Bachelor Thesis

Business and Economics

How do ethics in influencer marketing

impact consumer behavior?

Strategic Marketing with independent

project

Halmstad 2021-06-07
BEFENE MBEMBO Maxia, OURSEL Killian
HALMSTAD
UNIVERSITY
Thesis Strategic Marketing with Independent Project (15 credits)

How do ethics in influencer marketing impact consumer

behavior?

THESIS

Maxia Gabrielle BEFENE MBEMBO

& Killian Oursel

Supervisor: Venilton Reiner

Awarding Institution: Halmstad University

Keywords: Ethical Marketing; Influential Marketing; Drop Shipping; Consumer

Behaviour.

2021

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 Abstract

Influencer marketing has an unethical side that was important for us to talk about. This
study’s objective was to understand how impactful it was regarding the consumer and how it
could be really bad for a company to use this type of marketing in an unethical way. The
research then permitted us to investigate, see and understand consumer’s point of view on
this topic, especially thanks to the interviews that were conducted. The findings were varied,
but most of the people that were asked about it were positive about the fact that unethical
promotions impacted their behavior towards the brands in a bad way. This is the reason why
companies must choose wisely the influencers they chose to use to promote their brands on
social media. Indeed, as their name suggests, they influence their followers. That is the
reason why they must be ethically correct.

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Chapter 1- INTRODUCTION 5

1.1 Background 5

1.2 Problem 7

1.3 Purpose 8

1.4 Definitions 8

a) Ethics 8

b) Influencer 9

c) Influential Marketing 9

d) Consumer Behaviour 10

e) Dropshipping 10

Chapter 2 - FRAME OF REFERENCE 11

2.1 The Evolution of Influencer Marketing: 11

2.2. Ethics 12

2.3 Social Influence 13

2.4 Influential marketing ethics and consumer behaviour 15

Chapter 3 - METHODOLOGY 16
3.1 Method - Qualitative study 16
3.2 Type of research - Exploratory research 17
3.3 Population and sample 17
3.5 Instrument to collect the data - In-depth interview 19
Chapter 4- EMPIRICAL STUDY 19
4.1 Subject of the study 19
4.2 Qualitative research 20
4.3 Interviews 20
4.4 Data collection and respondent
characteristics 21
4.5 Interview: 21
4.6 Tables: Results of the study 23
Chapter 5 - Analysis of Empirical data 33
Questions analysis 33
a) Influencers' opinions and trust 33
b) Drop Shipping 33
c) Ethical dilemma 34
Answers Analysis 35
a)Influencer’s opinions and trust 35

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 b) Drop Shipping 37
c) Ethical dilemma 40
Chapter 6 – Conclusion and discussions 42
6.1 Conclusion 42
6.2 Limitations of the study 43
6.3 Acknowledgements 43
REFERENCES: 44
WEBSITE LINKS: 44

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Chapter 1- INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

As students and consumers of the 21st century, we have always lived consciously or
unconsciously in a world where marketing is at the heart of every business. Therefore, it is
almost impossible in 2021 to imagine any kind of organization without marketing, so it is
pertinent to wonder when marketing did emerge. This question is a topic of debate because
marketing has almost always been more or less present as soon as the concept of exchange
existed.

History evolves but so does marketing: each advance for man allows the evolution of this
concept. Following the Industrial Revolution, many technical advances and new forms of
transport made their appearance, developing the growth and production of the market in
general (Marc FILSER, 1993). Increasingly, the market became more and more competitive and
new research and techniques were implemented to keep up the growth. The term
"marketing" was introduced in 1937 with the creation of the AMA (American Marketing
Association) which helped standardize the word. The Second World War was followed by the
era of mass production and internationalization, where customer considerations were taken
more deeply to produce goods and services that corresponded to consumer expectations.
Starting from there, behavioral studies were carried out, then marketing slowly became what
we know today. with the appearance of media advertising, processes, price wars, etc. (Ilona
Vera-Ortiz, 2016)

We can therefore observe through those examples that this phenomenon has not ceased to
evolve since its appearance. And companies’ results and activities depend on many different
factors, but marketing plays a crucial role in their success, because it creates the
relationship between companies, markets and customers, thanks to different strategies and
techniques (Pierre Volle, 2012). So, it is one of the most important things to prioritize if you
want your business to be successful, and companies are aware of that.

But, there is still to wonder about the different strategies and techniques. Marketing has
taken a new turn with the arrival of the web, where a whole new market is developing
e-commerce. With the coming of a new market, new customers, all marketing strategies
must be reorganized. The progress of new technologies made the world a completely

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digitized place. Communication is now largely done by email, SMS or on social networks. All
marketing processes are becoming more and more automated, and more complex jobs are
emerging while some are disappearing, leaving a place for permanent ecological and
technological growth. (Bruno Godet: Neoma Business School Marketing Courses)

With all those constant changes, marketers adapted and saw social media as a new way to
expand their audience and the opportunity to reach as many consumers as possible, since
there are more and more users everyday on social networks. And one of the ways to use
those digital tools efficiently is to engage people that have the power to affect purchasing
decisions because or thanks to their visibility on social media: influencers. (Duncan Brown,
Nick Hayes, 2008).

Those people usually are recognized and have a reputation for their knowledge on a topic,
and many followers for which they do several posts every day on different platforms such as
Instagram or Snapchat, for instance. Indeed, companies realized the importance of building
a relationship with the customers, and how social media could be easier to facilitate the
interaction between both parties. And companies use influencers in a wide way, due to the
simple fact that they can easily motivate their followers and lead them to buy the products
they promote, since there is a kind of loyalty from customers towards their influencers and
some trust relationships to maintain between the parties (Victory Diamouangana, 2019).

However, we may find some flaws in these practices, particularly in terms of ethics towards
the consumers. Because so many marketing practices are totally wrong ethically speaking.
We are talking about scams, lies, influencers that use this just for the users to click and buy.
It is a serious question, since this phenomenon is very common lately, especially on social
media marketing. (Christpher S Penn, 2020).

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1.2 Problem

So, as mentioned before, social media marketing is supposed to help build a relationship
with customers, for them to buy and for the company to make profit, thanks to technological
platforms. So, influencers are obviously a good way for the brands to reach consumers and
to make them buy their products. But some unethical practices can be risky and impactful
but in the wrong way, leading us to wonder if influential marketing is always morally correct
regarding the consumers (Scott Guthrie, 2019).

Indeed, through this thesis, we choose to explore the question of ethics, which has often
been associated with marketing: what is morally right and what is morally wrong? The main
objective of marketing is to sell via processes, techniques, and practices, nevertheless
companies are sometimes ready to go beyond human principles to sell. Marketing ethics is
specific to each company because each one has its own culture and therefore its own
values. It is a kind of code of conduct followed by a company in its decision-making process.
Ethics is a quite subjective issue, and marketing ethics is even more subjective as the limits
of ethics are very difficult to define. Ethics is important in daily life because they structure
and set the standards, which helps the individuals to make decisions, right or wrong.
Therefore, we agreed to talk about ethics in influential marketing because it is a matter that
lately, happened to be a real concern for social media users, as much as for influencers’
followers, and consumers, which we are also part of.

