The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Consumer Engagement and Well-being - The Role of Consumer Attachment

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing Intelligence Nowadays, influencers are a proven fact. It is amazing how important they are as representatives of a brand; how well-known they are and how much people identify with them. Presently, social media platforms serve as platforms for businesses. The influence of online resources has changed how much people intend to exercise during pandemics. Although the interest in exercise and a healthy lifestyle has been growing for a while, it has accelerated since COVID 19. It became clear throughout the lockdown that maintaining a healthy lifestyle was necessary. Given the number of digital influencers present in Social Networks, it is necessary to direct the issue to a target niche – fitness influencers – who are dedicated to sharing a healthy lifestyle, connecting the body with health and wellbeing. The way a company is perceived online these days is challenging to completely control, but by picking the right influencers, it is possible to make sure that they accurately represent the companies' values and aid in attracting customers. This research will include both genders to determine if there are differences in their behaviors. For this reason, this thesis focuses on a variety of topics, such as online influencer marketing, social media influencers, fitness influencer, characteristics of a digital influencer, consumer engagement, consumer attachment and well-being. The primary goal of this thesis is to examine how the characteristics of social media influencers (such as credibility, informativeness, similarity and enjoyability) affect well-being and engagement in the fitness sector. To achieve the proposed goal, this thesis was developed through a quantitative analysis study via an online questionnaire with 827 responses.