Sample selection ...... 27

3.7 Data analysis...... 29

3.7.1 Semiotic analysis ...... 29

3.7.2 Netnographic analysis ...... 30

3.7.3 Process of analysis ...... 31

3.8 Trustworthiness ...... 33

3.9 Ethical consideration ...... 35

4 ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION ...... 36

4.1 Influencer content ...... 36

4.1.1 Intended association categories ...... 36

4.1.2 Found intended associations ...... 45

4.2 Consumer content ...... 47

4.2.1 Realized associations ...... 48

4.2.2 Positive realized associations ...... 51

4.2.2 Negative realized associations ...... 52

5 CONCLUSION ...... 56

5.1 Conclusions ...... 56

5.2 Theoretical contributions ...... 57

5.3 Methodological contributions...... 58

5.4 Managerial implications ...... 59

5.5 Limitations and future research suggestions ...... 60

REFERENCE LIST ...... 61

APPENDIX ...... 68

Analyzed content ...... 68

List of figures Figure 1. Theoretical model ...... 23 Figure 2. Analysis of influencer content ...... 32 Figure 3. Analysis of consumer content ...... 33 Figure 4. Non-product related attributes (price), female ...... 38 Figure 5. Non-product related attributes (price), male ...... 38 Figure 6. Non-product related attributes (user imagery), female ...... 39 Figure 7. Non-product related attributes (user imagery), male ...... 39 Figure 8. Non-product related attributes (usage imagery), female ...... 40 Figure 9. Non-product related attributes (usage imagery), male ...... 40 Figure 10. Product related attributes (design & color), female ...... 42 Figure 11. Product related attributes (design & color), male ...... 42 Figure 12. Product related attributes (size), female ...... 43 Figure 13. Benefits (functional), female ...... 44 Figure 14. Benefits (functional), male ...... 44 Figure 15. Benefits (symbolic), female ...... 45 Figure 16. Benefits (symbolic), male ...... 45

List of tables

Table 1. Eight E’s of e-tribes (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010) ...... 18 Table 2. Influencer sample for analysis...... 29 Table 3. Brand association categories (Keller, 1993) ...... 32 Table 4. Research trustworthiness (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 290) ...... 34 Table 5. Found intended association categories ...... 37 Table 6. Most found intended associations ...... 46 Table 7. Most found intended associations based on gender ...... 47 Table 8. Most found realized associations ...... 48 Table 9. Most found positive realized associations based on gender ...... 51 Table 10. Found negative realized associations based on gender ...... 53

1 INTRODUCTION

This section introduces the concept of influencer marketing and its importance to companies. The section continues with a problem formulation. Later the research purpose and research question are formulated and the focus of the study is explained. This section ends with a short outline of the research paper.

1.1 Background Influencer marketing has been used for many years, but lately it has become an important part of many companies’ marketing strategies (Dada, 2017). Influencers are often described as people with many social followers on platforms like Instagram, YouTube or Twitter (De Veirman, Cauberghe & Hudders, 2017). Having many followers is not enough to be an influencer. To be an influencer, one has to have the power to influence the perception of others in some way. When it comes to influencer marketing, this power can, for example, be used by the influencer to help a company sell more of their products (Dada, 2017).

According to Contestabile (2015), even though many companies have implemented influencer marketing into their marketing strategies, 41% are still spending less than 5% of their budget on influencer marketing. Traditional advertising and marketing on TV, print and desktop ads are becoming less effective (Contestabile, 2015). Marketers are turning their efforts to social media platform influencer campaigns as ad-blockers and paywalls are becoming more popular (Contestabile, 2015). Between 2015 and 2017 “influencer marketing” as a search term on Google Trends went up by 400% (Todisco, 2017). This can be interpreted as companies and desiring social media influencers having realized the power of building relationships with each other. Arli and Dietrich (2017) explain the rapid growth of social media through a comparison. It took radio 38 years and TV 13 years to reach 50 million people, while it took only four years for Facebook to reach more than 500 million users worldwide (Arli & Dietrich, 2017).

Furthermore, throughout the past decade, different social media platforms have become an important aspect of everyday life, changing the way people communicate with businesses, co- workers, family members and friends (Arli & Dietrich, 2017), and many of the platforms are

also actively used for seeking information (Penni, 2016). At the same time, the world of consumption has shifted from looking at companies to looking at fellow consumers to inform purchasing decisions through word of mouth (from here on WOM) (De Veirman et al., 2017). Consumers are now looking at each other and their favorite personalities who have large number of followers on different social media platforms (De Veirman et al., 2017). Therefore, influencer marketing opens up new channels for brands to connect with consumers more directly, organically and at a bigger scale (Talavera, 2015). With influencer marketing, companies can create greater content through consumers’ point of view, earn credibility, and gain exposure through influencers’ network (Todisco, 2017). By creating branded content with social media influencers, brands can increase the effect of their message while persuading their target audience (De Veirman et al., 2017). This has made it crucial for companies to have a presence on these platforms to be able to understand and control the consumers’ perception of their brand (Varma, 2016). With the help of influencers and influencer marketing, companies are able to spread the brand image they wish to have, and change the consumers’ perception of the brand (De Veirman et al., 2017). But if a brand does not do this in a proper way, influencer marketing could become a dangerous expense.

Traditional media has mostly been based on one-way communication, while social media makes it possible to engage and interact with consumers in a new way (Singhal, 2016). Social media is also a very effective marketing channel, in the sense that the marketing message does not need to be repeated as frequently as in other medias to get noticed (Dahlén & Lange, 2009). However, marketing managers are still learning how to use social media and its potential for communication and engagement with their target audience (Arli & Dietrich, 2017). Therefore, it is important to understand how people perceive social media campaigns (Arli & Dietrich, 2017), and learn how influencer marketers affect brand associations positively and/or negatively.

According to Penni (2016), picture sharing social media platforms, like Instagram, have made it possible to communicate with a large number of users at once through images. Instagram allows its users to send pictures in real time to the system (Silva et al., 2013), while additionally allowing picture manipulation and sharing on other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter (Penni, 2016). With a user base of over 800 million monthly users (Instagram, 2018)

and producing 1,2 billion likes per day (Penni, 2016), communicating via Instagram makes it possible to reach large numbers of consumers. The popularity of Instagram is due to the possibility to add captions, hashtags and symbols to describe pictures and videos before posting them (Manikonda et al., 2014). Another advantageous feature of Instagram is allowing the posted content to have a longer shelf life compared to other social media platforms (Penni, 2016). This means that the posted content does not disappear and one can easily go back to the first ever posted picture or video as each profile showcases the posted content chronologically. Instagram also gives the users the ability to like, comment, tag and follow content on the feed, which enhances picture sharing communication through social interaction (Penni, 2016).

1.2 Problematization Consumers’ brand associations can be affected in many ways, one being by the effects of WOM between consumers (De Veirman et al., 2017). It is well-documented that WOM has a stronger effect on a consumer’s decision-making than other traditional advertising techniques (Cheung, Lee & Rabjohn, 2008). The message is perceived to be more believable and reliable when it is coming from another consumer instead of from a company (De Veirman et al., 2017). With the growth of social media, this effect has become even more important for companies today since social media makes it easier than ever for consumers to spread their opinions to others (De Veirman et al., 2017). The growing use of the internet has made it possible for consumers to be more informed and create online communities in which they can share experiences and opinions about different brands (Litterio, Nantes, Larrosa & Gomez, 2017). Consumers can create and share content and spread their brand preferences and perceptions in a way that was not possible before social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook existed (De Veirman et al., 2017). Therefore, companies today need to take advantage of this, and one way to do so is with the help of influencer marketing (Litterio et al., 2017).

Influencers are individuals who have a large number of social media followers and who can influence the buying behavior of large numbers of people (Litterio et al., 2017). By leveraging the influencers’ reach and relationship with their followers, it is possible for a company to get a better effect on their marketing (De Veirman et al., 2017). Influencers and influencer

marketing are relatively new, but important tools for marketers, and can be used to change consumers’ brand perceptions and associations, which in turn will influence the company’s brand image (De Veirman et al., 2017). When working with an influencer, a company also needs to be aware that the influencer’s own brand image may transfer to the company’s brand image in some ways (De Veirman et al., 2017). Influencers are also able to not only affect their own followers, but the sharing nature of social media means that the followers will also spread the content to their own followers (De Veirman et al., 2017). This network effect makes it possible to spread content very fast in a large scale, and potentially impact a company’s brand associations.

Brand associations is a big part of the concept of brand image. It can be said that brand image is about consumers’ perceptions about a brand, which are reflected by the brand associations held in the consumers’ memory (Keller, 1993). These associations can be of several different types, such as attributes and benefits (Keller, 1993). Attributes are descriptive features, either connected to the physical product or external aspects such as price (Keller, 1993). Benefits consist of the personal value a product can give a consumer (Keller, 1993). This can be about anything from problem solving to a need for social approval (Keller, 1993). All of this in combination is what makes up the consumers’ total brand associations. Having positive brand associations can give a company a great competitive advantage (Keller, 1993).

In our paper, we talk about intended and realized brand associations. When an influencer posts content regarding a brand, they are trying to create brand associations, which can be called intended brand associations. The consumers’ reaction to this content will then decide which brand associations are actually created or realized. Relevance of content and customers’ emotional reaction to the content (Botha & Reyneke, 2013) can be argued to be linked either positively or negatively to the brand associations.

1.3 Research purpose The purpose of this study is to explore through semiotic and netnographic Instagram analysis how influencer marketing affects brand associations in the sports fashion industry.

1.4 Research question How do intended brand associations created by influencer marketers affect the realized brand associations of the consumers?

a) What type of positive associations can be realized? b) What type of negative associations can be realized?

1.5 Focus of the study This study will focus on exploring the positive and negative effects of influencer marketing on Instagram in the sports fashion industry. We will focus our research on the company Gymshark. Gymshark has based its marketing strategy largely on the use of social media influencers. This is one of the reasons behind their rapid growth reaching a revenue of $50 million in 2017 and expecting a revenue of $120 million in 2018 (Forbes, 2018). As Gymshark has been able to successfully use influencer marketing to create their brand and grow their business, we have decided to focus on them in this study as the best practice case. The research was conducted through semiotic analysis of Instagram influencers’ content about Gymshark to find out what type of content is being published. Netnographic analysis was then done on the comments of this content to find out the possible effect the content has on the brand associations related to Gymshark.

1.6 Outline This research paper has been structured into five chapters, which are briefly introduced below.

Chapter 1: In the first chapter the subject is introduced as well as problematized. The purpose, research question, and focus of the study are also presented.

Chapter 2: In the second chapter the theoretical framework is presented. It consists of theories such as brand associations, tribal marketing, signaling theory, WOM, and influencer marketing. The chapter ends with presenting the theoretical model used for this paper.

Chapter 3: In the third chapter the methodology of this research paper is presented. Research strategy, data collection, sample selection, and analysis process et cetera are presented.

Chapter 4: The fourth chapter consists of the analysis of the collected data and discussion of the results. Both the influencer content and consumer content are discussed to discover the intended and realized brand associations.

Chapter 5: The fifth chapter presents the conclusions of this research paper, as well as the theoretical and methodological contributions. The managerial implications of the paper are then presented before finishing with the limitations and future research suggestions.

2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This section presents the theoretical framework used in the research. The framework has been built on existing research and knowledge. First, the section starts by introducing the concept of brand associations, which is followed by two relevant theories, signaling theory and tribal marketing, which explain interpretations and online communities. The section continues by explaining the concept of word of mouth and influencer marketing, before ending with an introduction to social media and Instagram.