Naturally, we are consumers almost in spite of ourselves of all the influence marketing
campaigns that have been in constant development over the last few years. The fact that we
are in daily contact with this environment is a real motivating factor for us, because it is
crucial for consumers to know what they actually deal with on a daily basis, since it can be
impactful, and can have some consequences, which we will talk about more deeply in this
thesis.

Some concepts, such as consumer behaviour for example, are often mentioned when it
comes to marketing and ethics, especially when it is related to social media and influencers.
So, our analysis will be conducted to answer the question: How do ethics in influencer
marketing impact consumer behavior?

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To us, this topic is a relevant one to talk about, because it is important for the companies to
know what advantages they can have when their actions and everything that is related to
their companies are ethically and morally correct.

By enhancing ethics in their marketing actions, companies win a lot in terms of credibility, of
communication with the consumers and create a good image with their targets, because as
we will see through this thesis, consumers’ actions towards the brand, the fact that they buy
or not from a brand depends a lot on the image they have of the brand.

1.3 Purpose

The aim of this thesis was to answer the question how do ethics in influencer marketing
impact consumer behavior? by examining consumer views on the ethical issues
surrounding influencer marketing. The nature of the research was purely qualitative; we
wanted to find out if they, as consumers of these media, were concerned about this
unhealthy environment, if their behaviour and feelings were apt to change or not towards this
business. Through this study, we also wanted to know if certain socio-demographic criteria
such as gender, age, or place of residence influence consumer behaviour about ethical
opinions related to influencer marketing.

1.4 Definitions

a) Ethics

Ethics is a concept that has been studied a lot, it is defined as :

"A reflection on our choices and decisions, which aims at the common good" . There are two
main approaches to ethics, first of all applied ethics, i.e. everything that concerns reflections
on what should be, what decisions would be the best to take in this or that situation. This is
moral philosophy whose objective is to determine an ideal, standards.

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Then there is behavioural ethics, i.e. the study of what is. What people actually do in some
situations. This is more sociology and psychology, as it seeks to understand a
phenomenon.(HEC Montreal, Joé. T Martineau. PHD)

b) Influencer

The term influencer has been adapted to social networks since the arrival of online business.
It is defined as: "a public figure, active on social networks, who has the ability to influence
the consumption habits of the people who listen to them, who constitute their community.
(Guide et glossaire de l’influence marketing). Influencers are often self-employed, sharing their
opinions about products or services on all types of media, mainly on social networks.
Influencers can be found at all scales, their power can be enormous, for example the football
player Neymar Jr, has 142.8 million followers on Instagram alone. (Starngage, Top 1000
Instagram Influencers in 2021.) There are many celebrities who are considered influencers,
however, in recent years more and more people are becoming influencers, whether it be
bloggers, reality TV characters or others. In 2021, an influencer is first and foremost a
businessman, who uses marketing processes to sell products. The primary mission of the
influencer is therefore to validate a product, to promote it to add value ( Djafarova, Elmira and
Rushworth, 2017).

c) Influential Marketing

Influential marketing is one of many marketing concepts, it is a process where influencers

are key to the success of the business. Using influencers to amplify a brand's message
allows the brand to reach a large group of potential customers. Consumers trust influencers,
so they are potential customers. (Rachel Miller).

In 2021, influencer marketing has become one of the most effective techniques in terms of
communication. Indeed, for certain targets such as generation Z, recommendations made by
influencers on social networks will have much more impact than television advertisements,
emails, or any other form of communication. (COHERIS, 2019). Let's take the example of a
study conducted by Twitter in 2016 which perfectly illustrates the effectiveness of this

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phenomenon, according to which "40% of users claimed to have made a purchase following
a Tweet from an influencer. " (COHERIS, 2019)

Thus, influencer marketing is very effective in reaching new clienteles such as Generation Z,
in other words the consumers of tomorrow.

d) Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is not just about how a consumer behaves. It is about all the reactions,
physical and mental, of a person who is designated as a current or potential customer of a
market or company. Behavioural research is a very wide-ranging subject; behavioural
analysis is based on the actions, not the words, of the consumer. Our study therefore deals
with consumer behaviour in relation to ethical issues related to influence marketing, this
subject is very important because thanks to all the new ways of interacting on the sales
markets (social networks) consumer behaviour is very different and in constant mutation.
(The digital transformation of marketing and communication, VOICE).

Many factors influence consumer behaviour when making a purchase decision, including
marketing factors (price, advertising, packaging, etc.), social factors (age, gender, education,
etc.), psychological factors, personal factors, etc. (SMRITI CHAND, Consumer Behaviour:
Meaning/Definition and Nature of Consumer Behaviour)

A good knowledge of consumer behaviour allows the development of products and services
that correspond to their expectations.

e) Dropshipping

Drop shipping is a derivation of the standard merchant website where you can buy products.
The web merchant sells products which are stored at the supplier's premises, he takes care
of the delivery himself. (ecommercemag) The biggest difference with normal businesses is
that the seller does not store the products himself. The customer is usually not informed
about the system, although it is becoming more and more popular.

"Dropshipping is a form of e-commerce in which the seller's website does not hold any
stocks and has the end customer delivered directly by its supplier, usually without the
customer knowing." ( B. Bathelot, 2020).

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Drop shipping started in the 1960s, even before the arrival of the internet. It has therefore
evolved a lot since then. Drop shipping is now one of the most profitable businesses in
e-commerce. With the explosion of Ali express, Shopify and other similar platforms, it has
become very easy for anyone to do drop shipping. (The history of drop shipping).

This business is accessible to almost anyone, which is why it is so popular in the 21st
century.

Chapter 2 - FRAME OF REFERENCE

2.1 The Evolution of Influencer Marketing:

We are living in a world where it is no longer possible to live without social networks and
where if you are not able to use a smartphone or a computer, you are going to disappear
because you find yourself out of touch with civilization. This phenomenon, which has been
growing for several years now, is slowly erasing postcards, newspapers, letters... leaving the
way open for a technological revolution that is taking more space every day. In these last few
years, because of the digital revolution, the word "Influence" has taken on a completely
different meaning. Duncan Brown and Nick Hayes wrote in 2008 that when an outsider
influences consumer choice, we can talk about influence marketing (Duncan Brown, Nick

Hayes,2008) . This phenomenon keeps on growing through technological growth every day,
new apps are created, new social networks make the buzz and therefore new means of
communication for companies and influencers. It is now evident that the match between the
products of social media influencers and the purchase intention and attitude of the consumer
is significant (Lim, Radzol, Cheah and Wong, 2017). A good marketing influencer must be active in his
work, he must be influential on his audience and moreover on the (future) consumers. This is
where the concept of popularity comes into play because the more people who follow or
listen to an influencer, the more importance people will attach to him or her. People will judge
his legitimacy as an expert partly by the number of people who will recognise his expertise
by following him in one way or another (Gail Martin, 2017). Marketing has really evolved, with
globalisation, which has led to a multiplication of companies, brands etc. Consumers have
lost the trust they had in marketers, the whole business has changed to make way for a new
marketing approach, we are entering a new era for marketers (Chris Anderson).

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2.2. Ethics

In order to explain our theory more clearly, it is important to understand what ethics is.
There are many definitions of ethics in the literature:

- "Ethics is a process through which the individual awakens, grows, informs himself,
broadens his horizons and improves his ability to respond to those who come for help."
(Pope & Vasquez, 1998).

