The overall aim of this research is to explore the influence that YouTuber’s may have on their viewers’ buying behaviour, what their decision-making process is and what factors influence their buying behaviour with a focus on the beauty industry. Viewers’ buying behaviour influenced by YouTuber’s can be examined by understanding influencer marketing, psychological buying behaviour and purchase decisions.

YouTubers have achieved a status as one of the biggest influencers in social media with a wide, loyal audience supporting them. Celebrity endorsement has been around for years, however, with the rise in YouTubers’ fame, it has provided brands with a marketing tool to connect with consumers (Lee and Watkins, 2016). Virtual communities are increasingly becoming important sources of consumer knowledge that influences consumer behaviour (De Valck, Van Bruggen, & Wierenga, 2009).

2. Critical Literature Review (maximum 700 words, no word limit for the references)

Social Media and Influencer Marketing

Charlesworth (2018) defines social media as ‘an umbrella term for the various social network and community sites which are composed of user-generated content’. A key component of social media is that it allows consumers to make recommendations to contacts, or friends through the use of their social media platforms. It is also giving companies a valuable tool in which a satisfied user of a particular product could recommend that product to other potential consumers (Forbes, 2013). Through the use of social media, consumers can instantly access opinions from a wide network of people from almost anywhere in the world; the social channels work as a form of word-of-mouth advertising. In fact, it could be said that social media sites are influencing consumer purchases much more than conventional advertising. Consumers tend to turn to social media to seek information about a product or brand, to get recommendations about a potential purchase, to interact with a brand and to receive discounts (Rath et al, 2016). It is argued that the use of social media has affected the consumer decision-making process which has ultimately led to companies becoming more consumer focused rather than product focused (Moriuchi, 2015).

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Brown and Hayes (2008) define an influencer as ‘A third-party who significantly shapes the customer’s purchasing decision, but may never be accountable for it’. Influencers of some sort have been around for years. In a marketing context, these individuals have a significant impact on buying decisions of people who seek advice or recommendations regarding particular products or brands (Charlesworth, 2018). Influencers have the power to affect purchase decisions of consumers due to their authority, knowledge, or relationship. Influencer marketing is essentially word of mouth. Consumers are much more likely to react positively to recommendations and thoughts that comes from a friend or persona over a sponsored post that comes from a company. This is partly due to the fact that they have more credibility and relevance to consumers than ‘marketer-generated’ information. They also seem to be able to create empathy with their ‘followers’ (Bickart and Schindler, 2001).

YouTuber’s as Influencers

After Google purchased YouTube back in 2006, the social media platform became an ad-friendly environment, whereas before it was defined as being amateur with no advertisement. Due to the popularity of the platform, companies have become more interested in monetizing the content. This interest has given channels that began originally as a hobby to be turned into a source of income (Kim, 2012). Consumers have been increasingly sharing their knowledge, experiences and opinions with others through videos, blogs and pictures. What distinguishes YouTubers from other ‘traditional’ celebrities, is the creation of an enjoyable, authentic, personable environment. Viewers tend to find watching a YouTuber more relatable due to the lack of scripts and professional lighting. It feels like they are listening to a friend talk, as many YouTuber’s adopt a casual approach by filming in their bedrooms, or at their desk. YouTube creators listen to and interact with their fans, resulting in communities that seem more like friendships than ‘fanships’ (O’Neil-Hart and Blumenstein, 2018).

The Buyer Decision Making Process

Solomon (2016) defines consumer behaviour as a process of choosing, purchasing and consuming goods and services to satisfy consumer needs. One form of consumer behaviour is the Buyer Decision Process. The emergence of social media has sparked a change in consumer behaviour, particularly the buyer decision making process. (Wang, Yu and Wei, 2012). Consumers make purchase decisions nearly every day, however, not all decisions are the same. Some decisions are complex and involve risk in which consumers need to collect and review information before making a purchase, whereas other decisions are fairly routine and are made almost automatically (Solomon and Bamossy, 2016). As figure [1.0] shows, the Buyer Decision Process consists of five stages in which consumers go through when making a purchase; Problem/Need Recognition, Information Search, Evaluation of Alternatives, Purchase Decision and Post-Purchase Decision.

(In full literature review I will go into detail about each stage).

 [figure 1.0]  (Kotler and Armstrong, 2015)

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework draws on the Buying Decision Process as well as the characteristics which affect consumer purchase behaviour. Kotler and Armstrong (2015) explain that purchases are influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics, which is shown in the below model.

 [figure 2.0] (Kotler and Armstrong, 2015)

Consumer buying decisions reflect the consumers lifestyle and are affected by a complex combination of both external and internal influences.