Qualitative insights of the focus group results

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54 Definition social media influencer in the fitness

industry and examples

• Persons that reach people through their work

• Huge audience

• Fitness- related recommendations

• Provide knowledge

• I believe in them

• Honest, competent

• People that promote products through their social media channels and are approached by companies

• They inspire people, role model

• High number of followers

• Examples: Sophia Thiel, Bodykiss, Kayla Itsines , Stephanie Davis, Ulisses World, SimeonPanda

What makes them credible

• Motivation

• They are relatable

• Appearance (they need to look a certain way, otherwise no role model)

• Informative videos

• Expertise

• When you have the feeling he or she really wants to help you

• Being authentic(represent a certain lifestyle)

• Build trust through acting like a friend

• Number of followers

• When you can see how much effort it really takes

Incredible situations

• If everyone is jumping on the “trend bandwagon”- no individuality

• role model is promoting too many products

• Only purpose is money

• Taking advantage of people

• If people look different from what they promote

• Exaggerated and unrealistic statements

• Untrue statements

• Being deceptive about the actual work it takes

Table 4: Definitions of social media influencers and their credibility

55 In general, participants defined social media influencers in the fitness industry as

people with a high number of followers that promote products on their social media channels They are described as honest and competent people that inspire people and act as role model. Furthermore, they provide fitness-related knowledge and recommendations to their followers. Due to the majority of female participants, mostly female fitness influencers were mentioned for example Sophia Thiel, Kayla Itsines , Bodykiss, the Bässler twins and Stephanie Davis, when participants were asked to state the influencers they know and follow on their social media channels. Male participants added that they also follow famous fitness influencers like Simeon Panda und Ulisses World. One participant mentioned that the majority of influencers she follows are US-based for example, Nikki Blackketter.

Regarding the question, what makes a social media influencer credible, the majority of participants stated that expertise is an important factor. The followers of a fitness influencer are keen on seeing helpful workout videos, fitness tips and recommendations. What is more, a fitness influencer needs to have a certain physical appearance in order to be able to act as a role model, to be credible and in order to convey this kind of expertise successfully. For an influencer to be credible, he needs to represent a certain lifestyle, which has to be visible according to his looks, actions and statements. Hence, an influencer also needs to be authentic in order to be credible. One more factor that relates to authenticity is the fact that an influencer needs to show the reality of the fitness lifestyle. Consequently, people want to see the actual effort behind the scenes. Several participants also mentioned that social media influencers in general are perceived as a friend to their followers, hence, they build trust through acting like a friend. The reason for this is that they seem to be honest in their actions and statements, by stating their actual opinion. “Some critically analyze, which product is useful and which product is not useful. This makes it more credible. Like a recommendation from a friend”³⁴⁸. Related to this is that a credible influencer has the intention and the goodwill to help his or her community. So his or her community must have the feeling that the influencer truly focuses on providing information and expertise instead of only focusing on the monetary aspect.

Interestingly, some participants also stated that the number of followers adds up to the credibility of a social media influencer. The logic behind it is that respondents associate a high number of followers with an interesting image and popularity, which in return makes the influencer more interesting and results in a following.

Participants also discussed situations, when they perceived the social media influencers in the fitness industry as incredible. Since it was mentioned that participants appreciate the

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56 helpful intention of a social media influencer regarding his or her community, it

has a negative effect on credibility if the influencer is “only in it for the money”. Participants stated that they are very well aware of the difference and that they can tell who is honest and truthful in his or her statements. The majority of participants stated that exaggerated and unrealistic statements are truly diminishing the credibility of an influencer. Examples of such exaggerated statements are (according to participants) for example “ with this detox tea you will never experience hunger, still have a lot of energy and you will lose 20 pounds in 3 weeks³⁴⁹. Related to this are false and deceptive statements: Since participants found that being honest and real about the work fitness influencers put in, it is rather unbelievable if influencers disguise or enhance their statements and situations. This is also related to the topic of authenticity. If an influencer´s statements and his physical appearance do not match, this has a negative effect on credibility. As an example, participants mentioned bodybuilders that promote highly processed products while being a supporter of clean, whole foods.

Another factor that leads to decreased credibility is promoting too many products and jumping on the “trend bandwagon”. If an influencer is promoting too many products, it causes the impression of only “being in it for the money”, which, as mentioned before, diminishes the credibility of an influencer. Another important factor for an influencer´s credibility is his or her individuality. Participants mentioned that if every influencer they follow is promoting the same product at the same time, they do not believe in them.

However, these examples were just an introduction into the topic. Factors influencing source credibility that have been derived from literature are going to be discussed in another chapter.

349 Transcript a (2016), p. 8

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