- “Ethics must be based on moral reasoning and not just on the ends or on the ends or
outcome of behaviour.” (Gössling, 2003)

Ethics has often been linked to morality for practical and logical reasons, as the two terms
have much in common and are often referred to as being synonymous. Ethics and morality
both involve judgements about what is right and wrong and study human conduct,
relationships and values (Jones, 1991). Also, morality is traditional and individual and has two
criteria, the possibility of being globalised without contradiction and the possibility of being
related to the interests of others (Gössling, 2003). Moreover, an actor who performs an action
that is not moral is not necessarily considered immoral. However, moral reasoning is
necessary to take a moral action and blindly obeying a rule does not make an action moral.
does not make an action moral. Therefore, morality requires reflection. The concept of
universality without contradiction is what distinguishes morality from ethics, which is more
situational. "Ethics is rather the science and study of morals and morals". Ethics thus
represents a concept encompassing morality; these two concepts were considered similar
in order to be able to consider the literature on morality for the aspects of reflection,
consideration of right and wrong, values, relationships and human behaviour (Gauthier,
2011).

The concept of ethics has always been linked to marketing, in fact it is not just a question of
following laws and rules, ethics is above all principles and values that represent a company
(Richard.T Dee George, 2015). Nevertheless, marketing has been criticised on many occasions
for several reasons such as overly aggressive practices, especially in terms of
communication. Indeed the power of communication is so powerful that it can manipulate the
consumer's mind in spite of himself (Sowmya R, 2019), but the question is this: How far are
they ready to go to market them to sell? With influence marketing many influencers promote
products without really knowing what they are selling.

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Remember, the idea is to try to find out at which stage consumers think that the actions of
influence marketers are no longer considered "ethical".To do this it is necessary to be
familiar with the concept of the ethical dilemma and the conflict associated with it. When a
situation involves a confrontation of several ethical principles or considerations, it becomes
an ethical conflict (i.e. when respecting one principle requires violating another) (Ford, 2001).
The ethical dilemma arises when all possible solutions are usually undesirable for one or
more persons (Gunz, 2006). It has the potential to result in a violation of the norms of
acceptable behaviour (Wooten & White, 1983). Both conflict and ethical dilemmas involve the
confrontation of ethical considerations in their definition.

2.3 Social Influence

There are many types of social influences, such as conformism, normalization, cultural
influence, etc. (Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, 2008). They define the term nudge as "any
aspect of choice architecture that predictably alters people's behavior without prohibiting any
option or significantly altering financial incentives. To be considered a simple nudge, the
intervention must be easily and cheaply avoidable. Nudges are not binding" (p. 25). This
phenomenon is more than interesting in the context of our problem because influence
marketing can seem to be constraining despite itself. Small social nudges can sometimes
lead to huge social changes, in markets as well as in politics. This leads us to ask the
following question: how does social influence work, and why?

First, society causes the human brain to be driven to do what others do, which is called herd
behavior. "This effect is evident when people do what others are doing instead of using their
own information or making independent decisions.(Banerjee, 1992). A simple model of herd
behavior.

illustrates the concept of conformity, but first let us define it. Conformism is "a process of
social influence by which a person is led to align his or her own perceptions, beliefs, or
behaviors with those of a set of other people," (M. Chambon) To recap the experiment, Asch
invites a group of students to participate in a pretend vision test, each participant is complicit
in the test except for one, the so-called "naive" subject. The participants deliberately give
wrong answers to the questions to influence the naive subject. The test results show that 20
to 40% of the naive individuals conform to the group's wrong answers. These results are
explained by the fact that the information conveyed by the answers of others influences the

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naive subject's answers, even though he or she sees the correct answer. Peer pressure and
the desire not to be the object of group disapproval influence the subject's response. This
experiment illustrates the power of conformity on an individual's decisions within a group.
(Paris University)

Another concept related to social influence that is interesting to consider is that of

standardization. Standardization is "a process of sustained influence leading to the creation
of collective norms. "One psychologist made an experiment where subjects are placed in a
dark room with a bright spot, and they are asked to describe the movement of the spot. First
of all, each one is alone in the room, then in a group. The results show that in an individual
situation all the individuals' judgments converge towards an arbitrary group norm, but in a
group situation the individual will give the group's answer as an individual answer. (Muzafer
Sherif, 1937) Thus, as in Asch's experiment, the information transmitted by the response of
others and peer pressure as well as the desire not to be the object of group disapproval
influence the decisions of an individual within a group, this is the power of normalization.

Thus, many experiments such as Asch's or Sherif's demonstrate that small nudges can
create problems to social influence. These problems are the following:

- Arbitrary tradition, i.e., when individuals internalize norms given by a group and defend
them, through normalization.

- Collective conservatism, when individuals retain old patterns or traditions for no reason
except that they were once the norm. (Paris University)

However, the power of social influence can also be positive, often used in public
organizations to trigger positive behaviors such as eating better or recycling waste. These
are discreet methods that subtly influence the choice of individuals, such as the urinals at the
Amsterdam airport where fake flies were installed to encourage men to aim better when
urinating. As a result of these installations, the airport observed a clear reduction in the need
to clean the toilets. (Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein, Nudge 2010)

As a consequence, these concepts are embedded in society and consumer behaviour in

spite of themselves, but why? Why do we conform to others? Why do we conform to social
norms and fashions in general? One reason is the projector effect. This theory, described by
Tom Gilovitch, shows that the impression that others have their eyes on us causes people to
conform to what they think is expected of them. Another reason is cultural influence,
demonstrated by Matthew Salganik's experiment. Salganik investigated whether participants in

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the experiment would be influenced by the choices of others, and to do this he used an
artificial music market. Subjects were offered uncommercialised music and asked to indicate
their favourite track. First the tracks are sorted out of order, then they display the number of
times the track was preferred, followed by a presentation of the tracks in descending order of
preference. The results show that social influence leads consumers to buy the titles that sell
the most, because indeed, the choices are influenced by others in the number of downloads.

So social influence is a very powerful tool, it is important to be aware of it to use it wisely.

Unfortunately, these tools are sometimes used for purely financial purposes to influence
consumer behaviour, particularly with influence marketing. (Paris University)

2.4 Influential marketing ethics and consumer behaviour

Indeed, this thesis will cover several different topics that are somehow linked, such as
consumer behaviour, influential marketing, consumers decision making, purchasing process
and so much more.
Marketing has a big influence on consumers' purchase decisions and investigating the
marketing branding methods should help understanding how and what factors should be
taken into consideration (Josephine Pickett-Baker, Ritsuko Ozaki, 2008).
Studying marketing and consumers is interesting for many reasons. And ethics is an
important matter to talk about regarding marketing, for so many reasons, as mentioned
above. When it comes to ethics or more precisely non-ethics of social media marketing
regarding the consumers, we tend to point to the bad side of influential marketing. There, we
would find topics such as influencers’ authenticity, credibility and even the consumers’
reactions to that (Sevil Yesiloglu, Joyce Costello, 2020). Indeed, influence can be so impactful
that they have to be careful about their credibility towards their followers, for them to keep
trusting and buying what they promote.
Furthermore, the impact of the influencers is not only limited to their own followers. Indeed,
on social media, they can reach other people, thanks to the sharing options, for instance.
This is the reason why they must be credible, otherwise, they can lose people’s trust and not
succeed to sell. So, based on the principle of our theory, some influencers do promotional
actions that contradict the very principle of ethics, such as drop-shipping, lying about
partnerships to gain followers, promoting products they don't know ,etc. There is a whole

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unhealthy side to this business that is booming thanks to social networks. The goal is to
understand why consumers of influencer marketing keep consuming the promoted products
and follow influencers despite the fact that they know deep down that this business hides
vices.

