d-nb.info, as data

4.6Generationalsimilaritiesanddi fferencesInconsideringRQ2(whichofthesixfactorseachgenerationfeltweremore importantinperceivingSMIauthenticity),the analysisfoundboth generations prioritized accuracyandconnectednessas keysinwhichtheyperceivein fluencerauthenticity,the waythesethemeswerediscusseddemonstratedthatthe two generationshavedi fferentexpectationsofwhatconstitutes SMIauthenticity.While thereweremanysimilaritiesbetweenthetwo generations, theGenZgroupstalked aboutin fluencersasknowledgeablefriends,personalconnectionsfromwhich followers couldcountongainingeducationandentertainment. Millennials,onthe otherhand,sawin fluencers asdesirablecomradesandworkingprofessionalswith whomMillennialscouldlive vicariouslythrough.Thisperception ofanin fluencer’srolewas themostvisibledi fference inhowGenZandMillennialsconnectedwithand viewedin fluencers.5Discussion Aswith previousresearch,our findingsindicatethatperceivedauthenticityis importanttosocialmediausers ofdi fferentgenerations(Mooreetal.2018).However, thedi fferingexpectationsofin fluencersbyGenZandMillennialscontextualized how eachgenerationconceptualizedauthenticity,how authenticitycouldbe demonstratedbyin fluencers,andhoweachof theNunes etal.(2021)factorsfor authenticitywereprioritized.Bothgenerationsplacedgreat emphasis onperceived authenticity,asshowninthefocusgroups.However,inviewing in fluencers di ffer-ently(friendvs.comrade),thetechniques successfulin fluencersusedtotargettheir specificaudiencevariedjustasmuch.Further,whileboth generationsplaced somewhatsimilarweight on eachofthesixfactorsofauthenticity(with accuracyand connectednessbeingmoreimportantthantheothers),thereweregreat di fferencesinhoweachcriterionexhibiteditselfbetweenthetwocohorts. Forinstance,GenZ participantsusedconnectednesstoexpresspersonalconnectionwiththein fluencer.Ontheotherhand,Millennialparticipantsusedconnectednesstoexpressa ffinityfor anin fluencer’s contentand acknowledgmentoftheircareer.As such,understanding influencerauthenticity requiresattentiontowhat theindividualor groupexpects fromanin fluencer.Thisisparticularlyimportantwhenlookingtounderstandhow tomarketbrandsandproductse fficientlytodevelop connectionbetweenabrand andconsumers. Currently, manyin fluencernormsseemtailoredtoaMillennial ’sviewof influencerexpectations;in fluencersactively pushingproductsontheir followers,Authenticityde finedbyGenZandMillennials 369# Page 20seeminglyactinglikelivereviews,whichis fittingforaMillennialaudiencewhoare lookingtogaininformationratherthan ‘hangout ’withfriends.However,asGenZis concernedprimarilywithpersonalrelationships,productreviewswouldseemto impedetheperceptionofauthenticity(Hund2019).AsGenZslowlybecomesthe largestconsumergroup,in fluencerswillneed to adaptto representthisshiftin perception,phasing outofproduct reviews andrelyingonotherways tomarketa producttothosewhowant toconnectbefore beingin fluenced.De-influencingmaybepartofthisculturalshift.Interestingly,mostofthe participants inbothgenerationalgroupsfeltthatde-in fluencingwaspositive.The GenZgroupssawde-in fluencingasafriendlookingoutforotherfriends,o fferingtipsandknowledgetosave money, hittingboth thepersonal connectionand educationalcomponents thatGenZlooksforfromin fluencers.Millennials,onthe otherhand,appreciated de-in fluencingbut sawitasanotherformof anonline review,thoughone thatcouldadditionallysavemoney.Whereactivelyselling was acceptedbyMillennialsandrejectedbyGenZ,de-in fluencing hitasweetspotthat createdaperception ofauthenticityforbothgenerationsmostlikelybecause ofthe negativeconnotationsurroundingin fluencersassalespeople.Activesellingwas broughtupbybothgenerationsas aproblemwithin fluencers.TheGenZgroups, seeingin fluencers as friends,seemedadamantly againstbeingthetargetofadver- tisements.However, eventheMillennials,whoseeminglyacknowledgedsalesaspart