When Brands Become Personal: Who is Taking the Fall in the Wake of an Influencer Scandal? : A Study on Consumer Attitudes Toward Social Media Influencer-Founded Brands

Background: Social Media Influencers (SMI) have evolved the digital landscape, not only influencing consumers on what brands to buy from, but they are today founding their own. Social Media Influencer-founded brands (SMIFB) illustrate a new category of brands. While the SMI´s visibility and already established relationships can drive a brand’s initial success, this close association also presents a possible vulnerability. Previous research has investigated SMI-endorsers' impact on consumers' attitudes towards the brands they endorse. However, how consumers respond to brands when their SMI-founder is caught in a scandal remains undiscovered. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how scandals involving the SMI-founder impact consumers' attitudes toward a Social Media Influencer-Founded Brand (SMIFB). Foremost, focused on public disclosure of SMI actions that contradict their established image and communicated values. The study aims to provide valuable knowledge in the fields of consumer behavior and the new categories of brands with an SMI as their founder. Method: The study followed a qualitative, inductive approach based on semi-structured interviews with twelve Swedish women aged 18-30. Data was analyzed through a thematic analysis, identifying themes and patterns in emotional and behavioral reactions among consumers. Conclusion: The research concludes that an SMI-scandal led to negative consumer attitudes towards the SMIFB, in terms of purchase withdrawal, brand distance, and brand association discomfort. These behavioral attitude consequences stemmed from disappointment and broken trust for the SMI-founder, consumers' fear of judgment of others, and a sense of value signaling. To restore attitudes, consumers demand SMI-founder accountability and separation between the SMI and the SMIFB, underscoring the reputational fragility of SMIFB’s in the light of SMI-scandals.