Ensuring Fairness in the Digital Marketplace: A Communicative and Cognitive Analysis of Deceitful Influencer Marketing within Regulatory Frameworks and Benchmarks

The paper explores the pressing challenges of misleading advertising in the digital ecosystem, specifically regarding influencer marketing. We propose a dual innovation: a theoretical one and a methodological one. Theoretically, we present a comparative analysis of the norms regulating misleading online advertising and influencer marketing considering three contexts with respective case studies: Italy, France, and the United States of America. Methodologically, we present an interdisciplinary analysis that combines consumer law theory with pragma-cognitive linguistics. The study sheds light on how cognitive biases—such as anchoring, imitation bias, the halo effect—are exploited to manipulate consumers, often to the detriment of vulnerable populations like minors or those with limited digital literacy. Drawing on case studies, the research underscores the systemic inadequacies of current regulatory frameworks and highlights the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach, towards enhanced regulatory measures that align behavioral insights with legal standards, fostering transparency, accountability, and consumer trust in digital marketplaces.