Lecture 1 – Food & Health – Communication
Online consumer communication: key principles; influencers, framing and conflicts (emotions).
Context online communication:
From traditional channels to consumers about new products (about what we say/do) from B2C.
B2C has changed! Not determined by business anymore, but by the interaction between consumers
and businesses (e.g. reviews). So: businesses become consumers and consumers become
businesses. Process is more complex now.
New ways: influencers and procumerism.
Influencers have a big impact: they can be seen as the marketeers and even the producers of a
certain product.
Social media influencers:
Celebrity endorsement: effect that celebrity have by their social status by promoting the product. Other
people try to match that celebrity. Therefore, they are very influential.
High impact because influencers are more organic (they are more closely to what you are, then mirror
yourself), authentic (normal people, they stayed normal), directness, similar.
They are influential because:
- Expertise
- Followers/community (friends of you also follow them)
- Interact (influencer tries to adjust the message to the public, and the public is more and more
linked towards this influencer)
Source credibility:
- Expertise
- Trustworthiness (because they are similar)
- Likability (similarity, people mirror themselves to those influencers)
Influence/persuasiveness is large
- Similar = knowledge
- Less resistance (to the persuasive attempt of the influencer/agent) See figure 3.
Strongly related to social context (=very important)
Credibility factors:
- Trustworthiness
- Likability/similarity
Role of community/social group large
Neo-tribes, online communities, social identity
SIT (social identity theory): who we are is determined (identity) by our social network/social group we
are linked to.
Influencers are able to build up a community and create a social group with a specific identity: what to
do and what not to do. It influences your behaviour: if you want to stick to a group, you have to perform
certain behaviour to be part of the group.
Online communication can increase group forming processes, but equally leads to loneliness (no
physical contact, they see that other people are successful and they are not).
But people look for bonding and other likeminded people.
Ingroup members are trusted, outgroup members not that much.
- Increased bonding
- Effect persuasive messages
- Less coping behaviour
Marketing wrap-up: (not that important)
- Less resistance to persuasion
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