Chapter 3 - METHODOLOGY

3.1 Method - Qualitative study

To collect and analyse data, it is important to find the adequate research method, in order to
have the most relevant information possible. To conduct our essay, we then used the
qualitative study method:

Qualitative method is usually used to understand how someone experiences something, and
since we wanted to know how social media users experience influencer marketing, it
seemed more appropriate to use the qualitative than the quantitative method. (Pritha Bhandari,

July 2020) By using this type of study, our objective was to collect data by “exploring”:
interviewing social media users to see how they react to influencers. We also used some
existing data that we found in texts, videos, etc. Using a qualitative method, we tried to
understand and discover opinions, as this phenomenon is new, the authors are still at the
stage of understanding this problem, that is why we did not start with a pre-established
hypothesis but tried to analyse new ideas.

3.2 Type of research - Exploratory research

Among the many different types of research that exist, we choose to use the exploratory
one. Indeed, this type of research focuses on the detail and seemed adequate for the
research we were conducting.

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The exploratory research aims to increase the understanding of a problem, by providing
detailed information on a specific topic. In this case, how do consumers react ethically
speaking about influence marketing? Exploratory research is a good tool to understand the
problem in an efficient way (QuestionPro).

3.3 Population and sample

The next question was: how to select the best targets?

Since we were conducting qualitative research, we have chosen to use a non-probabilistic

sample. “Non-probability sampling is defined as a sampling technique in which the
researcher selects samples based on the subjective judgment of the researcher rather than
random selection. It is a less stringent method. This sampling method depends heavily on
the expertise of the researchers. It is carried out by observation, and researchers use it
widely for qualitative research” (QuestionPro).

Our targets were chosen by judgement: of course primarily excessive consumers of social
networks (at least 3 times a day), and therefore mostly people between 16 and 25 years old.
This is the generation Z, this generation has not only discovered digital, it has always been
living with it, we are talking about smartphones, Netflix and especially social networks. In
2010, social networks really started to explode in statistical terms, with new applications
such as Instagram and Snapchat making the buzz. Facebook and Twitter reach one billion
and 500 million users respectively.

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 Statista,2021

This generation uses the phone more than anything else, which gives them immediate
access to the internet. Thanks to all the applications, communication is instantaneous from
one street to another or from one country to another. Via their smartphones, which they use
whenever they have a second to spare, Generation Z represents an incredible consumer
sample for influencers.

We wanted to interview people in 3 geographical areas: Paris, Toulouse and Barcelona. Via
these 3 different zones we had enough data to analyse the reactions and behaviours in two
European countries, the objective being to understand what is the impact of influence
marketing and how social network consumers feel about the ethical aspect of this
phenomenon.

Regarding the literature, the documents were found thanks to our respective institutions’
libraries and thanks to academic search engines such as Academicinfo or Google Scholar.
By using this literature, we were able to collect valuable information to best prepare our
interviews and questionnaires. The idea was to acquire enough knowledge on the subject to
be able to analyse the data in the best possible way.

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3.4 Instrument to collect the data - In-depth interview

To collect data, we decided to do some in-depth interviews. Our objective was to gather
information in a wide and flexible way.

Indeed, the advantage with this type of data collection is that the exchange is more
interactive: the way the interviewer asks the question is impactful for the answer they get
and vice versa. It is like a normal conversation between two parties, which helps having a
variety of honest answers, since there are several people to interview.

Chapter 4- EMPIRICAL STUDY

4.1 Subject of the study

The main objective of the study we conducted was to collect data from potential customers,
social media users, since we wanted to know how they feel and what they think about
influencer marketing and ethics, and especially if all the unethical sides around this topic
influenced their behaviour and their judgement on it.. We then decided to focus our
empirical research on this topic. How do social media users react to influencers'
publications? What motivates them to buy or not to buy? Indeed, it is important to
understand the purchasing process of the customer, and how it is impacted by the previous
questions. Do they trust Their influencers? Why do they trust them? If not, why isn’t it the
case?

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Furthermore, several other open-handed and situational questions were asked regarding
ethics.
All the mentioned issues generated different answers, which we will analyse deeply in the
analysis step.

4.2 Qualitative research

The study that was conducted was qualitative. Indeed, we wanted to use an open
approach at the data collection level. The qualitative research then seemed more
appropriate, since it helps understand things better in terms of quality. Like this, wel had
opinions, feelings of people who answered, and understood better how they feel about
ethics and influencer marketing, which was our main objective since the beginning. The
qualitative data allowed us to have precise information.

4.3 Interviews

We have chosen to create an interview with a bit of demographic questions in the

introduction and then more in-depth and open questions.
It was a rather open interview; the aim was really to create a dialogue to exchange
opinions on the subject. The objective was to discover the deep opinions of social network
consumers on the subject, and to do this the oral interview allows the interviewer to take
the time to answer without the pressure of an indirect, written questionnaire.
The results were richer and more thoughtful speeches as the questions are personal and
deal with a sensitive subject, a group interview for example would not have given the same
result. In addition, it was not possible to conduct group interviews as it was impossible to
bring together influencers and brand representatives. We therefore created the interview
for social network users by adapting the location of each one, the idea being to obtain the
opinions of young people in Paris, Toulouse, and Barcelona with the same questions. The
objective was to have the point of view of several geographical areas to then compare the
data.

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We opted for an unstructured interview, the idea is that we have a list of questions in mind
to be able to bounce back and forth with the interviewee and thus create a fluid discussion
to obtain a maximum of data. We asked some questions about influence marketing, the
impact of influencers on the interviewee, etc. The goal was to know the consumer's point of
view on the unhealthy aspect of this business, especially when talking about drop shipping.
We also proposed an ethical dilemma at the end of the discussion in order to analyse the
profile of the interviewee.

4.4 Data collection and respondent characteristics

We decided to interview people who could speak English, for us to be able to analyse more
easily and more deeply. As mentioned before, the respondents live in Paris, Barcelona, or
Toulouse which allows us to collect data from two European countries. Doing this, we were
able to get more diversity in the data collection to get a greater wealth of information. To
get enough data the idea was to interview between 4 and 5 people per city and then
analyse the answers.

4.5 Interview:

(There is no specific order for the questions - the idea is to bounce around with a question to
create a spontaneous dialogue. Here is the guideline of our basic ideas to do the interviews.)

First of all, let us introduce ourselves, we are two French students at Halmstad University.
As part of our thesis we are collecting a number of data, so your participation is more than
welcome. The main objective of the work is to analyse ethics and influence marketing,
more precisely the behaviour and the feeling of the consumer on this subject. The interview
will take around 30 minutes. Please answer honestly and thank you very much for your
time, it will be very useful to us. Does it matter if we record the interview?

● Can you present yourself ? Where do you live, age,etc.

21
Before going deeper,

● How many influencers do you follow on social media?

● What categories of influencers do you follow? Why?
● How do they affect your daily life? Could you give some examples?

