Looking good and sounding right: The role of visual aesthetics in sponsored selfies and how it is perceived by consumers

• Main Authors: Centeno, Jhana Louisse B., Mangampat, Gosh Cedric M., Merene, Janica Eloise
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2021
• Subjects: Internet marketing; Internet personalities; Selfies (Photography); Marketing; Social Media
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/10342
• Institution: De La Salle University

The emergence of social media has paved the way for new marketing tools to arrive. In recent days, social media marketing has been an essential part of any marketing campaign, especially when brands want to reach audiences and increase their brand awareness. This study investigates the role of visual aesthetics in sponsored selfies of Instagram influencers and how consumers perceive it. The visual aesthetics dimensions were based on the “compositional interpretation” analysis of Rose (2011) in her book “Visual Methodologies.” The entirety of the study was anchored to the source-credibility theory with variables including attractiveness, trustworthiness, credibility, post credibility, interest, and willingness to search for the product/brand. Data gathering was done through online questionnaires directed to IG users residing in the Philippines. Participants of the survey must be familiar with Instagram influencers. Upon analyzing the data of this study, results showed that in the presence of the visual aesthetics dimensions, other variables in the source-credibility framework become insignificant when measuring the consumers’ interest and willingness to search for the brand/product. Results showed that visual aesthetic is an essential factor contributing to the credibility of a content post. It is also worth noting that consumers' perception of whether or not a post is visually appealing increases its degree of credibility but also highly influences his/her interest in it. Lastly, if a post is deemed credible and exciting enough by the consumers, they are more than willing to search for more information about the product posted.