Who are we loyal to?

: an exploratory study about how collaborations between influencers and brands impact brand loyalty

Abstract

Social media has enabled people to interact and establish relationships on online platforms

such as Instagram. Consequently, brands begun to collaborate with influencers on Instagram

in order to reach existing and potential customers on this platform. However, due to

influencers power on Instagram, it has become important for brands to choose the right

influencer and ensure customers’ development of loyalty. Therefore, the purpose  of this thesis

is to explore how collaborations between brands and influencers on Instagram impact brand

loyalty and the loyalty towards the influencer.

This thesis was conducted through a qualitative  approach, an abductive reasoning and with

the use of a case study on the influencer: Kenza Zuiten Subosic. Three focus groups where

guided by the case study on Kenza and consisted of participants who follow her on Instagram.

The findings  show that the match between the brand and influencer, the sharing of trustworthy

posts through custom content, and personality has an impact on brand loyalty and the loyalty

towards the influencer. These findings contribute  to marketers who aim to develop customer

loyalty and establish relationships through Instagram. Additionally, this thesis adds original

value to the field of loyalty as previous studies provide limited research on the development

of loyalty through collaborations on Instagram.