There has been a move in recent years toward students picking influencer marketing as a research topic when they’re allowed to choose what they will write a paper about for collegiate-level classes. Some high school students have even been picking this topic. It speaks to this subject’s fascination for many individuals in academia.
Students have even decided to write dissertations on it. Those who do might discover that the subject is more challenging than they initially expected, though. This is mainly due to the sheer amount of information available regarding influencers, influencer marketing, and what they can do for the entities that hire them.
Quick assistance is available through online dissertation writing services for those who find they’re struggling to craft a research paper on this topic. Of course, not all students elect to hire professionals to help them with their homework. It’s always a viable option for those who feel overwhelmed, though.
Regardless of whether students decide to get professional homework help or plunge ahead on their own, the impact that influencers have made and continue to make in the marketing niche is worth talking about. Let’s do that right now.
What Exactly is Influencer Marketing?
Before we get any further, let’s make sure you understand what we mean when we talk about this term. Influencers are typically individuals who become popular or famous through the content that they create on social media. They:
- Usually hold sway over a target audience or niche
- Create content that appeals to a particular segment of the population
- Are often on the younger side since youth is a demographic that corporations often target
The reality is that, in the modern landscape, content creation can be very profitable. Virtually anyone can get on YouTube, X, TikTok, or one of the other popular platforms and start making videos and similar content.
However, just because someone starts talking about something topical does not automatically mean they will become popular. They need to appeal to their audience to do that.
When a company hires an individual to advertise or extol the virtues of something on their behalf, that collaboration is meant to ingratiate the company to the key demographic to which they are trying to sell a product or service.
Video Posted by TEDx Talks on Youtube
The Intersection of Social Media and Marketing
One of the notable reasons why influencer marketing has become a fertile source of research is that it has risen to such widespread prevalence in just a couple of decades. Social media:
- Did not exist in its current form until approximately 20 years ago
- Is used by billions of individuals across the planet
- Is now the go-to source for news and other kinds of information, especially for younger people
As the years go by, there are increasingly fewer and fewer individuals who don’t have any presence on at least a couple of the popular platforms. This is why so many companies feel it is in their best interest to partner with brand ambassadors who have managed to cultivate a dedicated audience.
Streamers on Twitch play video games and comment on them in real-time, and young people enjoy watching them while they do it. Lifestyle gurus take pictures of themselves living opulently on Instagram, and they gain millions of followers if they’re attractive and relatable.
Platforms rise and fall, like the now-defunct MySpace, but one thing remains clear. Now is the age of social media, and companies that refuse to use it for advertising will fall behind their competitors.
Why Are So Many Students Interested in Using This as a Topic for Their Research?
To put it as simply as possible, the reason why so many individuals pursuing a higher education keep turning to this subject and writing papers and dissertations about it is because it’s endlessly fascinating. It also provides an opportunity to study cause and effect in buyer tendencies, a sociological area well worth considering for the purposes of academic writing.
For instance, someone well-known on social media, like Logan Paul, has recently partnered with the WWE. Paul, who has displayed natural professional wrestling ability because of his athleticism, is the hype man for Prime, an energy drink.
Although Paul has been adamant that Prime is not intended for kids, the number of younger children who seem to be able to get their hands on it continues growing. This concept was spoofed on a recent episode of the TV show South Park.
This is just one of many examples of collaborations between companies and influencers causing very real and noticeable societal trends. Such topics provide fruitful inspiration for research papers and dissertations, and this trend is unlikely to end anytime soon.
Why Else Do Students Keep Turning to This Subject When Writing Their Papers?
Turning away from specific examples of brand ambassadors partnering with companies, let’s look at this idea in a more general sense. There’s a more compelling and prevalent reason why so many professors are being inundated with papers on some variation of the subject if they allow their students to pick their ideas for essays.
It’s always worthwhile for those in academia to look at what young people are doing. Young people are the trendsetters, which is why so many companies are always trying to court them.
This was happening back in the days of radio. It moved on to television, and now social media is the latest platform through which companies are trying to appeal to children. Kids:
- Are going to be around a lot longer than today’s older generations
- Will one day reach a point in adulthood where they have more money and influence
- Provide important clues about where society is heading
If individuals in academia want to have some idea of where we’re all headed, seeing what kids are up to and what they gravitate toward makes sense. That’s one of the main reasons that influencer companies pick to champion their products is fertile territory for research papers.
Any essay that has anything to do with sociology and predicting future trends needs to look no further than what influencers are doing or saying on today’s most popular platforms. They will not be young or popular forever, and their shelf life is always relatively short. They will age out.
When they reach a certain age, their status will wane. That’s because youth is one of the most vital qualities to have if you are going to be able to influence others.
These Papers Will Become a Product of This Time
There are phases in essay writing, just as there are in virtually everything else. If you were to go back to the 1960s, you would doubtless see many papers that were written about the significance of the hippie movement and the Vietnam War. So many papers are coming out right now that delve into TikTok and Instagram stars and what products they’re promoting because that is very much the day’s flavor.
Social media will probably one day be overtaken by something else in the same way that radio was overtaken by television. Technology seems to be moving even faster these days, so there’s no telling what the next fad that appeals to young people is going to be.
For now, though, instructors at colleges around the country can expect no limit to these kinds of creative writing assignments if they keep allowing their students to pick their own research papers. At least many different spins can be put on such a topic, which will hopefully keep the professors from getting too bored with them.
Resources:
Joshi, Y., Lim, W. M., Jagani, K., & Kumar, S. (2023). Social media influencer marketing: foundations, trends, and ways forward. Electronic Commerce Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-023-09719-z
Kim, J., & Kim, M. (2022, February 18). Rise of Social Media Influencers as a New Marketing Channel: Focusing on the Roles of Psychological Well-Being and Perceived Social Responsibility among Consumers. Int J Environ Res Public Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8872418/
Patel, N. (n.d.). What Is an Influencer? NEILPATEL. https://neilpatel.com/blog/guide-to-influencer-targeting/
What Is a Social Media Influencer? And How to Become One. (2023, November 29). Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/social-media-influencer
