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The Dark Side of Social Media Influencers: A Research Agenda for Analysing Deceptive Practices and Regulatory Challenges

62
Citations
April 1, 2025
Published Date

Research Abstract & Technology Focus

ABSTRACTSocial research-highlight">media research-highlight">influencers are powerful agents as they broadcast information, steer consumer behavior and research-highlight">social norms. But their influence masks a “dark side,” too. Our research agenda investigates this understudied theme. What happens when research-highlight">social research-highlight">media research-highlight">influencers behave badly? Does the negative influence adversely impact marketing strategies and consumer behavior? We explore a range of areas, including research-highlight">influencers' authenticity, ethics, and their psychological and research-highlight">social impact on followers. Employing interdisciplinary approaches, our research presents the complexities and harms of influencer culture. Organized around six key themes—Harmful Products, Misinformation, Unrealistic Beauty Standards, Comparison Culture, Deceptive Consumption, and Privacy Concerns— the findings provide a comprehensive analysis of the negative impacts of research-highlight">social research-highlight">media research-highlight">influencers in marketing contexts. Additionally, the study proposes six theoretical propositions and presents 35 research questions to guide future investigations.
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What is the core focus of the research titled 'The Dark Side of Social Media Influencers: A Research Agenda for Analysing Deceptive Practices and Regulatory Challenges'?

This literature focuses on: ABSTRACTSocial media influencers are powerful agents as they broadcast information, steer consumer behavior and social norms. But their influence masks a “dark side,” too. Our research agenda investigates this understudied theme. What happens when...

Are there open-source GitHub repositories related to The Dark Side of Social Media Influencers: A Research Agenda for Analysing Deceptive Practices and Regulatory Challenges?

Yes, open-source projects like averygan/reclip (Download videos from almost any website. Lightweight, self-hosted media downloader with a clean web UI.) are actively building upon these concepts.

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Products like Naoma AI Demo Agent are bringing this to market. Their focus is: The video AI demo agent for B2B SaaS for immediate demos.

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Commercial Realization

Startups and Open Source tools heavily associated with the concepts explored in this paper.

Enterprise Ecosystem Mentions

  • Zynga
    American social game developer
  • CyberLink
    Taiwanese AI and multimedia software company

Associated Media Narrative