So, based on the principle of our theory, some influencers do promotional actions that
contradict the very principle of ethics, such as drop-shipping, lying about partnerships to
gain followers, promoting products they don't know ,etc. There is a whole unhealthy side to
this business that is booming thanks to social networks .

● As a social media user, were you aware of this unethical side of influencer
marketing?
● Do you trust the influencers you follow? Why?

There are a lot of explanatory videos and promotional content on social media about
dropshipping as a business and without mentioning the immoral side of it.

"Dropshipping is a form of e-commerce in which the seller's website does not hold any
stocks and has the end customer delivered directly by its supplier, usually without the
customer knowing." ( B. Bathelot, 2020).

● Are you for or against dropshipping? Why?

● What motivates you to buy or not to buy ? (Advantages and disadvantages of
influencer marketing)

As mentioned before, some influencers use their power on social media in an unethical
way, which damages the image of influencer marketing, when there can be several
advantages: for example, this kind of marketing allows you to buy the product or service
from a human instead of buying it from a brand. But unfortunately, the bad side of it takes
over everything.

● What do you think about it? How do you react to this phenomenon?

Finally, let us propose an ethical dilemma situation to help us analyse your profile in a
deeper way.

22
 ● Ethics dilemma: You are driving a train and you can't stop. In front of you, there are
five workers in the railway but you can turn right where there is only one worker,
which is your brother in law. What do you do? Why?

4.6 Tables: Results of the study

M. Blond, 20, F. Loustau, 21, T. Robert, 20 C. Drouillot, 21,

Student in Paris Student in Student in Student in Paris
Paris Paris

Number of Between 5 and 10. Less than 10. Around 50. 6.

influencers
followed on
social media

Categories of Fashion, work Sports. Sports, my Fashion, make-up

influencers interest, and passion. beauty, medicinal
followed. interesting topics. products, creams,
Why? etc.

How do they In fashion: Clothes No, because I do They inspire me Discover new
affect daily materials, not order from because they products,
life? recommendations, them. are successful, I influence on
etc. want to be like purchases, learn
them. things, medical
info.

23
Were you I made some Yes, that is why I From the Yes, that's why I
aware of the research regarding do not buy moment there is don’t follow a lot
unethical side it. Feel like I can anything they money, there is of people; it's not
of influencer recognise when it promote. dishonesty, honest, I limit the
marketing? is unethical, even most people I follow to
(false though I am not an follow quality
products sold by
promotions, expert. people because I
influencers are
drop shipping, think they are
unreliable or
etc.) honest in
ethical.
the products they
offer; organic,
environmentally
friendly.

Do you trust Yes, some more No, because No, most Yes, because
the influencers than others they these are not influencers they do not do a
you follow? have journalism smart people, already have at lot of product
Why? background, quality are used by least one placements. They
content, brands, they controversy in precise if it is a
relation to paid partnership
honest speeches. sell defective
or not.
products, do not Partnerships.
even use them Cyclists, for Some of them (ex
in the right way. example when Lenasituations)
they were make their
Way.
doping their followers win
images was products, and
degraded. don’t want the
money directly for
themselves.

Are you for or It is disgusting, Against, It is unethical, it Against, it is not

against drop against the currently in is manipulation. honest.
shipping? competition, not master of ethics,
honest and it is not
unethical.

24
 conceivable for
me.

What The price, the The I will analyse A product might

motivates you interest I have in a obsolescence of well if the be interesting, but
to buy or not product, the trust I the products, the product is I'm waiting for
to buy? have for the usefulness of the interesting, confirmations
influencer. products, they from my
I will look for the
try to create the entourage,
market; if the
need, when it is several
price is
not necessary in influencers tell
attractive, I can
everyday life. me but it
buy.
Depends on what
influencers.

What do you Not so bad is the It is necessary to They lie a lot. We must be
think of the fact that the image be able to sort careful. There are
But I think the
fact that the becomes negative, among the bad sides and
main
bad side of because in the idea influencers that good sides. For
influencer it is better to sell exist, they offer example,
is not business
marketing products sometimes some
but being
products we really
takes over the defected or influencers offer
manipulated,
know about, it is
good side? obsolete. I think stuff without
young people
better to focus on
you must follow being paid, this is
who are on the
the qualities of
the right people one of the good
screen during
who sell sides. Just be
a product. the day, it is
qualities, there careful.
easier to scam
are opportunities
the younger
to take
than the older
advantage of the
ones.
good sides of
influential
marketing.

25
Ethics I would rather I kill the five I kill the five Better to kill one
dilemma: You destroy the workers because workers. than five
are driving a relationship I have I do not know
train and you with my family than them.
cannot stop. In ruin five other
front of you, families.
there are five
workers in the
railway, but
you can turn
right where
there is only
one worker,
which is your
brother-in-law.
What do you
do? Why?

B. Germain, K. Maghni, 20, M. Subra, L. Boucah, 19,

Student in Student in Student in
Student in
Toulouse Toulouse Toulouse
Toulouse

Number of Less than 5. Around 70. Between 5 and Less than 10.
influencers 10.
followed on
social media

26
 Music,
Categories of Travel, Hotels, Lifestyle, Lifestyle,
lifestyle,
influencers etc. cooking,, travels, skincare, haircare.
cooking,
followed. Why? etc. Reality tv shows.
humour.

Inspiration
How do they / I learn through Selfcare, skincare
when it comes
affect the daily them (cooking decisions.
to food and
life? for example or
stuff.
tips for daily life).
It is entertaining
and inspiring.

Yes, I was
Were you aware Yes, Yeah I was Yes, I heard
aware of it. As a
of the unethical @Chloebbbb for aware of this about it.
student in a
side of instance, a side of influencer
business school
influencer French influencer marketing, I’m
I've learned how
marketing? with almost one not going to lie I
useful it can be
(false million of don’t follow
for a brand but
promotions, followers, was at those type of
I've also see the
drop shipping, the heart of influencers
bad side of it.
etc.) controversy for because I feel
It's unfortunate
some unethical like they are only
but not
reasons. doing this for
surprising.
money, these
are not trusted
advices.

As far as I am
No, because
Do you trust the Not all of them Not all of them, it
concerned, I
they are
influencers you because some of depends on the
trust the
motivated by
follow? Why? them use social experience of
influencers that I
money.
media for money the influencer
follow because
more than and his attitude
they are
pleasure; They towards his
professionals in
want to make as followers.
their fields.
much money as

27
 possible and at
all costs.

Against when it
Are you for or Against, it is not Against the bad I cannot say that I
becomes
against drop honest. sides. am against
immoral.
shipping? dropshipping
because it is
helpful to save
money for a
brand, as it
removes all the
stoking costs. But
I blame the
brands who use
this to make a
huge margin for a
product that does
not deserve it.

There is so What motivates

What motivates When I buy a Product
much product me to buy or not
you to buy or product, I make placements do
placement on buy a product
not to buy? sure of its not motivate me
social networks are both his
quality, I read to buy at all.
that you are price and the
comments of If I see
influenced. But way his features
people who something I
I guess it also have been
already bought it like and that I
depends on proved.
(what they think want to buy, I
how
of it). will dot it but
influencers
when it is a
behave with
partnership
their followers.
between the
I feel like I trust
influencer and
more
some brand, I
influencers that
won’t buy
are close to
because I don’t
their
know if I can
community.
trust them or
not.

