Experimental Study Identifying Gender Effect of Influencers in Product Placement on Instagram

This study provides an overview of literature connected to a problem of product placement, social media influencers, gender, and emotional and rational appeals. The research is conducted via online experiment, assessing the differences in effect of endorsers´ gender in product placement on social media. Respondents are international millennials evaluating fictional Instagram posts promoting a makeup product. The study was conducted on 326 respondents, regardless their gender. Results show, that male influencer promoting a makeup product evokes higher perceived credibility and attitude towards the ad, than a female one. The effect on purchase intention was not significant, soft-sell appeals are proven to be more efficient for hedonic product category.