2.1 Brand Associations Brand associations are recognized as an important part of the concept of brand image by most researchers (Herzog, 1963; Keller, 1993; Newman, 1957), and is of great importance for companies (Keller, 1993). Brand associations can be defined as consumers’ different beliefs and judgments about a brand (Keller, 1993). Brand associations have been shown to have an effect on consumers’ brand consideration and buying decisions. Moreover, the brand associations will also make it easier for consumers to choose a product that will fulfill their needs, since they might already have some pre-existing knowledge about the brand (Romaniuk & Nenycz-Thiel, 2013). The creation of brand associations is based on two parts. First, marketing managers need to specify which associations they want to create. Secondly, the consumers need to learn these associations in some way (Koll & von Wallpach, 2014). This relationship between intended and realized brand associations will be a central concept of this paper.

Different brand associations are often analyzed by the dimensions favorability, strength, and uniqueness (Keller, 1993). Brand associations can be both positive and negative, which means that a company needs to analyze the favorability of the brand associations (Keller, 1993). The strength of a brand association can be affected by the quantity or quality of information that the association is based on (Keller, 1993). For example, if a consumer knows very little about one aspect of a product, the strength of that association will be low. The uniqueness of an association is determined by how common it is amongst competing brands. Being able to be different from

other brands is a necessity to support a price premium (Aaker, 1996). Having unique and positive associations can give a company a great competitive advantage (Keller, 1993).

Brand associations can be of many different kinds, and there is not a generally accepted definition (Keller, 1993). But based on theories by Keller (1993) and Aaker (1996), two main categories of associations will be used in this paper and they are described below.

2.1.1 Attributes The first type of association is an attribute. Attributes are descriptive features and can be either product related or non-product related (Keller, 1993). Product related attributes are mostly physical features of the product such as color, design, and fit. They are related to the physical composition of the product (Keller, 1993). Non-product related attributes are external aspects such as price, user imagery, and usage imagery (Keller, 1993). User imagery is about what type of person is using the product, while usage imagery is about in what situations and in what places the product is used. Other non-product related attributes can be brand personality attributes, such as rugged or exciting (Aaker, 1996). Brand personalities can be especially important when it comes to products with very minor differences, like for instance spirits. Most people cannot tell the difference in taste between high quality spirits, so then other attributes become more important (Aaker, 1996).

2.1.2 Benefits The second type of association is a benefit and it consists of the personal value a product or service can give a consumer (Keller, 1993). If the brand does not have a good value proposition, it will be more difficult to compete with other competitors (Aaker, 1996). This value can be either functional, experiential or symbolic. Functional benefits are usually about basic problem solving and are often related to basic physical needs (Keller, 1993). They are often related to the product related attributes (Keller, 1993). Experiential benefits are about the way it feels to use the product and are meant to satisfy needs such as cognitive stimulation (Keller, 1993). Symbolic benefits are often related to different needs for social approval or personal expression (Keller, 1993). They often relate to non-product related attributes and are often connected to status, prestige and exclusivity (Keller, 1993).

2.2 Signaling theory According to Ashuri and Ber-Ilan (2017), signaling theory (Rynes, 1991) was first developed in the middle of 1970s by zoologist Amontz Zahavi, who aimed to explain how animals manage to expose their characteristics to another by specific signals. At the same time, Michael Spence used signaling theory to explain interaction among humans in information asymmetry situations (Ashuri & Ber-Ilani, 2017).

Signaling theory can be divided into two different classes of signals. The first class of signals are assessment signals (Donath, 2008). Assessment signals are very reliable, as producing the signal requires owning the indicated quality (Donath, 2008). For instance, lifting a heavy weight is a trustworthy signal of strength as a weaker person simply cannot do the same (Donath, 2008). As opposed to the latter example, an owner of an expensive car can use the car as a signal of wealth or attractiveness, but the high price can only guarantee that the owner is wealthy and therefore, the car is only an unreliable indicator of attractiveness (Donath, 2008).

The second class of signals are conventional signals (Donath, 2008). In this class of signals the link between signal and quality is inconsistent (Donath, 2008). Self-descriptions in online profiles can be described as conventional signals because it is very easy to type 25 or 35 as one’s age or choose male or female as one’s gender (Donath, 2008). Between laws and social mores, conventional signals are kept honest (Donath, 2008). For instance, anyone can buy a siren and use it to speed through traffic, but only an official emergency vehicle is legally allowed to do so (Donath, 2008).

Signaling theory has been applied in various areas of research but it is commonly used in explaining applicant attraction to recruiting organizations (Celani & Singh, 2011). An applicant can be influenced by different sources of information and signals about a company’s typical features revealed during recruitment processes (Celani & Singh, 2011). The applicants are recognized to explain several recruitment process related activities and information as signals of unfamiliar organizational attributes (Celani & Singh, 2011), and characteristics and behavior of recruiters (Rynes, 1991).

In marketing, signaling theory has been used to study companies’ signaling to consumers and business-to-business signaling (Erdem & Swait, 1998). Most studies related to companies’ signaling to consumers have examined marketing mix features such as advertising, certificates, 15

and retailer choice as signals of quality (Erdem and Swait,1998; Erdem, Swait & Valenzuaela, 2006). Consumer researchers have also studied the impact of brand name on consumers’ perceptions of quality (Erdem & Swait, 1998).

Signaling theory may be used in situations where information is irregular or asymmetric (Spence, 2002). Signaling theory can be applied both face-to-face and online (Donath, 2008). In face-to-face situations, for instance, much of what people want to know about others is not always directly noticeable (Donath, 2008). Instead, people have to rely on signals, which are observable features and actions that express the presence of hidden characteristics (Donath, 2008). One cannot directly observe others’ beliefs, experiences and their opinions, however, one can rely on signals such as facial expressions, statements they make on their online profiles, and consumption patterns in order to interpret these qualities (Donath, 2008). According to Donath (2008), signaling theory aims to explain what keeps communication honest. In our study, the information irregularities occur within the intended brand associations and the realized brand associations as consumers may perceive the intended associations differently, or they may see something completely new.

Donath (2008) used signaling theory to online social networks and studied the ways in which people send truthful signals online. She showed how Facebook user’s home page serves as a place for exchange of signals. Donath (2008) claimed that one’s visible Facebook friend network signals characteristics related to sociability because a person who lacks friends would not want to keep that information public. Similarly, one can argue that public Instagram profile is a sign for sociability, and therefore attractive for brands to work with.

The signal, signaler, and the signal receiver play the main role within signaling theory. According to Conelly, Certo, Ireland & Reutzel (2011), the signaler is in the role of acquiring information about hidden quality, which is not openly available to the other parties in the situation. In our study the role of signaler belongs to the influencer, and the role of signal receiver belongs to the consumer.

According to Conelly et al. (2011), signals can also be seen as observable actions or information that aims to signify certain, usually positive, qualities that cannot be seen but are meant to affect the signal receivers’ decisions. For instance, influencer marketers may use some symbolic signals (e.g. colors, standing position or product placement) that express their preference 16

towards some aspects of the marketed brand and its products in order to raise the interest of specific categories of stakeholders and therefore affect their decision to buy. In this study, influencers repeatedly bring forward certain features and symbols in their Instagram content in order to make certain attributes more noticeable by the signal receiver.

Moreover, signaling theory and research related to it show that all signals are not equally effective (Celani & Singh, 2011). However, it is possible that signals may be evenly effective but the usefulness may be more relevant in different stages (Celani & Singh, 2011). For instance, instrumental attributes (Celani & Singh, 2011) highlighted in an Instagram image of an influencer (e.g. free delivery or extra discount) may get more interest but symbolic meanings (Celani & Singh, 2011), like influencer’s characteristics and behavior, may actually help to “close the deal”.

2.3 Tribal marketing According to Hamilton and Hewer (2010), the concept of tribes arose from the work of the French social theorist Michael Maffesoli in the middle of 1990s. Contemporary culture is best explained as a period in which mass culture has become tribalized into a collage of fragmentary social groupings (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010). “These neo-tribes are inherently unstable, small scale, affectual and not fixed by any of the established parameters of modern society; instead they can be held together through shared emotions, styles of life, new moral beliefs and consumption practices.” (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010, p. 273). Hamilton and Hewer (2010) argue that with this statement in mind, it is not surprising that such tribes are making a meaningful addition on the Internet, as Web 2.0 facilitates aforementioned participation. The world of networks, thus, has the power to gather communities of like-minded people, overcome usual geo-demographic segmentation and link consumers who share a passion for similar products, activities, or celebrities (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010, Pathak & Pathak-Shelat, 2017). Social media are the most effective channels for tribal marketing, as they provide range of information that consumers share in online communities, for instance reasons for their engagement with the brand (Pathak & Pathak-Shelat, 2017).

E-tribes or virtual communities of consumption can be distinguished by three core features of traditional community – shared consciousness, rituals and traditions, and a sense of obligation to the community and members (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010). Therefore, e-tribes provide consumers with a complex and broad socio-cultural environment from which to draw resources and the openness to mediate the riskiness of exploring new ways of thinking, doing, and being (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010). Table 1 below explains the eight concepts of e-tribes.

Table 1. Eight E’s of e-tribes (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010)

Electronic E-tribes communicate via the medium of the Internet Enculturating E-tribe members learn and adopt the language, practices, rituals, and values of the community Emotive E-tribes generate a high level of emotional involvement from members Expressive E-tribe members engage in creative, product work Empowered E-tribe members gain great satisfaction from the agentic potential of their practices Evangelical E-tribe membership can be compared with a quasi-religious or spiritual experience Emergent E-tribes are self-generated, emerging on their own rather than under the control of a company Entangled Network boundaries overlap and merge

Brand communities have become important in marketing. Marketers should concentrate on recreating and supporting relationships between themselves and consumers, which is also the core of tribal marketing approach (Chanavat & Bodet, 2014). Cova and White (2010) argue that many marketing and consumer-behavior commentators believe that brands have found tools to collaborate with their most loyal consumers and co-create value for the brand. This value means a surplus that belongs to brands that have established a community of enthusiast consumers, as opposed to the brands that have not (Cova & White, 2010). Consumers that belong to communities become naturally enabled in their relationships with companies that manage their favorite brands (Cova & White, 2010). This has led these consumers not only to collaborate with those brands, but also to produce their own interpretations of meanings and strategies

connected with the brands that they prefer (Cova & White, 2010). Hence, the consumer producers of value are not always in-line with what the brand strategists had planned (Cova & White, 2010). Moreover, these consumers can now develop their own brands of themselves, which can be distributed widely using the Web 2.0 (Cova & White, 2010).

The discussion above on tribal marketing and virtual communities is relevant to our study. One can connect the virtual communities with our study’s consumers that make the following base for the Instagram influencers. The tribal marketing theory is in importance to understand the consumers’ tribalization and its effects on brands, and why brands use influencers in their marketing strategies.

2.4 Word of mouth & eWOM It is well established that word of mouth (WOM) is a key concept of modern marketing (Cheung et al., 2008; De Veirman et al., 2017; Litterio et al., 2017). Research has shown that WOM has a stronger effect on consumer decision-making and brand relationship than other traditional marketing activities (Cheung et al., 2008; De Veirman et al., 2017). Consumers perceive the same message from another consumer as more authentic than when coming from an advertiser (De Veirman et al., 2017). Even though consumers have always valued the opinions of their peers, the growing use of social media has made this effect even stronger since it is now easier than ever to share and receive brand opinions (De Veirman et al., 2017). This has sparked a growing interest in using influencer marketing and celebrity endorsement as alternative marketing activities (Litterio et al., 2017). Since influencers often have a very personal relationship with their followers, the effect of word of mouth is strong, and can be used to influence consumer purchasing decisions (De Veirman et al., 2017).

