Does polarizing personality matter in influencer marketing? Evidence from Instagram

Social media platforms have become more polarizing with the emergence of polarizing influencers. This research investigates how polarizing influencers can improve the effectiveness of brand-posts with the help of three experiments and field-data from Instagram. The results of the first experiment suggest that the polarizing nature of the communication source triggers defensive motivated reasoning among fans, even when the message being communicated is non-polarizing. This, in turn, has downstream consequences on post engagement and purchase intention. Analysis of 779 brandposts of Instagram influencers suggests that the polarization effect on post engagement is stronger for mega (vs. macro) influencers. By exploring the role of motivated reasoning, this research expands our understanding of the factors that drive consumers to engage with brand content on social media. The findings suggest that marketers can take advantage of the existing polarization among online users regarding polarizing influencers to enhance the effectiveness of their brand communication.