Personification of Small & Medium-sized Enterprises : An exploratory study of micro-influencers as brand ambassadors in SME brand communication

Sammanfattning

Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) often have limited resources to create visibility and build strong brand awareness on digital platforms, in comparison to larger businesses. At the same time, influencer marketing is becoming a strategy for businesses to communicate more personally and relatable to their target audience. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how brand personification through micro-influencers, as brand ambassadors, can influence how consumers perceive the credibility of SME brands, and whether this may relate to positive consumer attitudes. The study is built on an exploratory qualitative approach and is based on semi-structured interviews with consumers between 21 and 30 years old, in Norrbotten. The material was analyzed through a thematic analysis with a deductive direction, following Braun and Clark’s (2006) six-step model. The study’s theoretical framework is based on brand personification, perceived credibility, and consumer attitudes. The results show that micro-influencers can contribute to making SME brands more personal with human-like qualities and relatable for consumers, especially when the collaboration is long-term and perceived as authentic. At the same time, it seems that personification by itself is not enough to create positive attitudes; the collaboration needs to be perceived as credible and relevant. If the collaboration is perceived as too commercial, short-term, or poorly adapted to the influencer’s identity and previous content, it can instead create a skeptical view from the consumers towards both the brand and the influencer. The study thus suggests that micro-influencers can be a valuable strategy for SME brands, as long as the collaboration is long-term, well-thought-out, and matches both the brand and influencer’s audience.