With the rise of social media and digital word of mouth, a new concept of electronic word of mouth (from here on eWOM) has been created. It is defined as “…any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet.” (Hennig-Thurau et al. 2004, p. 39). Consumers can easily share and read brand-related information through social media, and this can have a big impact on consumers’ perceptions of a brand (Litterio et al.,

2017). The concept of eWOM can be seen as the new digital generation’s version of interpersonal communication and has been heavily researched in recent years (Cheung et al., 2008). It is clear that eWOM is now an important part of the online marketing mix, and that it can have a great effect on consumers’ purchasing decisions (Cheung et al., 2008). The concept of WOM is also a big part of the growing use of social media and influencer marketing in the marketing strategies of brands (Litterio et al., 2017). In order to understand the effects and advantages of influencer marketing compared to other types of marketing activities, the theory of WOM has been included in our study as one of the most important concepts. The effect of influencer marketing is in large parts based on WOM.

2.5 Influencer Marketing The fast growth of social media has made it possible for consumers to be more knowledgeable about companies and more demanding of the quality of their products and services (Litterio et al., 2017). Even though today's social media platforms differ in many ways, one of the commonalities is that they are all based on user content. This content is often in regard to brands and products and can influence consumers’ brand perceptions (Litterio et al., 2017).

The strong effect of WOM on consumers’ decision-making processes and brand perceptions is well documented (De Veirman et al., 2017; Litterio et al., 2017). Consumers value the opinion of other individuals higher than traditional marketing messages from companies themselves (De Veirman et al., 2017; Litterio et al., 2017). Social media has made it easier today for consumers to share their opinions with others, which has made WOM an even more crucial part of companies’ marketing strategies. Companies have started to appreciate the effectiveness of influencer marketing and are beginning to enlist celebrities and influencers to endorse their products (Litterio et al., 2017). Influencers are usually defined as people with large followings, often on different social media platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat (De Veirman et al., 2017).

Companies are increasingly trusting on influencer marketing in their marketing activities, to be able to spread content on social media to a large amount of people. Influencers can be seen as hubs in a large network, which makes it possible for their content to be shared to a lot of people

very fast (Litterio et al., 2017). Influencers often have a very strong and personal relationship with their followers, as they share an insight into their personal everyday lives with the content they upload (De Veirman et al., 2017). By having this strong relationship with their followers, influencers are able to influence the brand perceptions and purchasing decisions of a lot of people (De Veirman et al., 2017). Since influencer marketing is usually connected to the usual content the influencers upload to their followers, it can be perceived as more trustworthy and unbiased than many other marketing efforts (De Veirman et al., 2017). This makes it possible for influencer marketing to be more believable and effective than traditional marketing efforts (De Veirman et al., 2017).

2.5.1 Social Media & Instagram Research on social media is still in its early stages and there is not one generally accepted definition of the term (Coelho, Oliveira & Almeida, 2016). However, Boyd & Ellison (2007) suggest defining social media as spaces where users create profiles, articulate themselves, and interact in different levels with other people, brands, and companies. The growth of social media platforms in the last years is clear, and consumer are switching from traditional media to social media to a great extent (Oh, Roumani, Nwankpa & Hu, 2017). Social media gives consumers greater control over the consumption of content, both when it comes to what content to consume and when to consume it (Oh et al., 2017). Traditional media has also been mostly based on one-way communication, while social media is built on the idea of being able to interact with other users (Singhal, 2016). Social media is not only used by consumers but is also an important part of many companies marketing strategies. However, there is still a lot to learn about how to use social media in an effective way (Arli & Dietrich, 2017).

Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms today, with over 800 million monthly users (Instagram, 2018) and producing 1,2 billion likes per day (Penni, 2016). Instagram is based on posting pictures or videos, with a possibility of adding captions and hashtags to describe the content (Manikonda et al., 2014). It is then also possible for other users on the platform to like, comment, and subscribe to other users’ content in the feed. This makes it possible to share pictures and content to a large number of users very quickly (Penni, 2016). There are several reasons why people use Instagram, but according to Lee, Lee, Moon and Sung (2015) the five main reasons are social interaction, archiving, self-expression, escapism, and 21

peeking. Social interaction is about the interaction with other people, as well as following friends and family on the platform. Archiving is about saving your own photos, to be able to look back at them in the future. Self-expression is about getting attention from other and being able to express oneself. Escapism is about being able to focus on something other than your own daily life. Peeking is about consuming content related to, for example, your interests or celebrities you are interested in (Lee et al., 2015). Understanding these reason that consumers have for using Instagram is an important part of being able to effectively use the platform as a marketing tool for companies.

Instagram is a popular platform for influencer marketing (Litterio et al., 2017), with a large user base and good opportunities for spreading content to a lot of people. This study will therefore focus on influencer marketing on Instagram, and how the content can affect brand associations.

2.6 Theoretical model After reviewing the literature, a theoretical model (see Figure 1) has been made based on the theory. This model will be used as a framework for the analysis to be able to answer the research question. In order to understand how influencer marketing affects brand associations, it is necessary to analyze both the intention of the influencer marketing and the reaction of the consumers. Influencers post content that is trying to create different brand associations, which in the model are called Influencer intended associations. The consumers’ reaction to the content will then decide which associations are realized, which in the model are called Consumer realized associations. Analyzing this relationship between intended and realized associations is necessary to understand the effect of influencer marketing on brand associations.

Social Media Platform Influencer Consumer intended realized associations associations

Figure 1. Theoretical model

3 METHODOLOGY

This section explains the methodology of this research paper. The section includes research approach, choice of methodology, time horizon, research strategy, data collection, sample selection, data analysis, and finally the section ends with trustworthiness and ethical considerations of the research.

3.1 Research approach There are three different research approaches: deductive, inductive, and abductive (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The deductive approach uses existing theoretical knowledge in the field to formulate different hypothesis. Data is then collected to be able to empirically test and analyze the hypothesis (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The inductive approach, instead, starts with the data collection and then proceeds to generate theory based on this data (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The distinction between deductive and inductive research is not always clear, as a combination is often used. This can be called an abductive approach and has become more popular in recent years (Bryman & Bell, 2015).

This paper will be using a predominantly deductive research approach. A theoretical framework has been built based on existing theory, and the relationships within this framework will be analyzed with the goal of understanding how they work. But this analysis also had an inductive part to it, since it led to some new knowledge as well. However, since the main goal of this paper is to test and analyze existing theory, a main focus on a deductive approach is better suited than an inductive approach.

3.2 Choice of methodology According to Bryman and Bell (2015), quantitative and qualitative are two different types of research methodologies with different characteristics. Quantitative research method requires collection of numerical data (Bryman & Bell, 2015). According to Bryman and Bell (2015), quantitative research is often characterized as exhibiting certain preoccupations, from which

the most central are measurement, causality, generalization, and replication. It is also described as linear series of steps moving from theory to conclusion (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Quantitative research method is not relevant for our study as the data collected does not include numerical measurements. Qualitative research emphasizes words rather than quantification in the data collection and analysis (Bryman & Bell, 2015). According to Bryman and Bell (2015), qualitative research methods aim to generate concepts to be tested and are, therefore, defined as exploratory methods. Therefore, qualitative method is more appropriate for our research to analyze the collected data.

According to Bitektine (2008), qualitative research methods with a deductive theory testing approach use a comparison of a pattern of observed outcomes with patterns of expected values copied from a given theory. This technique of pattern matching allows outcome evaluation on several aspects (Bitektine, 2008). The pattern matching requires “a theoretical pattern of expected outcomes, an observed pattern of effects, and an attempt to match the two” (Bitektine, 2008, p. 162). In our study, the theoretical model (see Figure 1) has an expected outcome of realized brand associations by the consumers affected by the intended brand associations of the influencers. The semiotic analysis allowed us to find patterns of the intended brand associations effect on realized brand associations.

3.3 Time horizon Two different types of time horizons can be used in research: cross-sectional and longitudinal (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2012). A cross-sectional study collects data at one single point of time, while a longitudinal study collects data over a longer period of time (Saunders et al., 2012). A longitudinal study is usually used to analyze change and development over time (Saunders et al., 2012). The longitudinal design is not used very often in the business and management research field, since it requires a lot of time and resources (Bryman & Bell, 2015). This paper will be using a cross-sectional design, since there is no need to analyze change or development over time. This paper analyzes the current situation and uses data that is as new as possible.

3.4 Research strategy Saunders et al. (2012) argue that there are six different main research designs: experiment, survey, case study, action research, grounded theory, ethnography, and archival research. A case study approach is very popular in business research and is in its most basic form based on the analysis of a single case (Bryman & Bell, 2015). A case study is an in-depth study of an example situation or a small number of situations of a phenomenon (Hyde, 2000). Case studies are often used for when “how” or “why” questions are being asked (Hyde, 2000), when the researcher has little control over events, and when trying to analyze an occurrence in a real-life context (Yin, 1994). The research in this paper satisfies all three of these factors, and therefore a case study approach has been used. A case study design can be described according to two dimensions: single vs. multiple case, and holistic vs. embedded case (Yin, 1994). This paper will be focusing on the single case of Gymshark’s use of influencer marketing on Instagram.

3.4.1 Case selection The Gymshark case can be argued to be the best practice case for our study, since they have based a large part of their successful marketing strategy on influencer marketing on social media. This made it possible to analyze the positive effects of influencer marketing on brand associations. A holistic approach was used towards the Gymshark case, since the focus was on their general use of influencer marketing on Instagram.

Gymshark is a fitness clothing and accessories brand, manufacturer and an online retailer (Gymshark, 2018). Gymshark was established in 2012 in the United Kingdom by Ben Francis and a group of his high school friends (Gymshark, 2018). The company has over 5.2 million social media followers and customers in 131 countries (Gymshark, 2018).

In 2012 Gymshark started as a screen printing operation in a garage, and it has now grown to be one of the fastest growing and most recognized brands in fitness (Gymshark, 2018). The tremendous growth comes from their commitment to producing innovative performance wear, greatly expanding social presence, and a commitment to the Gymshark vision of “Before there is an action, there is an idea.” (Gymshark, 2018).

Gymshark has a community of athletes, artists and visionaries all over the world, and their goal is to bring like-minded individuals together to bring their visions to life (Gymshark, 2018). Gymshark products are a combination of engineering and art, and they want to stay in the forefront of both (Gymshark, 2018). They aim to be “fearlessly progressive” and “consistently future-conscious” in order to be the future (Gymshark, 2018).

3.5 Data collection The primary data has been collected through Instagram’s webapp. 300 pictures and their captions, hashtags, and comments were first collected. The captions refer to the text that each influencer is able to add to their posted content. Similarly, hashtags are shorter tags, which can be added to the caption by the influencer. These hashtags are then searchable by users and are used to increase visibility. The data was collected and structured in an Excel-file to allow sorting and coding.

The pictures, captions and hashtags are all part of the influencer generated content. To analyze this content, a combination of semiotic analysis for the pictures and netnographic analysis for the captions and hashtags were used. This made it possible to explore the intended brand associations of the influencer content. The user comments were used to explore the consumer reaction and perception of the posted content and the intended brand associations with the help of netnographic analysis. According to Bertilsson (2009), collecting data from online interactions makes it possible to obtain people’s naturally occurring discussion, compared to other traditional offline methods of data collection. By collecting the data directly from the Instagram platform instead of, for example, through interviews or focus groups, we were able to get the real users reactions in the same context as the posts were analyzed.

