Vol. 9 (2022) No. 3

CSR communication in social media: The effectiveness of influencers’ and companies’ posts

The aim of this study is to find out whether it would be more effective for a company to communicate about their CSR efforts on Instagram through their own account or through an influencer. In marketing, purchase intention is often used as an indicator of effectiveness. There are only few studies comparing the effectiveness of influencers’ posts and companies’ Instagram post regarding CSR communication, and to the best of the author’s knowledge, there has been no study regarding Hungarian social media users in this field. Given this, I examined whether the influencer’s post or the company’s post leads to higher purchase intention. The credibility of the source and scepticism towards the source both have an indirect (through the mediation of brand attitude) positive effect on purchase intention. I use content analysis to examine the CSR content on Hungarian social media influencers’ Instagram accounts: I explore the most popular topics, and I analyse social media users’ feedbacks as well. I chose a qualitative approach and carried out two focus group interviews. I conducted the primary research focused on the 18-24 age group as – according to previous research – they are most likely to use Instagram and follow brands on the platform and interact with Instagram posts. The results are the following: participants of the focus group interviews found the company more credible. There were no significant difference regarding the brand attitude, and participants did not show purchase intention in either case. This study aims to help companies choose the most effective way of communicating CSR messages on social media platforms for Hungarian consumers.


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