28
 I think maybe it
What do you You must choose I feel like /
is time for
think of the fact your influencers influencers have
companies to
that the bad well, check their to use their
evolve and find
side of background, their power (influence
some new
influencer image, and stay on their
marketing
marketing takes ethical. followers) to
techniques.
over the good advise great
side? products that
would have a
good impact on
people and not
products from
drop shipping.

Ethics I would choose / I scream so that Tell them to move

dilemma: my family they move. before I turn.
member.

M. Mayorga, K. De Pascalis, C. Mbiguis, 20, A. Reyes, 20,

Student in Student in Student in Student in
Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona

Number of Around 20. 10% of all the Around 20. Around 5.

influencers people I follow.
followed on
social media

29
 Healthy lifestyle,
Categories of Lifestyle, fashion, Sports, cinema. Beauty, fashion,
fashion, music
influencers workout. sport, travels,
followed. Why? etc.

Food, workout,
How do they Impactful They inspire me Mostly fashion.
and fashion,
affect the daily because they a lot.
they kind of
life? influence and
inspire me.
inspire me
sometimes.

Yes, I am aware
Were you Yes, I heard a lot Of course I am Yes, I heard
that social
aware of the of controversies conscious that about it.
media make
unethical side about it. companies
things look a lot
of influencer choose specific
better than they
marketing? people to spots
are.
(false or their product to
promotions, reach a specific
drop shipping, target but I didn’t
etc.) know about this
unethical side of
this way of doing
marketing.

Not for Not really, it

I don’t have
Do you trust I tend to create
everything. depends on anything bad to
the influencers an image of them
Because I because when
say regarding
you follow? just by what they
know I feel like it my own
Why? actually do for
sometimes, matches their
experience, so I
work (movies of
they lie and lifestyles, I can
think I do trust
sport
also not trust but when
them.
performances)
everything we not I do not.
and yes I trust
see on social
them from this
media is real.
point of view.

30
 If the
Are you for or Against, for the Since I got to Not totally against,
customers
against drop bad side, it’s know what drop since there are
receive their
shipping? unethical. shipping is, I’ve good sides.
stuff, I cannot
never seen it
be against
negatively but at
the same time I
have never been
influenced by it’s
way of working.

Trends in
If I want to buy It must be
What motivates Fulfil a need that
something they convincing; I general, good
you to buy or I have.
advertisement,
promote, I look also do my
not to buy?
for some more own research. product
placements.
information.
Because you
never know if
you can trust
them or not.

I think it I feel like all is I think there will

What do you I have to confess
depends more not bad, but at always be an
think of the fact that it is very true
on the person the end of the unethical part to
that the bad that the brand
that receives day, there are it. People will
side of image is put in
the information so many always lie on
influencer the shadow of
than the benefits, so it social media. I
marketing the influencer
influencer should not be think us
takes over the sponsoring it and
himself. that much of a customers
good side? it may damage
big deal. should be
the process of
careful
the marketing of
regarding this.
the brand. As a
consumer I tend
to have a
connection with a

31
 brand after a
purchase, thus
meaning that I
care about the
background of
the single item
that I buy.

Ethics I save my family I would kill my / I would not do

dilemma: member. brother-in-law, anything. I do not
even though I want to be
would feel bad responsible for
after. someone death.

32
Chapter 5 - Analysis of Empirical data

1. Questions analysis

a) Influencers' opinions and trust

The first part of the interviews concerned influencer marketing in general, the relationship
with influencers, feelings,etc.

We wanted to know what kind of influencers the interviewees follow in order to locate their
interests in everyday life. Then came the question of the impact of influencers in everyday
life, as it is known that there is a link between the promotions of influencers on social
networks and the consumer's purchasing behaviour (2.1).

We then came to ask them if they were aware of the whole unhealthy aspect of this type of
business. We know that marketing has changed dramatically since the advent of digital and
that some consumers have lost trust in marketers (2.1). The idea was to find out whether
they were aware of the ethical problems associated with this whole concept. We have seen
that there is a whole unhealthy side to this (2.4), sometimes involving fraudulent actions
such as lies or vices hidden from the business public.

b) Drop Shipping

This part was about a real example of influence marketing: drop shipping. First of all, we
wanted to know if they were aware of the entirety of this type of business, which was not
often the case, at least not on the unhealthy side. Indeed, when we talk about drop shipping
for most people, it is an easy way to earn money, when we google drop shipping, we more
easily come across tutorials that explain how to develop this business than on all the
negative aspects ethically speaking. After introducing the concept and explaining all the
aspects of this business, we asked them if they were for or against drop shipping.

33
If we consider this concept ethically, the values reflected in this business are more than
questionable, and we know that the ethics of a company are visible through its values and
principles (2.2).

In the end, after having been talking about all the negative sides of influencer marketing, its
dark image with the public, we asked people if they think it's fair that the bad side of
influencer marketing comes out first when it also has many advantages. This question can
be linked to Asch's theory (2.3) which illustrates the concept of conformity. Recall the
definition: "a process of social influence by which a person is led to align his or her own
perceptions, beliefs, or behaviors with those of a set of other people," Actually it is interesting
to study whether people have enough distance to be able to see the different aspects of
influence marketing, both the good and the bad.

c) Ethical dilemma

Finally, to conclude our investigation we proposed the famous train dilemma created by the
British philosopher Philippa Foot. However, what is an ethical dilemma? When making a
decision, the subject sees the dilemma as a situation that pulls him or her in two completely
different directions, offering a very difficult choice to make. "In moral philosophy, an ethical
dilemma is defined as a conflict between two or more moral principles or values.” (HEC
Montréal, Joé.T.Martineau).

Here we make the link with the theory of behavioural ethics (1.4.a).The ethical dilemma we
choose is a well-known dilemma that often requires a bit of thought before answering. We
have revisited this one a bit by proposing it in the following form. You are the driver of a train
that you cannot stop, in front of you are five workers that you do not know. You have two
options:

- Do nothing and kill the five unknown workers.

- Change tracks, to kill a single man on the other track but he is your brother-in-law.

Would you kill a family member to save five strangers?

Before analysing the answers in more depth, it is important to underline some points. First,
most of the interviewees' answers may differ completely from what they would do in a real
situation. Indeed, there is always a gap between the values one claims to follow and the

34
behaviour one would adopt in a real situation. The aim of this last question was to relax the
atmosphere a bit and leave on a more original note. However, it also puts the interviewee in
a complex situation with only two possible solutions (2.2). It is a fast shortcut to our initial
problem which is: How do ethics in influencer marketing impact consumer behavior? Indeed,
the problems of fraud and lies linked to influence marketing should logically push consumers
to modify their behaviour towards influencers. Just as this ethical dilemma requires reflection
and difficult arguments.

2. Answers Analysis

a)Influencer’s opinions and trust

For the first part, the results are as follows:

First of all, the interviewees all followed a minimum of 4 influencers (B Germain), and a
maximum of 70 (K.Maghni). The average number of influencers followed is 19, which gives
an idea of the importance of these in the lives of the interviewees. Then, concerning the
types of influencers followed, those that stand out the most are sports,lifestyle, travel, and
fashion influencers.

The third question gave very interesting results as all but one of the interviewees answered
that influencers affected their everyday lives.