3.6 Sample selection The choice of influencers was based on the official Instagram account of Gymshark (@gymshark on Instagram). They regularly share pictures of their influencers on their account with tags to the influencers’ personal accounts. The accounts were checked for a mention of

Gymshark in the influencers’ profiles. This made it possible to define the sponsored influencers. The sample selection was based on the most recently tagged 15 female and 15 male influencers on the official Gymshark Instagram account as of 25.4.2018.

By collecting data from the most recently tagged influencers, we could make sure that the collected data was as current as possible to make sure the influencers’ posts would be based on the present situation of Gymshark. The decision to choose equal number of female and male influencers was based on achieving a gender balance for the data to reduce the possibility of having a gender bias.

Our goal for the study was to analyze the influencer intended associations and the consumer realized associations from 15 female and 15 male influencers. The aim was to collect the first ten posts from each influencers’ account that met three choosing criteria. First, the post should be clearly about Gymshark. The brand should be seen in the picture, tags, captions, or hashtags. The chosen posts should not be more than 12 months old in order to make sure all the posts have been posted within the same timeframe. We have also excluded videos from the sample selection because videos would need a different analyzing process in comparison to images.

The comments of the analyzed posts were used to explore the consumers’ realized associations with the help of netnographic analysis. Instagram shows only 24 comments on each post when viewed on the webapp unless the user clicks for more. These first 24 comments were selected since they would be read most by the users. Instagram does not provide their algorithm strategies related to the showcasing criteria of these 24 comments to the public. Therefore, we have only been able to make assumptions of how the shown 24 comments have been selected. It seems that if a user with many followers makes a comment, it is likely that their comment will be shown within those 24 comments. Further, if a comment gets many likes or replies it also seems likely that it will be shown. This is especially true if the influencer that posted the content likes or replies to a comment. These assumptions are in line with the general consensus in the popular press (e.g. Vogue, 2018).

3.7 Data analysis The goal of our analysis was to explore what type of posts and intended associations can create negative and positive reactions that will affect the realized brand associations. In order to find these factors, we have analyzed the influencer created content with semiotic and netnographic analysis, and the consumer content with netnographic analysis. Throughout the process of analyzing the posts, we realized that new information was not found after 50 posts had been analyzed for each gender which suggested that we had reached a theoretical saturation point. According to Bowen (2008, p. 140), a saturation point “is the point at which no new insights are obtained, no new themes are identified, and no issues arise regarding a category of data”. Therefore, the analyzed number of posts in total was 100 (see Appendix for details of analyzed content) and coding did not continue further. The Table 2 below shows the username and number of followers of each influencer (as of 25.4.2018) that have been used in the analysis.

Table 2. Influencer sample for analysis

Username (female) Number of followers Username (male) Number of followers jazminsus 228 000 shaunstafford 171 000 fitgurlmel 345 000 stevecook 2 000 000 robingallantt 670 000 uzoma_obilor 494 000 karinaelle 1 100 000 davidlaid 947 000 nikkiblackketter 1 800 000 darrentill2 219 000

3.7.1 Semiotic analysis According to Bryman and Bell (2015) semiotics is a qualitative research method that is able to capture processes in a subjective way that contribute to socially constructed realities. Kucuk (2015), explains semiotics as the study of how meanings can be communicated through signs and symbols as part of social life. “Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as ‘signifying’ something – referring to or standing for something other than itself” (Kucuk, 2015, p. 244). Signs are considered to be the fundamental concepts of semiotics (van Leeuwen, 2005). Semiotic signs can, for instance, be a frown as a sign of disapproval or color red as a sign of danger (van Leeuwen, 2005). Semiotics does not necessarily focus only on the probable meaning of the signs and symbols (Saussurean semiotics) but also on how the meaning of a

symbol is reconstructed by consumer decision situations in broader cultural and social contexts (Peircean semiotics) (Kucuk, 2015).

The Saussurean semiotic perspective indicates more structural semiotics because it focuses on pure text analysis to reveal the effect process of meaning-making (Kucuk, 2015). The Saussurean semiotics focuses on, for instance, a sign and brand logo’s steep meaning (Kucuk, 2015). The Peircean semiotic perspective focuses on a broader and more dynamic semiotics by exploring the ways signs are placed in cultural and social contexts (Kucuk, 2015). The Peircean semiotics explores the placement of the brand logo in an advertisement while examining the relationships between brand identity, slogan, and other possible code systems that affect communication with consumers (Kucuk, 2015). Therefore, our research follows the Peircean semiotic perspective as we concentrate on possible coding systems that affect consumers.

Van Leeuwen (2005) explains semiotics through the three following ideas: 1. Semiotics collects, documents and systematically catalogues semiotic resources, 2. Semiotics investigates how resources are used in specific historical, cultural and institutional contexts, and how people talk about them in these contexts, and 3. Semiotics contributes to the discovery and development of new semiotic resources and new uses of existing semiotic resources. With semiotic resources he refers to “actions and artefacts we use to communicate” (van Leeuwen, 2005, p. 3).

According to van Leeuwen (2005), semiotic research needs an inventory of data before it can be analyzed. For instance, if one was to analyze different ways to style workout leggings, one would collect pictures of people wearing workout leggings. If the research question was related to styling for the gym, the pictures would be collected from moments people are at the proper gym setting, and the pictures would be analyzed accordingly. The analysis could, for instance, be categorized by different age groups or ethnicity.

3.7.2 Netnographic analysis Netnography is an adaption of ethnography used for analyzing consumer behavior and communities online (Kozinets, 2002). In this paper, an unobtrusive method of netnography will be used, which makes it possible to analyze the data in its original context without affecting it 30

(Kozinets, 2002). To analyze the netnographic data, we have included the comments of the selected pictures on the day of data collection from each Gymshark Instagram influencer. The netnographic method is usually based on two parts (adapted from Bolat & O’Sullivan, 2017):

1. Descriptive analysis – Instagram data contains a large amount of information, which includes metadata (e.g. access to information on consumers) and posts. The data is descriptive in nature (Bolat & O’Sullivan, 2017) as, for instance, the following attributes are visible: number of posts, types of content, hashtags, and comments. This paper has used the descriptive analysis mainly to analyze the hashtags to help with the categorization of the posts.

2. Sentiment analysis – Instagram allows social dialogues and commentary using not only likes, but also using written communication and emoji symbols. Sentiment analysis aims to conclude opinions and polarity of opinions by text mining and categorizing the text to differentiate different sentences that communicate positive, negative or neutral meanings (Bolat & O’Sullivan, 2017). This type of analysis has been used primarily to understand the meaning behind comments to the analyzed posts. By analyzing the comments this way, it was possible to get a better understanding for the different positive and negative reactions and associations to the influencer content.

3.7.3 Process of analysis The process of analyzing the relationship between influencer intended brand associations and consumer realized brand associations was divided into two processes. Each post was analyzed separately with the help of semiotic analysis to categorize them into one or more of the three brand association categories based on theories by Keller (1993) and Aaker (1996) described in the literature review earlier. The main categories are: non-product related attributes, product related attributes, and benefits. The Table 3 below explains the categories in more detail. Next, we wanted to find out which specific associations were included in each post. Since the brand association categories are quite general, this last step was necessary to understand the specific context and associations of the Gymshark case.

Table 3. Brand association categories (Keller, 1993)

Association category Explanation Non-product related attribute Price Price is related to the pricing and sales of the product.

User imagery User imagery is related to what type of person that would use the product. Usage imagery Usage imagery is related to what type of situations the product would be used in. Product related attributes Color Product-related attributes are defined as the Design physical features of a product. In this paper Size color, design, and size will be used as categories.

Benefits Functional Functional benefits are usually about basic problem solving and are often related to basic physical needs.

Experiential Experiential benefits are about the way it feels to use the product and are meant to satisfy needs such as cognitive stimulation.

Symbolic Symbolic benefits are often related to different needs for social approval or personal expression.

The analysis of the influencer content is based on the collected posts from Instagram. The process of analyzing the influencer content (see Figure 2) started by collecting the posts, which included pictures, captions and hashtags. The process continued by coding the posts into corresponding brand association categories by using semiotics and netnography. The influencer content analysis ended with extracting associations from the content in order to describe the categories in more detail.

Coding and Extraction of Collection of analysis of associations Defining posts categories in to describe brand (pictures, posts categories association captions, (semiotics (semiotics categories hashtags) and and netnography) netnography)

Figure 2. Analysis of influencer content

The consumers content analysis (see Figure 3) started by collection of the comments based on each post. The process of analyzing the consumer content continued by defining the brand association categories found in the comments. Next, the comments were coded with help of netnography. The analysis process then moved on to extracting associations from the content. The consumer content analysis ended with dividing the consumers’ reactions into positive and negative reactions to explore what type of posts and intended associations create.

Coding and Extraction of Defining brand analysis of Positive/negative Collection of post associations to association categories in reaction? comments describe categories categories comments (netnography) (netnography) (netnography)

Figure 3. Analysis of consumer content

3.8 Trustworthiness According to Lincoln & Guba (1985), the issue in relation to research trustworthiness is simple: “How can an inquirer persuade his or her audiences (including self) that the findings of an inquiry are worth paying attention to, worth taking account of? What arguments can be mounted, what criteria invoked, what questions asked that would be persuasive on this issue?” (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 290). Therefore, it has been found useful to pose the four following questions to oneself (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) presented in the Table 4:

Table 4. Research trustworthiness (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 290)

1. Truth value How can once establish confidence in the "truth" of the findings of a particular inquiry for the subjects (respondents) with which and the context in which the inquiry was carried out? 2. Applicability How can one determine the extent to which the findings of a particular inquiry have applicability in other contexts or what other subjects (respondents)? 3. Consistency How can one determine whether the findings of an inquiry would be repeated if the inquiry were replicated with the same (or similar) subjects (respondents) in the same (or similar) context? 4. Neutrality How can one establish the degree to which the findings of an inquiry are determined by the subjects (respondents) and conditions of the inquiry and not by the biases, motivations, interests, or perspectives of the inquirer?

The truth value in our research is trusted because of the careful consideration of categorization during the semiotic and netnographic analysis. The semiotic analysis has been conducted first in order to gather relevant categories that can all be related to the brand associations. Netnographic analysis followed, which gave us an opportunity to gather comments that were related to the relevant categories. Therefore, we could determine consumer opinions within the same context.

The applicability of our research is trustworthy within a similar context as our study within the sports fashion industry. However, it can be applied to other industries as long as the content categorizing into the brand association categories has been done in relation to the studied brand, and the netnographic analysis have been conducted to support those findings.

The consistency of our study is determined trusted as the findings could be applied in other similar studies. We believe that Instagram influencers and their e-tribes within the sports fashion industry would create similar positive and negative reactions to the brand associations.

Semiotic data within a similar context and industry would be repetitive in nature, which is supported by the fact that our analysis of the content reached a saturation point quickly.

The neutrality of our research is considered trusted because possible biases have been limited and the analysis have been conducted on data that has not been seen before. However, semiotic and netnographic analysis are methods that are based on one’s own personal interpretations.

3.9 Ethical consideration The ethical principles related to business research can be divided into four categories: harm to participants, lack of informed consent, invasion of privacy, and deception (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Since this study does not require any interaction with outside parties and is based solely on publicly available data, the ethical considerations are considerably easier compared to studies based on for example interviews or surveys. All the data is collected from Instagram and is available for anyone with Internet access. The comments collected from Instagram posts can be linked to individual accounts, some of which may be easily linked to real people as well. However, in this paper all comments will be anonymized since the username is not of any relevance for the analysis. The influencer who posted the collected data will be referenced in the paper. But since one of the primary purposes of the posts are to spread them to as many people as possible, one can argue that the inclusion of these posts in this paper will not have any negative effects for the influencer in regard to the previously mentioned categories of ethical principles.

