The influence of misleading promotion | Economic newspaper

Many and varied questions have been raised about the upside of the influencer marketing industry, questions have been raised about outdated methods of and marketing, which research shows are becoming discredited, and about 30 per cent of all Internet users use ad blockers to remove distracting image ads while they access apps and online services, and that 47 percent of consumers use them because ads are “inappropriate and annoying.” These traditional-style ads are intrusive, unsolicited, and distracting from context, so people seek to avoid and resent them, while at the same time they miss Interaction between the advertiser and the shopper, so it is not possible to inquire or communicate, so consumers tend to learn about products from influencers who usually interact with shoppers immediately, and they test products publicly, while giving credibility to what they offer, and this is what made small influencers spread on all social networks And through videos, they promote all kinds of products from cosmetics, tea, shoes or video games and get paid for that.
In this regard, and in a study on the marketing industry through influencers, a recent report indicates that this industry will grow by approximately $ 21.1 billion in 2023, while more than 83 percent of the study participants confirm that marketing through influencers is an effective form of marketing. Therefore, 67 percent of them allocate a budget to buy through influencer marketing, and while they now spend close to 40 percent of their budget to buy from influencer campaigns, they seek to increase this budget. On the part of brands, there is a strong preference for working with influencers Young and famous, and it is now customary to pay money to influencers, rather than just giving them a free product, and the TikTok program is the most used program with up to 56 percent of brands that use influencer marketing and bypasses the Instagram platform, which brands use by 51 percent. Facebook (42 percent) and YouTube (38 percent).
In a study published by the European Parliament, it shows that influencers influence the actual purchase decisions of consumers, who buy the product directly via the link provided by the influencer. The results of the studies indicated that 85 percent of the consumers interviewed take influencers’ opinions into account when purchasing a product. With German consumers, the main reasons consumers follow influencers are that they are liked (58 percent), give good advice in areas of interest (50 percent) and inspire their followers (41 percent). The study indicated that 21 percent follow influencers because they are entertaining. While 19 percent said they look to the influencer as a role model.
But the growing phenomenon of through influencers made many question their credibility, especially since the influencers began to receive the value in cash after they used to charge it in the form of products, and due to this, requests to disclose paid and unpaid have escalated. In a study conducted in Germany, 40 percent said 100 say ads should be transparently labeled, while 22 percent are generally annoyed with paid ads and that there is no justification for brand-influencer collaboration.
On the other hand, there are those who believe that influencers cause excessive consumption, as the influence of influencers depends on social and demographic factors. In a German survey, 43 percent of young social media users (aged between 15 and 24) indicated that they had purchased products. Because one of the influencers promoted it, and according to a survey conducted in Italy, it was found that social media and celebrities have the greatest influence on the purchases of young people participating in the survey, which indicates that influencers target this category of consumers to promote excessive purchase and irresponsible consumption.
With this race, influencers have become less credible, and there is a wave of skepticism about their paid content, mostly in order to favor one product over another, and in order to promote concepts of excessive and irresponsible consumption, which led to the emergence of a new trend among influencers in what is called deinfluencing, meaning “Nulling the influence” or dismantling it, where the influencer uses all the methods that influencers usually use to promote this or that commodity, but with the opposite goal of discouraging followers from buying it, and these influencers seek to restore confidence in influence ads. Observers describe this wave as a reaction to the inflation that is ravaging the world today and the rise in prices, and they are working to build an anti-consumption movement.
Some believe that the reason for this wave is that social network celebrities simply seeking to maximize their income have partially hijacked the critical trend of products, but regardless of the real reasons behind this trend, “effect nullification” is an attempt to make the influencer appear impartial, and that the existing truth is It is that the public is now questioning the “credibility” of the influencers’ words, because it realizes that they are getting paid, while they are causing prices to rise, promoting inflation and excessive irresponsible consumption, and targeting the most submissive groups because of issues that have nothing to do with the product itself or the need for it.