K. Maghni: "I learn through them (cooking for example or tips fordaily life). It is
entertaining and inspiring. "

Whether it is in any domain, the interviewees felt a real need to follow influencers, it really
impacted their daily lives.

We can link Banerjee's theory of herd behaviour. In (2.3), people do what others do instead
of using their own information or making their own decisions. Influencers impact on people's
daily lives, they listen, they consider the behaviour of influencers to be inspired and replicate
it.

However, without exception, all of them said that they were aware of the unhealthy side of
the business even though they were consumers. Most of them felt the need to justify

35
themselves on this issue, expressing their knowledge of the various scams that can be found
on social media promotions.

C. Drouillot: "Yes, that's why I don't follow a lot of people; it's not honest, I limit the
people I follow to follow quality people because I think they are honest in the products
they offer; organic, environmentally friendly."

So, we knew that some consumers were aware of this unhealthy side (2.4), but we
wondered why they continued to consume this influencer marketing, the answer is that
conscious consumers know the difference between good and bad influencers.

Finally, regarding the trust attributed to influencers, the results were mixed.

5 people (40%) trust them 7 (60%) do not trust them. For those who do trust them, some
justify it by the professionalism of the influencers they follow. Consumers are therefore
aware that there are influencers promoting poor quality products, for purely commercial
purposes, which is why they choose carefully those to whom they give their time.

L. Boucah: "As far as I am concerned, I trust the influencers that I follow because they
are professionals in their fields.”

Nevertheless, those who do not trust them seem to have already well-founded ideas on the
subject. Considering influencers as scammers, motivated only by money and gaining more
and more followers does not gain the trust of everyone. Many stories about scams, lies, etc.,
are damaging to the image of influencers.

M. Mayorga: "Not for everything. Because I know sometimes, they lie and also not
everything we see on social media is real."

Furthermore, when asked about what motivates them to buy or not to buy, the answers were
also very mixed. However, we can notice that indeed, most of the respondents don’t stop at
product placement. They are usually looking for more information before they buy, which is
another sign that their unethical practices impact their followers' behavior.

K. Maghni: “When I buy a product, I make sure of its quality, I read comments of
people who already bought it (what they think of it).”

36
M. Mayorga: “If I want to buy something they promote, I look for some more
information. Because you never know if you can trust them or not.”

Here is illustrated the theory on consumer behaviour (1.4.d), the purchase decision following
an influencer marketing promotion is based on research actions, the purchase decision
process goes through numerous researches, the starting point of which is the influencer's
advertising.

Some of them are even more radical. For some of the respondents, the simple fact that they
do product placement is unacceptable. These people not only don’t trust influencers, but the
entire influencer marketing process.

M. Subra: “Product placements do not motivate me to buy at all. If I see something I

like and that I want to buy, I will not buy it but when it is a partnership between the
influencer and some brand, I won’t buy because I don’t know if I can trust them or
not.”

F. Loustau: “The obsolescence of the products, the usefulness of the products, they
try to create the need, when it is not necessary in everyday life.”

Therefore, there are various points of view on the subject, even if most people seemed to be
aware of the scandals linked to influencer marketing, this does not necessarily directly
influence their behaviour as consumers. Very few people seemed to be fully aware of the
power of this type of business.

b) Drop Shipping

9 (75%) were against and only 3 (25%) were for.

37
Most of the people against this concept justified it by the fact that this business is dishonest
and unethical. Indeed, this type of business is not morally good, it has been criticized many
times for its unhealthy side, drop shipping is so powerful, and well-presented that it
sometimes allows to manipulate the mind of the consumer, we can quote the theory of
Sowmya. R (2.2).

K. Maghni: "Against, it is not honest.”

Those in favour argued that drop shipping has some good sides in terms of the market
system.

L. Boucah: "I cannot say that I am against dropshipping because it is helpful to save
money for a brand, as it removes all the stocking costs. But I blame the brands who
use this to make a huge margin for a product that does not deserve it."

Finally, some people were not completely aware of what drop shipping is. Take the example
of K. Pascalis. She answered that she trusts influencers to the previous question, then we
explained to her in depth what drop shipping is, all its hidden sides. Our explanation
influenced her vision of things and surely her future behaviour as a consumer. In spite of
ourselves, we have influenced his behaviour, which is rather ironic as it is in line with the
principle of social influence (2.3). This can be linked to Salganik's cultural influence, which
explains that some people are guided by the choices of others. We explained our views on
drop shipping to K. Pascalis. Pascalis, which made him change his mind in five minutes on
the issue.

K. De Pascalis: "Since I got to know what drop shipping is, I've never seen it
negatively but at the same time I have never got influenced by it's way of working."

The next question was a rather logical one in the context of our analysis, the objective of
which was to find out what factors motivate the customer to buy or not. We worded the
question in a rather open-ended way as follows: What motivates you to buy or not to buy?

Thanks to this open-ended form, we have obtained a plurality of answers.In fact, we could
have asked the question in a more closed form and focused on our problem, for example:
what motivates you to buy products from influencers?

38
Indeed, the answers were very diverse. Some gave simple answers by giving market
research arguments such as price, usefulness, or quality of the product.

Mr Blond: "The price, the interest I have in a product, the trust I have for the
influencer.”

On the other hand some prefered to argue with the fact that they do a lot of analysis,
research on the products that the influencers promote, before going on to purchase.

C. Drouillot: "A product might be interesting, but I'm waiting for confirmation from my
entourage[...]".

Responses of this type are those that come up most often, so we can see that even if they
are not always aware of it, consumer behaviour is heavily impacted by influencers.

The example of C. Drouillot perfectly illustrates Asch's theory of conformity (2.3), she relies
on the opinions of those around her to think about buying her product, so she is not only
influenced by her own perceptions but also by those around her.

In the end, after having been talking about all the negative sides of influencer marketing, its
dark image with the general public, we asked people if they think it's fair that the bad side of
influencer marketing comes out first when it also has many advantages.

There were two types of feelings in response to this. Firstly, those who were really blocked
by this kind of practice only feel the negative aspects.

Mr Subra: "I think maybe it is time for companies to evolve and find some new
marketing techniques.”

On the other hand, there were some people who were more accepting of influencer
marketing as such, who were aware of the benefits it has. Their opinion was more based on
the fact that they need to regulate and manage the influencers they can trust. The opinion is
then more about the fact that there will always be a part of unethical behavior in the
business, and that we have to be careful about that.

The impact of influence marketing is therefore not only negative for the consumer, but some
consumers also distinguish between the good and bad sides of influence marketing, so
Yesiyoglu and Costello's theory (2.4) is not entirely true.

39
F. Loustau: "It is necessary to be able to sort among the influencers that exist, they
offer defective or obsolete products. I think you must follow the right people who sell
qualities, there are opportunities to take advantage of the good sides of influential
marketing."

c) Ethical dilemma

Moreover, this question was, to our great surprise, an interesting one to ask because,
beyond the short and dry answers, some people really took the trouble to think and debate
with us. This question, which is a concrete case of ethical reasoning, is therefore an
interesting lever for understanding people's ethical reasoning. This final question was more
about the sociology and the psychology of the interviewee. (1.4.a)

In response to this question, the results were almost equal, with almost 50% on both sides in
the three geographical areas. This can be seen in the tables above, where three types of
responses can be distinguished.