4 ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION

This chapter will present the analysis of the collected data and the discussion of the results. The section starts with the analysis and discussion of the influencer content, which is used to discover the intended brand associations. It then continues with the analysis and discussion of the consumer content, which is used to discover the realized brand associations.

4.1 Influencer content This section is about the analysis and discussion of the influencer content. The influencer content refers the posts shared by the influencers that consist of a picture, caption, and hashtags. This content has been analyzed to discover the intended brand associations.

4.1.1 Intended association categories The analysis of influencer content has been based on 100 influencer posts. The picture, caption, and hashtags of each post has been analyzed to categorize all the posts in to the different brand association categories (see Table 5). The category that was found in most posts was non-product related attributes (user imagery), that was found in 96 out of the 100 posts. There was a clear difference between female and male influencers in the category non-product related attributes (usage imagery), which was found in 31 male influencer posts but only in 12 female influencer posts. The difference in the categories product related attributes (color) and product related attributes (design) was also clear when comparing female to male influencer posts. The category benefits (functional) also had a clear difference between the female and male influencers, being found in 11 female influencer posts and 22 male influencer posts.

Table 5. Found intended association categories

Association categories Number of instances (total) Number of instances (female) Number of instances (male) Non-product related attributes (price) 28 18 10 Non-product related attributes (user imagery) 96 46 50 Non-product related attributes (usage imagery) 43 12 31 Product related attributes (color) 53 36 17 Product related attributes (design) 65 36 29 Product related attributes (size) 9 9 - Benefits (functional) 33 11 22 Benefits (experiential) 4 2 2 Benefits (symbolic) 18 8 10

The difference between male and female influencers’ use of the category of non-product related attributes (price) can be explained by the difference in how they react to reference prices. There are two different types of reference prices, internal reference price (IRP) and external reference price (ERP). IRP consists of the memory of price information from past purchases, while ERP consists of the competing brands’ price information (Briesch, Krishnamurthi, Mazumdar & Raj, 1997; Chen, 2009). It has been found that while males are influenced by IRP more than ERP, females react only to ERP (Choi, Jun Joe & Mattila, 2018). Since the female influencers are usually using the ERP when comparing prices, which is dependent on knowing different brands’ pricing, it would make sense for them to want to spread the pricing as clearly as possible when promoting a product (see Figure 4 in comparison to Figure 5).

Figure 4. Non-product related Figure 5. Non-product related

attributes (price), female attributes (price), male

The use of non-product related attribute (user imagery) associations (see Figure 6 and Figure 7) in the influencer content can be a way to create a brand personality for Gymshark. A brand personality is a way of applying human characteristics to a brand (Aaker, 1997). This makes it possible for consumers to express different dimensions of themselves with the choice of a brand. They can, for example, express their own self, an ideal self, or a specific part of themselves (Aaker, 1997). The brand personality and user imagery associations will also be influenced by the context in which they are being created (Schemer, Matthes, Wirth, & Textor, 2008). In this case, the influencers’ personal brand will most likely affect the intended associations of the content. This means that the personal brand and relationship that the influencers have with their followers will be very important in regards to which user imagery associations are likely to be created.

Figure 6. Non-product related Figure 7. Non-product related attributes (user imagery), female attributes (user imagery), male

Because Gymshark is a fitness apparel brand (Gymshark, 2018), one can assume that its products have been meant to be used during physically intense activities. According to Liu, Li, Mizerski & Soh (2012), non-product related attributes (usage imagery) explain the associations between consumers’ perceptions of the usual use of a brand and what is appropriate regarding the situation of use. Castillo-Mayén and Montes-Berges (2014) confirm in their study that active and physically strong are gender stereotypes that can be assigned to males. Therefore, one can argue that in this case males are more drawn to showcasing situations that the Gymshark’s products have been originally created for. In addition to that, the male influencers presenting the usage of the products more in active situations could be seen as a good way to enhance the association of strength as an intended association (see Figure 9). Specifically, gym settings were common in the male influencers’ posts related to the association of strength. Plaza, Boiché, Brunel and Ruchaud (2017) argued that body building is a sport that can be

stereotyped to be more common with males than females. Therefore, there is also a bigger chance that the male influencers will post gym related content more than females.

Women were more likely to show their results of their workouts, rather than showing the products in action during the workouts. Moreover, the women influencers still had usage imagery present in the posts but in a different way. Their idea of the use of the product can be seen more lifestyle related. The Figure 8 gives an example of the influencer wearing the Gymshark’s sports bra to a basketball game.

Figure 8. Non-product Figure 9. Non-product related attributes (usage related attributes (usage imagery), female imagery), male

User imagery and usage imagery related intended brand associations are both closely related to the assessment signals (Donath, 2008). The intended brand associations that are user imagery and usage imagery related, are often associations related to the physical attributes and abilities of the influencers, and the intended situation of use of the products (Keller, 1993). Therefore, it can be argued that these signaled brand associations are assessment signals. Assessment signals can be seen as a reliable way to signal the intended brand associations because they require possessing the indicated qualities (Donath, 2008). As long as the intended brand associations are also realized associations by the consumers, the influencer is in possession of the indicated quality of being able to signal specific brand associations properly.

Pentecost and Andrews (2010) and Gitimu, Workman and Robinson (2013) argue that gender has a significant effect on fashion involvement. By this they mean that men are likely to be less involved with fashion than females. This could mean that women have more positive attitude towards fashion and have stronger “fanship” (Pentecost & Andrews, 2010) towards the industry. These arguments are in line with the intended brand associations of color and design (product related attributes) in relation to the female influencers showcasing these associations in their posts more than male influencers because the female influencers care about these attributes more. The female influencer in Figure 11 is focusing a lot on the color and design of her outfit in her caption, while the role of design and color in Figure 10 is signaled only in the picture and not discussed more in the caption.

Figure 11. Product related Figure 10. Product related attributes (design & color), attributes (design & color), female male

The greater focus on product related attributes (size) from the female influencers compared to the male influencers could perhaps go deeper than just the size of the clothing. It has been found that women are more dissatisfied with their body shape than men (Demarest, Allen, 2000; Watson, Lecki, Lebcir, 2015). This is in large parts contributed to the fashion industry’s use of underweight female models in their campaigns (Watson et al., 2015). This greater focus on size and weight would mean that females are more concerned and focused on the sizing than males are (see Figure 12).

Figure 12. Product related attributes (size), female

The intended association category of benefits (functional) can be linked to the association category of usage imagery. Because the male influencers show the product more in use in situations that the brand may have intended its products to be used for, this explains why it is easier for the male influencers to create functional brand associations (see Figure 13). This argument is in line with Castillo-Mayén and Montes-Berges (2014) findings related to males to be stereotyped to be more active than women.

As the females could be argued to concentrate more on an overall lifestyle type of image of the usage of the product, it is not as easy to create functional brand associations from everyday life situations (see Figure 14). 43

Figure 14. Benefits Figure 13. Benefits (functional), female (functional), male

Symbolic benefits are usually related to different needs for social acceptance (see Figure 15 and Figure 16) or personal expression, and often in the form of for example prestige, status, or exclusivity (Keller, 1993). Being viewed as a high-end brand and associated with a high social status can make it easier to charge a price premium, since consumers are willing to pay more for these types of products (Chan, To, & Chu, 2015). Showing of this type of associations can therefore be a good sales strategy for Gymshark.

Figure 15. Benefits (symbolic), Figure 16. Benefits (symbolic),

female male

The intended brand associations that are related to the category of symbolic benefits, are related to the conventional signals (Donath, 2008) of signaling theory. The intended symbolic brand associations are often related to social acceptance, status and exclusivity (Keller, 1993). These signals of the symbolic benefits are very easy to manipulate and fake in the context of Instagram. Therefore, they cannot be seen as reliable assessment signals even though these intended brand associations could be also realized. One can argue that there is a risk in signaling manipulated symbolic brand associations. If a consumer realizes that the influencer is not being truthful, it may negatively affect the personal brand and the sponsoring brand behind the influencer.

4.1.2 Found intended associations The Table 6 below shows the mostly occurring intended brand associations by the influencers. Non-product related associations linked to the user imagery were mostly found. Out of 100 analyzed posts 67 included an association fit, which refers to the influencers’ toned body type. 45

This is a good example of a user imagery association, as well as a way of trying to implement a brand personality trait. The second most found association was promotional, which belongs to the category of non-product related attributes, price driven associations. The promotional posts include some kind of sales pitch of a new launch or a sale. Thirdly, friendship was an intended association. This association belongs to the non-product related category under the user imagery. The association of friendship was present when the content had togetherness present with more than one person in the picture. The captions and hashtags complimented this intended association.

Table 6. Most found intended associations

Found associations Number of instances Association category fit 67 non-product related (user imagery) promotional 28 non-product related (price) friendship 27 non-product related (user imagery) happy 18 non-product related (user imagery) strength 18 non-product related (user imagery) motivational 17 non-product related (user imagery) teamwork 13 benefits (symbolic) exciting 11 benefits (symbolic) size 9 product related (size) relaxed 7 non-product related (user imagery) fashionable 6 product related (design) confidence 4 non-product related (user imagery) funny 4 non-product related (user imagery) interraction 4 non-product related (usage imagery) performance 4 benefits (functional) physical 4 non-product related (user imagery) proud 4 benefits (symbolic) adventurous 3 non-product related (user imagery) advice 3 benefits (experiential) comfortable 3 benefits (functional) competitive 3 non-product related (user imagery) concentration 3 benefits (experiential) exhaustion 3 non-product related (usage imagery) inspirational 3 non-product related (user imagery) results 3 benefits (experiential)

Since Gymshark is working with the influencers the intended associations of the influencers’ content should be in line with the brand associations that Gymshark want to achieve. It is therefore no surprise that associations such as fit and strength are some of the most found intended associations, since Gymshark mainly sells sports fashion clothing related to gym training and fitness. The inclusion of the association friendship can also be related to Gymshark’s core value of being a community of athletes all over the world, and “a family of like-minded individuals” (Gymshark, 2018).

The Table 7 below shows the top associations for the female and male influencers. Fit as an association appeared in 43 female influencers’ posts and 24 male influencers’ posts. Promotional associations were visible in 17 female influencers’ posts while only nine male influencers posts had promotional associations. This can be related to the general use of price associations being more common among the female influencers as discussed previously. Female influencers were also signaling happiness more than the male influencers. Similarly, the male influencers captured the associations of strength and motivation more than the female influencers. Both female and male influencers showed elements of friendship in their posts. In the female influencers posts friendship association appeared in 10 posts and 16 times in the male influencers’ posts.

Table 7. Most found intended associations based on gender

Female top associations Number of instances Male top associations Number of instances fit 43 fit 24 promotional 17 friendship 16 happy 14 strength 14 friendship 10 promotional 9 size 9 motivational 7

4.2 Consumer content This section is focused on the analysis and discussion of the consumer content related to the Instagram posts. This content is in the form of user comments and has been used to discover the realized brand associations.

4.2.1 Realized associations The analysis of consumer content has been based on comments related to each of the 100 influencer posts. 24 comments of each post have been analyzed to discover the different realized associations. The Table 8 below shows which associations were most often found in the comments. The association of community was found in the comments of 67 out of the 100 posts and is related to the creation of a community based on interaction between the consumers in the comment section. Fit, strength and attractive were also found in many comment sections and are all related to the influencers appearance in the posts. Both motivational and inspirational were found frequently as well, as the consumers often seem to react to the influencers captions about motivation and inspiration.

