The power of social media

: persuasion of greenfluencers regarding sustainable Home Décor in Portugal

Abstract

Social Media Influencers are believed to be one effective marketing strategy for brands, because they practice their influence on their audience by sharing creative content about their lives while showing products and how to use them, seeming to be regular consumers as well. These Influencers can specify their content in any topic, such as Environmental Sustainability, being called greenfluencers. This dissertation considers greenfluencers in the domain of Home Décor, being a field of recent exponential growth and trending on Social Media. These Influencers’ knowledge can be used to combat the sustainable consumption gap by influencing consumers to adopt more sustainable habits, by means of upcycle and buying environmental friendly products. Based on literature about Social Media Influencers and Sustainability, three characteristics were chosen to evaluate Influencers’ persuasion power: Positioning, Expertise and Popularity. It was expected that from the four created Influencers, the ones with a sustainable position, with sustainable knowledge and lower number of followers would be more persuasive towards Sustainable Home Décor. However, after analyzing the responses of the online survey answered by Portuguese consumers, the results demonstrated that there were no significant main effects on Commercial Impact, besides when adding the covariables Instagram Interactions and Sustainable Shopping, refuting all four Hypothesis. Other findings were valuable to determine the persuasion capacity of greenfluencers in the Home Décor field, and recommendations for future research on this matter were also made.

Date of Award	22 Jan 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ana Isabel de Almeida Costa (Supervisor)