ABSTRACT
Marketers have primarily capitalized on influencers and their ability to effectively connect with target audiences to promote commercial campaigns. This chapter presents a systematic review of the current literature on the impact of social media influencers to understand how organizations could potentially utilize influencers to meet non-commercial objectives. A total of 142 articles were identified and then sorted into four key categories – commercial effects, cultural effects, prosocial potential and effectiveness – to obtain a multi-faceted understanding of the effects of influencer marketing. The analysis revealed a consensus that influencers can and should be engaged for non-commercial projects. Some organizations have already leveraged influencers to promote their causes, achieving significant reach and visibility. However, considering the risk of misinformation, influencer marketing should be regulated properly. Further research is required to understand audience receptivity to prosocial influencer marketing and to determine how organizations can best leverage influencers for prosocial potential. This chapter is among the first to collectively review the impact of influencer marketing beyond the commercial sphere.