Table 8. Most found realized associations

Found associations Number of instances Association category community 67 non-product related (user imagery) fit 55 non-product related (user imagery) motivational 39 non-product related (user imagery) strength 34 non-product related (user imagery) attractive 32 non-product related (user imagery) inspirational 28 non-product related (user imagery) advice 19 benefits (experiential) size 14 product related (size) friendship 13 non-product related (user imagery) funny 13 non-product related (user imagery) winner 10 non-product related (user imagery) results 8 benefits (experiential) promotional 7 non-product related (price) teamwork 6 benefits (symbolic) encouragement 5 benefits (experiential) interaction 5 non-product related (usage imagery) aggressive 3 non-product related (user imagery) design 3 product related (design) competitive 3 non-product related (user imagery)

According to Gymshark (2018), their community of athletes stretches all over the world, and they call themselves “a family of like-minded individuals”. This thinking is in line with the realized associations by the consumers, which can be explained by the tribal marketing theory. Tribal marketing theory aims to explain these like-minded communities or e-tribes by referring 48

to similar interests of people (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010, Pathak & Pathak-Shelat, 2017). One can argue that the consumers following the Gymshark influencers have interest in the sports fashion industry, and more specifically in Gymshark as a brand presenting this fashion segment. Discussion between these community members is most likely common because of the sense of obligation to the community members (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010). The emotive and enculturating nature of e-tribes facilitates high involvement and discussion (Hamilton & Hewer, 2010). This means that when a member has a question, or an interesting comment related to the post, other members have a smaller threshold to respond and keep a conversation going when they already know that they have the similar interests by being on the comment section of the post.

Brown, Broderick and Lee (2007) argue that WOM communication within online communities has a limited social presence in the traditional sense. However, these communities provide social support in specialized relationships (e.g. having similar interests in certain topics), and therefore are becoming an important aspect in social and consumption behavior (Brown et al., 2007). The effects of WOM and eWOM have been shown to have a big impact on consumer purchasing decisions (Cheung et al., 2008; De Veirman et al., 2017). Therefore, one can argue that WOM within Gymshark’s Instagram influencer communities can boost sales.

The associations fit, strength and attractive are all related to the physical traits of the Gymshark’s Instagram influencers. Attractive physical traits are often used in marketing to advertise and promote products by using the “what is beautiful is good” effect to the advantage of the brand (Frevert & Walker, 2014, p. 319). Frevert and Walker (2014) argue that the more attractive influencers are, the likelihood of purchase increases. Therefore, one can argue that the Gymshark influencers are often showing these associations in their posts related to looks because it has been a part of the influencer selection process within Gymshark. Two examples of comments related to the physical attributes of the influencer can be seen below.

“she is so fit”

The arms look big Shaun! ��

In this research, the realized associations of motivational and inspirational were in the top, which indicates that the consumers may see the Gymshark influencers as their role models. Role models are usually seen as individuals motivating other individuals to perform new behaviors and inspire them to set goals (Morgenroth, Ryan & Peters, 2015). However, Morgenroth et al. (2015) do not describe role models as individuals who others look up to because they represent aspirations but rather as individuals on whom others base their evaluation of what makes a desirable character trait, value, or goal. Therefore, the consumers within the Gymshark influencer tribes seem to significantly care about the person representing the brand, and not only the brand. Two examples of comments related to inspiration and motivation can be seen below.

Inspire by being Amazing

You motivate me Shaun lets go !

Based on the previous arguments related to each of the realized associations, it can be said that the nature of the Gymshark brand encourages certain types of associations to be realized. User imagery related brand associations can be argued to be common in the gym fashion industry, as the industry relates to physical appearance and how certain clothing pieces bring some physical attributes out better. This focus on physical appearance is, of course, closely related to the physical associations found in the comments, such as the associations of fit and attractive. The influencers physique is often seen as the goal or ambition for the consumers, which means that associations such as motivational and inspirational are realized often.

4.2.2 Positive realized associations The Table 9 below shows the top positive associations from the comments of the female and male influencers’ posts. Community, fit, and motivation were found often in both female and male influencers’ comments. Strength, funny, and winner were found mostly related to male influencers’ posts. Attractive, inspirational, and advice were, however, mostly found in female influencers’ post comments.

Table 9. Most found positive realized associations based on gender

Female top positive associations Number of instances Male top positive associations Number of instances community 36 strength 33 fit 28 community 31 inspirational 25 fit 27 attractive 24 motivation 17 motivational 22 funny 10 advice 17 winner 10 Comments on the female influencers’ posts are much more likely to be advice related than on the male influencers’ posts. The advice is often related to the body size of the influencer, such as weight, size of clothing, or how-to workout a specific part of the body. This focus on size can be seen in the examples of comments below.

“What size top are you wearing babe? �”

“what’s your current weight? If you don’t mind me asking”

“do u have a video on how to grow ur hips??”

Previous studies also show that women are in general more dissatisfied with their body shape (Demarest, Allen, 2000; Watson, Lecki, Lebcir, 2015), which could explain their greater focus

on changing their bodies to match the fitness of the influencers. An example of this can be seen in this comment:

“I'm trying to get like you :,)”

The fact that attractive is a top realized association for female influencers, while strength is a top realized association for male influencers, could be an indication of how the different genders’ physiques are perceived by consumers. Studies have found that females are more often depicted in a sexualized way than men (Lambiase, 2003), which would explain the difference in focus from attractive to strength that can be seen in the example comments below.

“So beautiful ��”

“Monster!!!! ��”

4.2.2 Negative realized associations The Table 10 shows the negative associations that were found in the comments, sorted by gender. The most found negative association related to the female influencers’ posts was size. The consumers expressed their frustration in the comment section when an influencer did not include their own measurements in the caption or did not reply to the questions of what size of an item they were wearing in the picture. On the male influencers’ posts there were several accusations of doping and faking their images. There were also some comments with negative associations related to sexuality (gay) and being weak.

Table 10. Found negative realized associations based on gender

Female negative associations Number of instances Male negative associations Number of instances size 9 doping 12 color presentation 1 fake 7 restocking 1 sexuality (gay) 4 weak 4 size 1 ugly 1 racism 1

Our research found that males are more likely to get negative, bullying-like, comments from their followers. However, this goes against literature discussing about cyberbullying. Based on the literature, females are more likely to be engaged in cyberbullying than males (Beckman, Hagquist & Hellström, 2013; Connell, Schell-Busey, Pearce & Negro, 2014).

The male influencers were mostly accused of using doping, which then mirrored to being accused of faking the pictures even though their profiles would state that they are “natural bodybuilders”. Without knowing the background of the consumers commenting the posts, one could argue that jealousy would be a simple explanation behind these comments. It may be that the negative consumers see the male influencers’ user imagery to be unattainable and, therefore, leads to hateful commenting. Examples of these types of comments can be seen below.

“Admit you take steroids and I won't be mad bro. You aren't fooling anyone.”

“Lol "natural"”

“Natural lol”

“Fake. Fake. Fake ”

Negative comments related to sexuality were also common within the communities of the male influencers, one example can be seen below. Professionals and institutions often link homophobia to individuals’ personal problems, rather than calling it a social problem, and that it could be even culturally learned (Formby, 2013). Formby’s (2013) research argues that the word “gay” has changed meaning and evolved. First, the meaning of the word has referred to “happy”, then it has evolved to “homosexual”, and finally to “stupid” (Formby, 2013). The study found that the use of word “gay” does not have anything to do with the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) communities themselves but calling someone gay is slang, and therefore not meant to be offensive to the LGBT community (Formby, 2013). Therefore, the negative realized associations related to the word gay may have nothing to do with the sexuality of the influencers. One can argue that the meaning behind it leans more towards “stupid” as Formby (2013) suggested, and is therefore linked to a form of cyberbullying.

“Your looking gay right here champ”

The female influencers’ followers were mostly concentrated on the clothing and influencers’ size, two examples of this can be seen below. Because women are generally more dissatisfied with their body image than men (Demarest & Allen, 2000; Watson et al., 2015), it is reasonable to argue that women would want the clothing items to fit as perfectly as possible. If the female consumers, however, do not get an answer for their questions related to the size, it can lead to frustration and therefore prevent them from buying the products because they are unsure about the fit.

“What size are you in these � ?“

“How tall are you, because i am 1,60cm and I don't know if this bottoms would fit me by length �”

5 CONCLUSION

This section will present the conclusions of this research paper. It will also discuss the theoretical and methodological contributions, as well as the managerial implications. The section ends with the limitations of this paper as well as with discussing future research suggestions.

5.1 Conclusions This study was done in the context of Instagram with help of semiotic and netnographic analysis. The purpose of the research was to explore how influencer marketing can affect brand associations. To understand this, the case of Gymshark and their influencer marketing on Instagram was analyzed. The aim was to find out what kind of brand associations the Gymshark Instagram influencers intended to create and which associations were actually realized by the consumers.

Our study found that the intended and realized brand associations are not always the same. The intended brand associations created by the influencers are not always realized by the consumers, and the realized brand associations by the consumers are not always intended by the influencers. However, all intended brand associations are signals to the consumers, that may or may not be realized. It should also be noted that some intended positive brand associations may also be realized as negative associations by the consumers. This could happen when an influencer tries to signal an association that is not genuine or truthful. If the consumers don’t believe the intended brand association, the realized association may instead become negative. A good example of this is an influencer trying to signal natural strength but consumers perceive the signal as not truthful, which leads to the realized associations related to faking the content.

There are previous studies that show that the context of the brand placement will affect how consumers perceive it. For example, we found that the influencer’s personal brand will affect how the consumers react to the content and which realized associations are created. A clear example of this is the accusations of doping that was very prevalent on one of the influencer’s posts. Doping accusations were present on several influencers’ posts, but this particular

influencer had doping accusations on almost all of his analyzed posts. Even though the posts were not that different from other influencer’s posts, his previous reputation and personal brand was related to doping. This meant that the realized brand associations of Gymshark was negatively affected by the influencer’s pre-existing personal brand.

Our analysis revealed some interesting gender differences related to the intended and realized brand associations. Both female and male influencers posted content that was trying to create brand associations related to the user imagery and usage imagery categories. However, there was a clear difference in which types of associations were both intended and realized. Females focused mostly on associations related to size and attractiveness, while male influencers focused more on associations related to strength and performance. This can be explained by the different gender stereotypes, where males are more athletic and focused on physical activity. The consumer realized association also reflect this, with a much bigger focus on the attractiveness and size associations on the female influencers’ posts. The female consumers seemed to want to become like the influencer, and they often asked about the influencer’s size or advice on how to look like them.

Contrary to some previous studies, we found that the comments on the male influencers’ posts were more often negative than those on the female influencers’ posts. The comments on the male influencers’ posts were often in the form of personal insults or accusations about doping, while the negative comments that did exist on the female influencers’ posts were mostly in regard to a frustration about missing product size information. Previous studies have found that females are more likely to be cyberbully victims than males, but this paper found that the opposite was true. However, since the number of total negative comments was relatively small, it is difficult to draw any general conclusions regarding this.

5.2 Theoretical contributions Our study focuses on the intended brand associations created by the Instagram influencers of Gymshark, and the realized brand associations created by the consumers and community members of the Instagram influencers. At the moment, studies that combine semiotic analysis in the context of Instagram, are focusing mainly on branding in general, rather than discussing

brand associations from different perspectives. Studies that use Instagram as the context are often concentrating on engagement on the platform. Additionally, studies that focus on brand associations concentrating on semiotic analysis have been done by analyzing the brands’ own campaigns. Therefore, this paper adds new knowledge to the theoretical field of understanding brand associations in the context of influencer marketing on social media in several ways.