ofanin fluencer’sjob,considereditrefreshingwhentheywerenottoldtopurchase something.Allgroupswereunhappywhenexplicitly toldtopurchase something. Still,noparticipantsreferredtoin fluencersusingaproductasaproblem,whichisa verycommonmethodin fluencersuse in advertising.For instance,manygaming influencerssimplyplayvideogames onTwitch,morepassively encouragingsales evenwhentheydonotobviously ‘advertise’thegames(Socially2023;Woodcockand Johnson2019). For manyparticipants,salespitcheswereat bestexpected,and,at worst, a reasontostopfollowinganin fluencer. However,advertising,whendoneina generation-specificmanner,suchassharingpassionsor allowingaudiencestolive vicariouslythrough thein fluencer’s experiences,werewelcomedand evenareason forsometosubscribedorfollowanin fluencer. Asresearchcontinuestogrow surroundingin fluencersand authenticity,itisimportantnotjusttoanalyzethem as awholebuttodoso inconjunctionwiththeiraudience.Additionally,anygenera- tionalchanges inanin fluencer’s audiencecanleadtoimportantdistinctionsinhow anin fluencerisexpectedto connectwiththeir followersto maintain asenseof authenticityandtheabilitytoe ffectivelypersuade. 370 Singeretal.# Page 215.1Globalimplications Itisessentialthatglobalmarketersunderstandtheirtargetmarketstoe ffectivelyreachtheiraudienceandunderstandhowtheirmessagesare beingperceived, includingunderstandinghowthe di fferentgeneration ’sviewSMIauthenticity, toensuretheidealSMIsare employed.Assuch,thisresearchaidsbrandsand companiestarget membersofGenZandMillennialsutilizingin fluencers.For example, basedontheresearch findings,brandswantingto connectwithGenZ consumersshouldconsiderSMIswhoareperceivedas friendsandcanteachtheir followers.Onthe otherhand,ifabrand orcompanyislookingtopromoteto Millennials,theywould wantto considercontentcreatorswhoconnectthrough vicariousexperiencesandwhoarethoughtofasmoreutilitarianratherthan friendly.ItisexpectedthatasGenZgrowsolderandbegins toentertheworkforceand outspendothergenerations(Flores-Marquez2023),theiruseofdigitaldeviceevolves fromprimarilysocialandentertainmentpurposestoincludeproductresearchand discovery(Petrock2021;Yaqub2023).Thisusewouldsuggesttheywillcontinueto turntotheirdevicestohelpmakeconsumerdecisions,veryoften lookingtoSMIsto helpthemmakepurchase decisions (Meta2022; TikTokFor Business2023; Yaqub 2023).Businesspredictionsindicateglobalin fluencermarketingspending willin- creasefrom$16.4billionin2022to$84.89billionby 2028(Santora2022).Withsurveys andresearchrevealingglobalconsumersprefer amore “empathic”andpersonal levelofmarketingwithbrandsand companiesthrough SMIs(DeloitteInsights2020; Hund2019;Rahilly2020),selectingtherightSMIiscriticaltotheoverallsuccessof any campaignandcompany ’sbottomline(Walsh 2018). 6Limitationsandfuture research Wenotethatalthoughcleardi fferencesweredocumented betweenthegenerational focus groupsandsaturationwas met,thesamplewas takenfromcollegestudentsata singleuniversity.Futureresearchshouldexpandtheparticipantsampletoincor- poratebothstudentsfromdi fferenteducationalinstitutionsandnon-studentsto includetheopinionofconsumersalreadyinthefull-timeworkforce.Additionally, futureresearchcouldexpandthegenerationalparticipantstoexploredi fferencesin perceivedSMIauthenticitywith othergenerations,includingGenX,Boomers, Silents,andPolars.Potentialresearchshouldincludealargerquantitativeexami- nationofthesix-factor model(Nunesetal. 2021)todetermineifthisstudy ’sfindingscanbe generalizedtoabroader sample.AlthoughthegenderoftheparticipantsdidAuthenticityde finedbyGenZandMillennials 371# Page 22notshowdi fferencesinperceivedauthenticity,mostparticipantswerewomen (68%).Futureresearchwouldbene fitfrom includingmoremale participants and investigatingwhetherthe genderofthe SMIisafactorperceivedauthenticity. 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