Why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review

Background: Social media drives marketing, with users turning into influencers, leading to influencer marketing. As human influencers (HIs) and virtual influencers (VIs) exist, understanding why individuals follow HIs or VIs is crucial. Methods: Literature on followers’ motivations were found in Sco...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cai, Jinchi, Osman, Syuhaily, Haron, Sharifah Azizah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116838/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116838/1/116838.pdf
_version_ 1848867102098718720
author Cai, Jinchi
Osman, Syuhaily
Haron, Sharifah Azizah
author_facet Cai, Jinchi
Osman, Syuhaily
Haron, Sharifah Azizah
author_sort Cai, Jinchi
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Social media drives marketing, with users turning into influencers, leading to influencer marketing. As human influencers (HIs) and virtual influencers (VIs) exist, understanding why individuals follow HIs or VIs is crucial. Methods: Literature on followers’ motivations were found in Scopus and CNKI databases, and the sample was collected manually. Data extraction and summarization followed search, screen, select, critical appraisal, and thematic analysis, using the Modified PRISMA 2020 flow diagram and MMAT tool as guides. Findings: Twenty-one articles were reviewed, revealing seven motivations for following both HIs and VIs. The followers of HIs are primarily driven by meeting their own needs, while those following VIs are often motivated by curiosity about the identity of the VIs, their operators, and underlying technology. Conclusion: Current research explores followership motivation for HIs, with a limited focus on VIs. As the field of VIs is still relatively under-researched, future research could further expand the exploration of the impact of VIs and their relationship with followers.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T14:31:09Z
format Article
id upm-116838
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T14:31:09Z
publishDate 2024
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-1168382025-04-16T06:51:11Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116838/ Why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review Cai, Jinchi Osman, Syuhaily Haron, Sharifah Azizah Background: Social media drives marketing, with users turning into influencers, leading to influencer marketing. As human influencers (HIs) and virtual influencers (VIs) exist, understanding why individuals follow HIs or VIs is crucial. Methods: Literature on followers’ motivations were found in Scopus and CNKI databases, and the sample was collected manually. Data extraction and summarization followed search, screen, select, critical appraisal, and thematic analysis, using the Modified PRISMA 2020 flow diagram and MMAT tool as guides. Findings: Twenty-one articles were reviewed, revealing seven motivations for following both HIs and VIs. The followers of HIs are primarily driven by meeting their own needs, while those following VIs are often motivated by curiosity about the identity of the VIs, their operators, and underlying technology. Conclusion: Current research explores followership motivation for HIs, with a limited focus on VIs. As the field of VIs is still relatively under-researched, future research could further expand the exploration of the impact of VIs and their relationship with followers. 2024-07-06 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_4 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116838/1/116838.pdf Cai, Jinchi and Osman, Syuhaily and Haron, Sharifah Azizah (2024) Why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. ISSN 2222-6990; E-ISSN: 2222-6990 https://hrmars.com/index.php/IJARBSS/article/view/21882/Why-Did-I-Become-a-Social-Media-Follower-An-Integrative-Literature-Review 10.6007/ijarbss/v14-i7/21882
spellingShingle Cai, Jinchi
Osman, Syuhaily
Haron, Sharifah Azizah
Why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review
title Why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review
title_full Why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review
title_fullStr Why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review
title_full_unstemmed Why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review
title_short Why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review
title_sort why did i become a social media follower? an integrative literature review
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116838/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116838/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116838/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116838/1/116838.pdf