This research paper has found that significant differences exists between females and males, both regarding the influencer content and the consumer content. Traditional gender stereotypes, such as men being more physically active and women caring more about their body image, has a strong effect on both the intended and realized brand associations. Contrary to some previous research, it was also found that males are more often victims of cyberbullying than females. The small sample of negative comments in this paper does however mean that it is difficult to draw any general conclusions about this.

5.3 Methodological contributions The use of semiotic and netnographic analysis to explore the intended and realized brand associations of influencer marketing is new in the context of Instagram. By using these methods of analysis, it is possible to analyze the effects of influencer marketing on brand associations without leaving the context of Instagram, which would not be possible with traditional methods such as interviews or focus groups. By using these methods, this paper is able to base the analysis on the consumers’ perspective, in the form of user comments. This makes it possible to explore the realized brand associations, in relation to the intended brand associations. This approach means that it is possible to discover the effect of the influencer content on the consumers.

The critical perspective of this paper, trying to find both negative and positive effects, makes it possible to uncover the downsides and problems with influencer marketing. By analyzing the relationship between the intended associations and the negative realized associations of a post, it is possible to explore the triggers of different negative reactions.

5.4 Managerial implications This research has several managerial implications for marketing managers in the sports fashion industry. It is important for managers to focus on both intended and realized brand associations. When using influencer marketing, it is not possible to expect that only the intended brand associations, connected to the influencer’s content, will be realized. It is essential to also explore the consumer content to understand their reaction and what associations are actually realized. The realized associations are often not exactly the same as the intended associations and can even consist of un-intended associations.

Further, it is of great importance to consider the influencers’ personal brand image when working with them. If an influencer signals negative associations that can be related to their personal brand they have created, there is a chance that the promoted brand, like Gymshark, would be hurt by these negative associations. Managers therefore needs to consider the match between the influencer’s personal brand and the company brand before starting an influencer marketing campaign. Finding a good match will decrease the risk of creating un-intended brand associations.

In the sports fashion industry sizing of the products has a big importance for the female consumers. Therefore, it would be valuable for the brands to make sure that sufficient information of the sizing is available through the influencers. It is likely that the consumers would prefer to ask sizing advice from the influencers, rather than the companies because they can already relate to the influencers on a personal level. As the influencers get hundreds and thousands of comments, it would be helpful to include the sizing information in the caption of the social media post to avoid frustration in the comment section.

Lastly, in the analysis it was clear that several traditional gender stereotypes affected both the intended and the realized brand associations. Managers should therefore be aware of how the intended brand associations of the influencer marketing relate to gender stereotypes of the consumers. For example, males are stereotypically more athletic than females, which makes it easier to create brand associations related to strength for males.

5.5 Limitations and future research suggestions This research is not without limitations. The study focuses only on one case company within the sports fashion industry, which means that generalization is difficult as sports fashion varies from gym wear to golf and swimming. The results of the study are, therefore, applicable only on similar case companies within the sports fashion industry. Future research could therefore compare the effect of influencer marketing on brand associations in other industries and companies.

Due to time restrictions in the writing of this paper, a limited number of consumer comments has been analyzed. By expanding the analysis to cover more than 24 comments per post in future research, it might be possible to gain some additional knowledge. Analyzing more comments per post could for example make it possible to get a deeper understanding of the interaction and discussions between consumers and with the influencers in the comment section. Overall, further empirical research is still necessary to understand the value of Instagram communities on brand associations.

This paper has focused its analysis of influencer marketing on the social media platform Instagram. In future research it could be interesting to extend this analysis to other platforms, such as Facebook, Snapchat, or YouTube. This would make it possible to discover what type of differences exist between the different social media platforms, and how the choice of platform will affect how brand associations can be created.

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APPENDIX

Analyzed content Negative user associations Negative attributes related product size, presentation (color) size Positive user associations Positive promotional advice, attractive, attractive, fit, moitvational, community fun attractive, fit, community, friendship, love inspirational, (for cultures), respect fit attractive, motivational, Associations fit relaxed fit, promotional, fit, interraction thankful, happy, size, friendship, fit fit happy, interraction, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-04-19 2018-04-09 2018-03-16 2018-03-12 2018-03-10 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh w5QzFhA_u/?taken- by=robingallantt https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh XIoqGBQKv/?taken- by=robingallantt https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg ZPX1tBPff/?taken- by=robingallantt https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg PPL7OhE7M/?taken- by=robingallantt https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg J8Tvnhf5q/?taken- by=robingallantt F F F F F Gender

Influencer robingallantt robingallantt robingallantt robingallantt robingallantt

Negative user associations Negative size size Positive user associations Positive inspirational community, inspirational, community, attractive results, community, friendship, fun attributes related product advice community, (color), community advice, inspiring, Associations happy, fit happy, results fit, friendship fit, results, fit happy, relaxed fashionable, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color), attributes (functional) benefits related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-03-08 2018-03-07 2018-03-05 2018-03-03 2018-02-27 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg E3ZsdB1EP/?taken- by=robingallantt https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg CRT3MBaNP/?taken- by=robingallantt https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf 9CQw5BhF3/?taken- by=robingallantt https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf 34opRhVtu/?taken- by=robingallantt https://www.instagram.com/p/Bft xZhjBe4T/?taken- by=robingallantt F F F F F Gender

Influencer robingallantt robingallantt robingallantt robingallantt robingallantt

Negative user associations Negative size Positive user associations Positive motivational, attractive, fit, inspiring community, community motivational, fit, community motivational, community attractive, fit, motivational, attractive, fit, community Associations size, fit, comfortable, comfortable, fit, size, promotional interraction, gaming, promotional, fit, happy fit, teamwork, firndship, happy exciting, fit funny, happy, fit, friendship Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related (design) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (symbolic) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) 2018-04-05 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-04-26 2018-03-25 2018-03-10 2018-02-16 2018-02-01 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi BRIbUnEmZ/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg wkgIahqO1/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg IOcedhXAD/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf Q6q16hNuy/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter https://www.instagram.com/p/Be o8rSsB0cR/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter F F F F F Gender

Influencer nikkiblackketter nikkiblackketter nikkiblackketter nikkiblackketter nikkiblackketter

Negative user associations Negative restocking size Positive user associations Positive advice, inspiring, motivational, attractive community, attractive, inspiring, friendship, community fit, community, motivational, fit, funny community attractive, fit, funny, fit, attractive, community Associations fit, motivational, motivational, fit, determination, confidence friendship, promotional, fit happy, teamwork, confidence fit, happy, non- promotional, attributes related product fit, advice, size, (price), proud, teamwork promotional gaiming, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (symbolic) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color) attributes related 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-01-18 2018-01-11 2017-12-21 2017-11-20 2017-11-19 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Be Gnz-Hhwty/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd 0MD6hBrCf/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc 8fpocheLq/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb uJbEyhfsa/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb sGSXNBMfV/?taken- by=nikkiblackketter F F F F F Gender

Influencer nikkiblackketter nikkiblackketter nikkiblackketter nikkiblackketter nikkiblackketter

Negative user associations Negative Positive user associations Positive friendship, inspirational, fit community, advice, community fit, inspirational, attractive fit, community, fit, inspiring, motivational, attractive attractive inspirational, Associations friendship, happy, fit, fit, happy, friendship, relaxed fit, relaxed, fashionable, funny fit fit unique, friendship, happy, fit, teamwork adventurous, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), (symbolic) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related (design) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), benefits (functional), product (symbolic), attributes related (design) 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-03-20 2018-03-19 2018-03-05 2018-01-23 2018-01-13 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg jpaGDleMU/?taken- by=karinaelle https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg fRsiOlDka/?taken-by=karinaelle https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf 7dxBwlHCE/?taken- by=karinaelle https://www.instagram.com/p/Be TC7__FREV/?taken- by=karinaelle https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd 5ynL-l1kL/?taken-by=karinaelle F F F F F Gender

Influencer karinaelle karinaelle karinaelle karinaelle karinaelle

Negative user associations Negative Positive user associations Positive fit, attractive, motivational, advice community, authentic, strong, attractive, community funny, fit, community, attractive fit, attractive, community, motivational attractive, strong, fit, motivational community, Associations fit, comfortable fit, fit, friendship, happy teamwork, fit, friendship, happy, teamwork, promotional proud promotional, fit, happy, fit, exciting, teamwork Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), product (functional), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes benefits imagery), (experiential) related non-product (user imagery) attributes 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-01-09 2018-01-08 2018-01-04 2017-12-28 2017-11-21 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd vNmEcFCX1/?taken- by=karinaelle https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd swK7PFRRb/?taken- by=karinaelle https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd iN0pGllR8/?taken-by=karinaelle https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd QjT7PlwhT/?taken-by=karinaelle https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb xAIQGFx_N/?taken- by=karinaelle F F F F F Gender

Influencer karinaelle karinaelle karinaelle karinaelle karinaelle

Negative user associations Negative size Positive user associations Positive proudness motivational, fit, inspiring, motivational, advice inspiring, motivational, community fit inspiring, motivational, fit inspiring, moitvational, Associations proudness strong, fit, inspirational, motivational, promotional fit, inspirational, promotional strong, fit, inspirational, promotional fit promotional, advising, Categories benefits (symbolic) (symbolic) benefits attributes related product benefits (size), (functional) attributes related product benefits (color), (symbolic) attributes related product benefits (design), non- (functional), attributes related product (user imagery) attributes related product non-product (design), (user attributes related imagery) 2018-05-03 2018-05-03 2018-05-03 2018-05-03 2018-05-03 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-04-21 2018-04-19 2018-03-12 2018-01-30 2018-01-26 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh z7cg0jazY/?taken-by=jazminsus https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh w_Kh9ju-b/?taken-by=jazminsus https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg M4FLAjfKk/?taken- by=jazminsus https://www.instagram.com/p/Be ltHf8FPl9/?taken-by=jazminsus https://www.instagram.com/p/Be ZS5aoju1F/?taken-by=jazminsus F F F F F Gender

Influencer jazminsus jazminsus jazminsus jazminsus jazminsus

Negative user associations Negative size Positive user associations Positive fit community, inspiring, - fit inspiring, motivational, size, community, inspiring, advice inspiring, motivational, advice community, Associations lilac, fit, motivational, motivational, fit, lilac, fashionable relaxed, non-personal, calm exciting, promotional, interesting promotional, exclusive, sentimental carefree fit, motivational, Categories product related attributes attributes related product benefits (color), non-product (symbolic), (user attributes related imagery) related non-product (user imagery) attributes attributes related product non-product (design), (user attributes related imagery) attributes related product non-product (color), (user attributes related benefits imagery), (symbolic) related non-product (usage attributes benefits imagery), (experiential) 2018-05-03 2018-05-03 2018-05-03 2018-05-03 2018-05-03 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-01-20 2017-12-02 2017-11-15 2017-09-16 2017-05-15 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Be J7Gxaj-Fh/?taken-by=jazminsus https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc L1PoXjwit/?taken-by=jazminsus https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb f5ImIjQNY/?taken- by=jazminsus https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ Fl9p5lbJ1/?taken-by=jazminsus https://www.instagram.com/p/B UGmtRll4v_/?taken- by=jazminsus F F F F F Gender Influencer jazminsus jazminsus jazminsus jazminsus jazminsus

