Why DeInfluencing Matters - The Psychology of Consumers

What is DeInfluencing?

For Consumers – Make better informed decisions regarding purchases and stay true to their own values.

For Influencers – A new movement where Influencers share their honest opinions about a product, trend or service regardless of remuneration, going as far as disavowing products or services on their socials to their audience.

For Brands – Enhance the credibility of our product or service through the honest opinion of a DeInfluencer recommending our brand.

Oh, we want to add in right now, de-influencing is still influencing! 

Why DeInfluencing matters

Word-of-Mouth Marketing is the most effective form of marketing there is, with Influencer marketing at its core providing brands a way to accurately measure the response through various metrics not limited to likes & clicks. With the global Influencer market doubling in size in a mere 3 years since 2019, to a market value of an estimated 21.3 Billion dollars. The speed of market growth, the initial tenants that made Influencers so beloved and listened to has been diluted, Influencers initially brought an air of - Sincerity, Relatability and Authenticity.

Over the years we’ve seen a rise in Influencers accepting any and all jobs to promote various products without any code of ethics or regulation, from gambling, cryptocurrencies, for fast-fashion, fast-beauty that ended in rug pulls - It has reached the point where audiences are now realising that Influencers are not your friends, they have become nothing more than an effective medium of reaching consumers, thus destroying what made Influencer Marketing so effective in the first place. The calls for Influencers to return to the core tenants became louder and louder, ultimately resulting in - DeInfluencing.

Is this the trend of bringing back authenticity or was it always there? Consumers are craving authenticity. There is simply too much choice and social consumers are chasing and always wanting to be on trend by purchasing the latest product.

Look at Prime drink for example, a huge burst of social media activity, positioning the brand on trend, without any question. But, do you believe consumers made or even had enough time to review the ingredients and learn about its alleged health benefits before rushing to make the purchase? All we noticed were teenage children and many younger audience segments growing crazy for this drink, (this is the core audience of KSI and Logan Paul) with shops running out of stock, the FOMO effect was driving consumers stir crazy, now it seems to be in the distant past.

One only needs look at the automotive industry and find that a serious car buyer will undertake a large amount of research, and that we all take our time in learning more about a product or service that costs a hefty sum and will seek "DeInfluencing" facts continuously… so to answer our own question, we believe DeInfluencing has always existed, but what initially drew attention to the trend was FMCG eg. fast fashion, fast beauty.

DeInfluencing for sure will help to rebuild trust between consumers and Influencers, restoring the relationship that made Influencer Marketing effective in the first place while providing other benefits such as:

• Helping consumers reduce the amount of clutter in the social feeds
• Make more informed decisions about products and services
• Elevate the quality of content being put out

As consumers continue to be involved in their purchases online, more and more will seek out Influencers to guide their purchases as part of their dissonance-reducing buying behaviour which is why the integrity and credibility of an Influencer is extremely important to the future of Influencer Marketing.

It is important to remember that DeInfluencing is not a cure-all, but a powerful tool that can help consumers to take back control and make choices that are in their best interests.
 

Create authentic experiences with Audience2Media.

References: 
M., Y. (2023) Gen Z Social Media Usage 2023: The state of gen Z and Social Media, BusinessDIT. (Accessed: 23 May 2023). 
Valentina Dencheva, V.D. (2023) Global Influencer market size 2023, Statista. (Accessed: 23 May 2023).