The figure of the influencer under scrutiny: highly exposed, poorly regulated

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Title: The figure of the influencer under scrutiny: highly exposed, poorly regulated
Authors: González-Díaz, Cristina | Quiles-Soler, Mari Carmen | Quintas Froufe, Natalia
Research Group/s: Comunicación, Alimentación y Consumo (FOODCO) | Relaciones Públicas, Responsabilidad Social y Sostenibilidad: Comunicación Responsable y Sostenible con Públicos Especializados y Minorías (RPRSS) | Envejecimiento y Comunicación (AgeCOM)
Center, Department or Service: Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Comunicación y Psicología Social
Keywords: Social media influencer | Influencer | Legislation | Self-regulation | Advertising communication
Issue Date: 22-Jul-2024
Publisher: Frontiers Media
Citation: Frontiers in Communication. 2024, 9:1454543. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1454543
Abstract: The figure of the influencer has generated an increase in their presence on social networks. Their ability to create content, their credibility and their identification with the consumer represent an added value in commercial communication. However, their disclosures are controversial due to the lack of transparency and differentiation between their commercial and opinion content. The absence of a clear definition of an influencer, the need to regulate their actions and the difficulty of identifying the commercial content of their publications are evidence of the concern to regulate their activity. The aim of this paper is to analyze, in the European context, the specific regulations on commercial disclosures by influencers, as well as to ascertain the point of view of the agents involved. To this end, a content analysis of the guidelines, regulations and/or laws of 24 European Union countries is carried out, complemented by an ad hoc questionnaire that brings together different aspects that can be defined and delimited. The results show a lack of unanimity in the rules and regulations governing influencers, as well as a manifest concern on the part of professionals in the sector to determine their communications. Only two countries, France and Spain, have specific legislation on the subject, limiting commercial disclosure to the existence of consideration and/or number of followers. It is clear that the existing guidelines are, in most cases, more comprehensive in terms of transparency guidelines for identifying advertising than the regulatory texts. The findings question whether the path of legislation is the right one, or whether efforts should instead focus on media and advertising literacy for both influencers and consumers.
Sponsor: This work is part of the Project “Parameters and strategies to increase the relevance of media and digital communication in society: curation, visualisation and visibility (CUVICOM)” funded by MICIU/AEI/PID2021-123579OB-I00 and by “ERDF/EU.”
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10045/145442
ISSN: 2297-900X
DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1454543
Language: eng
Type: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Rights: © 2024 González-Díaz, Quiles-Soler and Quintas-Froufe. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Peer Review: si
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1454543
Appears in Collections:INV - FOODCO - Artículos de Revistas
INV - RPRSS - Artículos de Revistas
INV - AgeCOM - Artículos de Revistas

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