HOW TO WIN FANS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AND THOSE THEY INFLUENCE BY EMILY WHITSTON-LEE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES (MCS) NOVEMBER 25 2019 SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES 1 ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly acknowledged), nor material that to a substantial extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning. Signed: Emily Rose Whitston-Lee 25 November 2019 2 Abstract With the rise of social media in the past decade there has been very little documentation or research that considers the advent of social media opinion leaders, or influencers, and their relationship with their followers (those influenced) on social media channels. This research analyses the relationship between social media influencers and those they influence through their interactions in the comment sections of YouTube videos. A qualitative analysis measures the interactions between the influencer and the influenced, using open coding (Thomas, 2006) and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This analysis draws on the comment sections in three YouTube videos from each of the four influencers in the beauty industry: Shaaanxo, Kandee Johnson, MannyMUA and Jeffree Star, and looks at the top hundred comments from these videos. The research has a key focus on the role of the influenced, as this is largely absent from current research. The interactions between the influencer and influenced allow for clarity as to how the influenced view the influencer. This also helps to demonstrate a collective attitude by those influenced towards the influencer, and provides a view of how the influenced interact about the influencer, as opposed to with the influencer. This thesis finds that the dynamic between the influencer and the influenced can be summarised as a one-sided friendship, on the side of the influenced, with the influencer rarely acknowledging their following. Additionally, the influenced see themselves in a community led by the influencer. This finding is unique in that it focuses primarily on the influenced. I find that more research is needed in order to understand how the influencer operates, specifically considering the role of the influenced. Keywords: Social media, influencers, influenced, Shaaanxo, Kandee Johnson, MannyMUA, Jeffree Star, public relations, communications studies, social media research, influencer-influenced dynamic, thematic analyses, open coding, YouTube, beauty industry, followers 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Primarily, I must thank my supervisor, Dr Averill Gordon. Without your wisdom, patience, empathy and wit I do not doubt my sanity would have left the building a long time ago. It has been a delight working with you on this, and our conversations will be a fond memory. I know I have found a friend for life in you. Secondly, I need to thank my family for their compassion on the days where the mental fatigue was too much and moving seemed beyond me. Thank you for encouraging me to be my best self and never letting me settle. Michelle, Roland and Josh, you are the foundation that allows me to flourish. To my work family, thank you for letting me rant and ramble about a topic and a thesis that I am sure never really interested you. An extra thanks to Pip and Russ Baunton — thank you for your support and kindness. You have allowed me to gain experience whilst writing and for that I can never thank you enough. Russ, thank you for being my unofficial second advisor, your help has been invaluable. Lastly, thanks to any friend who told me to keep going, listened when I needed to just talk out ideas, or pretended that this research was fascinating. An added note of thanks to Celine Dion, Cher and Michael Bolton, whom I have listened to religiously throughout this writing process. I can now say that I ‘Believe’ that ‘My Heart Will Go On’ after the ‘Steel Bars’ of a Master’s degree! 4 Table of Contents ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP ........................................................................................ 2 ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... 4 1. THESIS BACKGROUND............................................................................................. 8 1.1 APPROACH TO RESEARCH ......................................................................................10 1.2 STRUCTURE OF THESIS ...........................................................................................11 2. LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................................13 2.1 OPINION LEADERS, INFLUENCERS & THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ..........................14 2.2 SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE INFLUENCER PHENOMENON ............................................19 2.3 INFLUENCERS ........................................................................................................21 2.4 INTRODUCING THE INFLUENCER – INFLUENCED RELATIONSHIP ..............................23 2.5 INFLUENCER PERSUASION .....................................................................................24 2.6 AUTHENTICITY AND TRUST BETWEEN THE INFLUENCER AND INFLUENCED .............26 2.7 CONTENT, ENGAGEMENT & POSTINGS OF THE INFLUENCER ...................................30 2.8 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................32 3. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................35 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................................................35 3.2 INTERPRETIVIST PARADIGM ..................................................................................36 3.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF INTERACTIONISM..................................................38 3.4 QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................38 3.5 DATA COLLECTION METHOD ..................................................................................39 3.6 OPEN CODING METHOD ........................................................................................46 3.7 THEMATIC TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ...............................................................................45 4. FINDINGS ..............................................................................................................49 4.1 AUDIENCE CONVERSATION ....................................................................................52 4.2 PRAISE OF INFLUENCER .........................................................................................52 4.3 SALES AND ACTION COMMENTS ............................................................................53 4.4 CONTENT CREATION REQUESTS .............................................................................52 4.5 COMPLAINTS AND NEGATIVE COMMENTS .............................................................53 4.6 COMMENTS FROM INFLUENCER ............................................................................54 4.7 REQUESTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ...............................................................55 4.8 REFERENCES TO OTHER INFLUENCERS ....................................................................55 5 4.9 INTERNATIONAL PURCHASE DISCUSSION ...............................................................56 4.10 NON-ENGLISH DISCUSSION ....................................................................................56 4.11 COMMENTS FROM BRANDS ..................................................................................56 4.12 FINAL FINDINGS ....................................................................................................56 5. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS......................................................................................59 5.1 AUDIENCE CONVERSATION CATEGORY: STAY FOR THE COMMUNITY .....................58 5.2 INFLUENCER PRAISE CATEGORY: UNREQUITED AND UNACKNOWLEDGED ..............62 5.3 SALES AND ACTION CATEGORY: BUY BEFORE YOU TRY ...........................................63 5.4 CONTENT CREATION REQUESTS & REQUESTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: "CAN YOU GIVE THIS A SHOT…?" ...................................................................................65 5.5 COMPLAINTS AND NEGATIVE COMMENTS CATEGORY: THANK YOU, NEXT .............67 5.6 COMMENTS FROM THE INFLUENCER CATEGORY: ARE YOU TALKING TO ME? .........68 5.7 FURTHER DISCUSSION AND LIMITATIONS ..............................................................71 6. CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................75 6.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS .......................................................................................75 6.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH ..................................................................................76 6.3 LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH .................................................................77 WORKS CITED .................................................................................................................80