- 1st case: The person decides to kill the five workers, because they have no interest
in saving people they do not know.

Ferdinand Loustau: "I kill the five workers because I do not know them."

- 2nd case: The person decides to kill his brother-in-law, in most of the answers of this
type, the interviewees feel obliged to explain in depth the reason for this decision. It
is noticeable that they feel a lot of remorse and are obliged to justify themselves.

K. De Pascalis: "I would kill my brother-in-law, even though I would feel bad after."

- 3rd case: As this decision is too difficult for some people to take, they choose to
deflect the answer by any means to get out of this situation. Through the train
dilemma, for some people, the moral prohibition to kill remains predominant in almost
all cases (or at least they find it difficult to act, a priori, in such a situation). We then
tried to insist on an answer, either A or B, but the subjects changed their minds a lot
without ever really taking a position.

M. Subra: "I scream so that they move.”

40
A. Reyes: "I would not do anything. I do not want to be responsible for someone's
death."

The results were therefore quite interesting, because before accessing them one might think
that most people would kill the five workers, as changing the direction of the train amplifies
the whole responsibility of the act. Larger scale studies have shown that it is common sense
to kill five strangers in spite of oneself rather than deliberately killing one person (The Cut,
Katie Heaney).

41
Chapter 6 – Conclusion and discussions

6.1 Conclusion

The objective of this thesis was to understand in a deep way how impactful was the principle
of ethics of the brands towards the consumers. One problem, the unethical side of influencer
marketing, was found, which led us to ask ourselves the question: How do ethics in
influencer marketing impact consumer behavior? We could see through our qualitative
research that ethics has a fairly significant impact on consumer behaviour, particularly
because of trust. It is thanks to the interviews that we realized that it is important for a
company to maintain a good relationship with its consumers, to respect them, especially
when doing marketing. When the consumers feel like the influencer’s product placement is
ethically not correct they do not trust them and therefore, avoid buying the products they
promote, for fear of being scammed. Companies must be careful when they choose the
influencers who will promote their products, pay attention to the image they convey and
especially the relationship they have with their followers, because what came out from the
interviews as well was that social media influencers affect the followers’ daily life a lot. So
being ethically correct could be a good step for this impact to be positive.

A literature review was also made, where we defined some important terms, such as
influence marketing, influencers on social media and ethics. We showed some
characteristics of this type of marketing, as well as the influencers. We also defined
consumer behaviour and drop shipping, which were important in our interviews.

In the end, the study made us realize that some brands are losing credibility and the image
of influence marketing is being damaged because of influencers who are morally incorrect as
well as too many collaborations and scams on social networks.

42
6.2 Limitations of the study

We were finally able to conduct our research. However, some limitations can be observed.
First off, the sampling could have been bigger. We were only able to interview twelve people,
mainly because of their lack of availability. By interviewing more people, we could have had
a greater variety of responses, which could have improved the quality of our research.

The geographical position of each can also be considered as a limitation. Indeed, being
unable to meet everyone, all interviews were carried out via zoom or video call, which
represents a kind of brake in the conversation, since some signs, especially physical signs of
the respondents could be missed.

The last thing that could be seen as a limitation is the time. We had less than five month to
do the research. Maybe more time could have been more profitable for us to be able to
gather more information and to have even more conclusive answers.

6.3 Acknowledgements

This thesis represents the result of our work completed during the spring semester 2021 at
Halmstad University.

First of all, we would like to thank our professor Venilton Reinert, who accompanied us
throughout this work by giving us valuable advice.

Secondly, a big thank you to our beloved opposing group of Emil Meviken and Gabriel
Eliasson, because without their experiences and wise remarks we would never have been
able to complete this work.

Finally, we would like to thank all the people who participated in our research, those who
took the time to answer our questions, to exchange with us and to provide us with real data
to analyse.

43
REFERENCES:

- Commercial_Amphoras_The_Earliest_Consumer_Packages.pdf
- Duncan Brown, Nick Hayes Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann,( 2008): Influencer
Marketing: Who Really INfluences Your Customers?
- Djafarova, Elmira and Rushworth, Chloe (2017) Exploring the credibility of online
celebrities' Instagram profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female
users.)
- Gail Martin, (2017): The Essential Social Media Marketing Handbook: A New
Roadmap for Maximizing Your Brand, Influence, and Credibility
- Ilona Vera-Ortiz, September 2016: Histoire du Marketing
- Jeff Fromm, Angie Read (2018): The Rules for Reaching this VAst and Very Different
Generation of Influencers
- Josephine Pickett‐Baker, Ritsuko Ozaki, (2008): Pro-environmental products:
marketing influence on consumer purchase decision
- Lim, Radzol, Cheah and Wong, (2017): The Impact of Social Media Influencers on
Purchase Intention and the Mediation Effect of Customer Attitude
- Richard.T Dee George, (1986): Theological ethics and business ethics
- Sevil Yesiloglu, Joyce Costello, (2020): Influencer Marketing ,Building Brand
Communities and Engagement

WEBSITE LINKS:

- https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-students/2012s/sa_nov12
_fabf1_marketing.pdf
- Influencer Marketing Ethics: Why Doing Good is Good For Business - [Talking
Influence]
- https://www.lateamweb.com/strategie-marketing-influence/#:~:text=Le%20marketing
%20 d'influence%2C%20 une%20tendance%20
qui%20se%20g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rales

44
- https://www.lateamweb.com/strategie-marketing-influence/#:~:text=Le%20marketing
%20d%27influence%2C%20une%20tendance%20qui%20se%20g%C3%A9n%C3%
A9ralise&text=Le%20but%20de%20cette%20m%C3%A9thode,recommandation%20
aupr%C3%A8s%20de%20leur%20communaut%C3%A9
- https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/hal-03018928/document
- https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/6-dangers-of-influencer-marketing/558493/
- https://www.charte-ethique-marketing-influence.com/fr/#charterReader
- Ethics in Marketing: Values, Importance, Advantages and Disadvantages
(businessmanagementideas.com)
- https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-a-literature-review/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1p
yCBhCtARIsAHaY_5eIyQz1rQHUxCnaq4tZBl-NJtI_jjWksKQ4l-h7KFHKqcP-goUIDTk
aAg54EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
- https://surmars.be/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PRESSION-SOC-Experience_de_AS
CH.pdf
- https://www.thecut.com/2018/06/people-dont-always-act-according-to-their-values.ht
ml
- https://www.kolsquare.com/fr/guide
- https://starngage.com/app/global/influencer/ranking
- http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/28774/2/Instagram%2008888.pdf
- https://www.traackr.com/ressources/glossaire-marketing-influence
- https://www.coheris.com/marketing/marketing-influence-definition/
- https://www.e-marketing.fr/Definitions-Glossaire/Comportement-consommateur-2390
17.htm
- https://www.wholesaleted.com/the-history-of-dropshipping/#:~:text=Did%20you%20k
now%20that%20dropshipping,advertised%20a%20range%20of%20items.
- Pourquoi l'éthique en entreprise? - Nicomak

45
Hi, we are two French students from
Toulouse and Paris. We both are 20
years old, and we have worked for
almost 5 months on this thesis.
It was a real pleasure to do this
research paper together, using some
skills we had developed through the
years, especially on this topic

PO Box 823, SE-301 18 Halmstad

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