Negative user associations Negative Positive user associations Positive inspiring, motivational, community advice, attractive, community advice, attractive, inspiring, motivational, advice fit, attractive, product inspiring, motivational, (color), attributes related fit community, community advice, attractive, Associations promotion, fit, size fit, promotion, fit exciting, friendship, fit, exciting, promotional, messy fit size, size, promotional, fearless confident, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color) attributes related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color) attributes related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-04-10 2018-03-08 2018-03-07 2018-02-22 2018-01-26 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh XlqQZgaGO/?taken- by=fitgurlmel https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg Cl4mBA26v/?taken- by=fitgurlmel https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg AKG4ygQgS/?taken- by=fitgurlmel https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf gbmfwAbcV/?taken- by=fitgurlmel https://www.instagram.com/p/Be avlZ0AKGi/?taken- by=fitgurlmel F F F F F Gender Influencer fitgurlmel fitgurlmel fitgurlmel fitgurlmel fitgurlmel

Negative user associations Negative size Positive user associations Positive community advice, inspirinc, advice, motivational, fit community, proud, inspiring, motivated, promotional friendship, inspiring, advice community, inspiring, motivational, fit advice, strength, Associations relaxed, fit, confident, confident, fit, relaxed, size comfortable, promotional size, fit, motivational fit, size, fit friendship, motivational, fit, determination Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color) attributes related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color), attributes (functional) benefits related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-01-10 2018-01-06 2018-12-26 2017-11-28 2018-10-27 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd yEyTjA-Ui/?taken-by=fitgurlmel https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd n6dhkAwuY/?taken- by=fitgurlmel https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd JXqrLALoN/?taken- by=fitgurlmel https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc DRFcbg3jC/?taken- by=fitgurlmel https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba ui_FeApsp/?taken-by=fitgurlmel F F F F F Gender Influencer fitgurlmel fitgurlmel fitgurlmel fitgurlmel fitgurlmel

Negative user associations Negative fake doping, weak doping, racism doping, doping fake doping, Positive user associations Positive interaction, encouragement, advice size, results, strength, strength, promotional, fit, community strength, promotional, teamwork, friendship, community fit, results, inspiration, strength, promotion focus, motivation, strength promotional, Associations promotional, exciting, exciting, promotional, concentration strengths, fit, focused, motivational, performance exciting friendship, fit strength, motivational strength, fit, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), product (functional), attributes related benefits (design), (symbolic) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related imagery) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (functional) 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-04-12 2018-04-06 2018-03-10 2018-03-23 2018-02-25 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh e7059HLZj/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh NeHSWHeUE/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg H2v2rH5zS/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg pv7aNHqrg/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf mcFt4Hdky/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor M M M M M Gender Influencer uzoma_obilor uzoma_obilor uzoma_obilor uzoma_obilor uzoma_obilor

Negative user associations Negative fake doping fake, steroids doping, fake, Positive user associations Positive community fit, fashionable, strength, religious, community, fit inspiration, results, motivation, community, strength fit, friendship, teamwork, family, fit, strength, motivation, attractive community, strength, motivation rolemodel, Associations fashionable, fashionable, happy promotional, motivational strength, fit, motivational, fit, promotional, interraction strength, friendship, diversity, teamwork happiness, results fit, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related benefits (design), (symbolic) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (symbolic) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (symbolic) 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-03-01 2018-02-13 2018-02-14 2018-01-09 2017-12-21 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf zH22zn28q/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf HusTYHcrn/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf MPOwqHvbn/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd vY88XHa9r/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc- gijyH2a9/?taken- by=uzoma_obilor M M M M M Gender Influencer uzoma_obilor uzoma_obilor uzoma_obilor uzoma_obilor uzoma_obilor

Negative user associations Negative (gay) sexuality size Positive user associations Positive size results, strength, funny, fit, strength, funny, fit, community promotional, product exciting, adventure, (design) attributes related non- community, inspiration, attributes related product size (price), attributes related product good- fit, community, (design), looking Associations funny fit promotional, proud, adventurous, fit, strength, teamwork, concentration friendship, freetime, friendship, fashionable relaxed, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color), attributes (functional) benefits related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related benefits (design), (symbolic) 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-05-03 2018-04-09 2018-03-30 2018-03-20 2018-03-11 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi TDdtOAeGM/?taken- by=stevecook https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh XFM2VH7Vc/?taken- by=stevecook https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg 8-l37nx2Q/?taken-by=stevecook https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg jq6A5hJf1/?taken-by=stevecook https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg LZTqHBvMU/?taken- by=stevecook M M M M M Gender Influencer stevecook stevecook stevecook stevecook stevecook

Negative user associations Negative Positive user associations Positive fit, motivation, community, attractive friendship, fit strength, funny, community, rolemodel, community, fit, strength motivation, high strength, fashionable, community quality, happiness, epic, strength, funny adventurous, exciting, Associations friendship, happy, happy, friendship, diversity fit promotional, fit promotional, fashionable, fit promotional, happy adventurous, Categories non-product related related non-product (user imagery) attributes related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), (experiential) 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-03-07 2018-03-06 2018-03-04 2018-02-23 2018-02-19 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg CcbEon0cF/?taken- by=stevecook https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf _zK-lHEwe/?taken- by=stevecook https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf 4WTX2nlpK/?taken- by=stevecook https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfi 5qzJn2Dc/?taken-by=stevecook https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf YbZpcn5mf/?taken- by=stevecook M M M M M Gender Influencer stevecook stevecook stevecook stevecook stevecook

Negative user associations Negative doping bellends, Positive user associations Positive strength, motivation, teamwork, encouraging friendship, motivation, fit, strength, interaction, encouragement, promotional community, motivation, teamwork, results, strength, community, friendship encouraging, interaction, motivation strength fit, funny, attractive, Associations teamwork, motivation, motivation, teamwork, strength happy, strength, fit, friendship, exciting strength friendship, performance, charity, motivation, funny strength, Categories non-product related related non-product (usage attributes non-product imagery), (user attributes related benefits imagery), (experiential) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), product (functional), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (usage attributes non-product imagery), (user attributes related benefits imagery), (functional) related non-product (usage attributes non-product imagery), (user attributes related product imagery), attributes related benefits (design), benefits (functional), (symbolic) 2018-05-04 2018-05-08 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-04-17 2018-04-26 2018-04-05 2018-04-04 2018-03-28 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh rrhefhHGQ/?taken- by=shaunstafford https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi CyxZoBk9F/?taken- by=shaunstafford https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh Mu45wh_sn/?taken- by=shaunstafford https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh KILDtBQWo/?taken- by=shaunstafford https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg 4DdVhhMj3/?taken- by=shaunstafford M M M M M Gender Influencer shaunstafford shaunstafford shaunstafford shaunstafford shaunstafford

Negative user associations Negative Positive user associations Positive friendship strength, funny, fit, motivation, interaction, encouragement attractive, fit, motivation, strength strength, interaction, funny community, fit, strength, friendship, fit attractive, teamwork, Associations friendship, strength, strength, friendship, performance, motivation, fit performance, motivation, fit motivational, strenght, competition promotion, friendship, teamwork, motivational fit, strength, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes benefits imagery), product (functional), attributes related (design) related non-product (user attributes benefits imagery), product (functional), attributes related (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), (color), attributes related attributes related product benefits (design), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), product (symbolic), (color) attributes related 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-03-06 2018-03-05 2018-02-23 2018-02-13 2018-01-19 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf _idnqBHZG/?taken- by=shaunstafford https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf 9AmvcBiXE/?taken- by=shaunstafford https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfi _r8zBBM0/?taken- by=shaunstafford https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf JemSyhhWo/?taken- by=shaunstafford https://www.instagram.com/p/Be I6tDehFRO/?taken- by=shaunstafford M M M M M Gender Influencer shaunstafford shaunstafford shaunstafford shaunstafford shaunstafford

Negative user associations Negative doping Positive user associations Positive fit, motivation, community, advice attributes related product fit, strength, (design), teamwork strength work, hard fit, fit, community fit, motivation, results strength, fit, community, Associations fit exciting friendship, promotional exciting, fit, friendship fit, friendship fit, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color) attributes related non-product (user imagery) attributes related non-product (user imagery) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related related product (design), (color), attributes (symbolic) benefits related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), benefits (symbolic), (functional) 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-03-11 2018-03-10 2018-03-08 2018-03-01 2018-02-25 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg L5nGLFAOi/?taken- by=davidlaid https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg IlCEmld-F/?taken-by=davidlaid https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg DdRKYlJva/?taken- by=davidlaid https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf y51JMlJfy/?taken-by=davidlaid https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf odqByFaYs/?taken-by=davidlaid M M M M M Gender Influencer davidlaid davidlaid davidlaid davidlaid davidlaid

Negative user associations Negative (photoshop) fake doping, gay fake, doping, ugly Positive user associations Positive results fit, community, strength, community attractive, fit, strength, fit, community, inspiraton attractive, attractive funny, community, friendship community, Associations fit, encouraging, encouraging, fit, advice, motivational, fit dark strength, fit, promotional exciting, fit, friendship fit, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), product (functional), attributes related (design) related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), (functional) related non-product (user imagery) attributes related non-product (user attributes product imagery), attributes related benefits (design), (symbolic) 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-02-24 2018-02-16 2018-02-11 2017-12-31 2017-11-21 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf kgvHWlT1E/?taken- by=davidlaid https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf Q-RQHF-E9/?taken- by=davidlaid https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf EOZU8l45d/?taken-by=davidlaid https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd YgQ0AlCpO/?taken- by=davidlaid https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb vuY1fFOl3/?taken-by=davidlaid M M M M M Gender Influencer davidlaid davidlaid davidlaid davidlaid davidlaid

Negative user associations Negative loser weak (gay) sexuality feminity Positive user associations Positive community, winner, competetive funny, encouragement, effort, winner, competetive, motivation work, hard effort, community, winner strength, support, encouragement, competetive, winner, physical aggressive, community, winner, funny aggressive, Associations friendship workout effort, physical, competative, strength exhauston physical, competative, teamwork strength, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related imagery) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), (color), attributes related (functional) benefits related non-product (user attributes product imagery), (color) attributes related related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), (functional) 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-04-29 2018-04-19 2018-04-08 2018-04-08 2018-04-07 1 2 3 4 5 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi KqtIxlDlU/?taken-by=darrentill2 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh v2FncFUGc/?taken- by=darrentill2 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh TxjIfl7KU/?taken-by=darrentill2 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh SmhWhFWUC/?taken- by=darrentill2 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh Rbl-ElViS/?taken-by=darrentill2 M M M M M Gender Influencer darrentill2 darrentill2 darrentill2 darrentill2 darrentill2

Negative user associations Negative Positive user associations Positive winner, strength, community, physical winner, strength, community, motivation champion, winner, community, local strength, motivation, strength winner, community, aggressive champion, winner, Associations physical, aggressive, aggressive, physical, winning exhauston, concentration friendship aggressive, physical, winning exhauston, teamwork friendship, Categories non-product related related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related imagery) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related product imagery), attributes related (design) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related benefits imagery), (functional) related non-product (user attributes non-product imagery), (usage attributes related imagery) 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 2018-05-04 Data collection date Data collection Post date 2018-03-30 2018-03-29 2018-03-26 2018-03-13 2018-03-05 6 7 8 9 10 Post Postlink https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg 9RpAXFbnv/?taken- by=darrentill2 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg 6vDCPlnxn/?taken- by=darrentill2 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg yXgDyFSae/?taken- by=darrentill2 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg RRgxPBSVq/?taken- by=darrentill2 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf 8UBZtBn3k/?taken- by=darrentill2 M M M M M Gender

Influencer darrentill2 darrentill2 darrentill2 darrentill2 darrentill2