Research Article: 2025 Vol: 29 Issue: 5
A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF INFLUENCER MARKETING'S ROLE IN ENHANCING SOCIAL COMMERCE WITHIN OTT SERVICES
Paul Arun Kumar J, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu, India
Surjadeep Dutta, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu, India
Gayathiri G, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu, India
Citation Information:Prabhavathy, R., Kumar, P.A., Dutta, S., & Gayathiri, G. (2025). A systematic review of influencer Marketing's role in enhancing social commerce within ott services . Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 29(5), 1-9.
Abstract
Influencer marketing is steadily becoming very crucial in influencing consumption behavior in OTT platforms, particularly for social commerce. Systematic studies link marketing strategies, user engagement and platform architecture under which influencers work as trust agents and content mediators for the purposes of social commerce. The objective of the article is to investigate the role of influencer marketing in driving social commerce in over-the-top platform services using a systematic literature review. In social commerce, where social media interactions and platforms have a direct impact on the purchasing process, influencer marketing has emerged as a potent accelerator. By fusing targeted calls to action with real narrative, influencer marketing serves as a link between content and sales. Because it may effectively influence customer behavior by combining personal connections, compelling information and direct purchasing possibilities, it is a powerful tool for promoting social commerce. Influencer marketing is anticipated to have an even bigger impact on how online shopping experiences develop in the future as social media develops. Online databases like Emerald, Semantic Scholar, Pub Med, Springer, Pro Quest, EBSCO Host, Taylor and Francis, Elsevier and Google Scholar were used for the study. This paper outlines the role of influencer marketing in social commerce. Initially, 220 articles were selected for the study and finally, 4 qualitative and 10 quantitative articles were included in the study. According to this study, Influencer live-streaming advertisements were positively seen by consumers, which implies that to strengthen their persuasiveness, firms should produce high-quality advertising content. Customers view influencer live-streaming advertisements as having more informative value when their degree of confidence in them is higher.
Keywords
Influencer marketing, Social commerce, Over the top platform services, Systematic literature review.
Introduction
Social commerce is a new phenomenon that has emerged in the digital era as a result of the convergence of social media and e-commerce (Zhou, et al., 2013). In a marketing environment, the idea of social commerce or s-commerce, is still not well understood despite its growing importance in both academics and business. Although s-commerce's origins date back to the late 1990s, its meteoric rise just began ten years ago. The majority of empirical research is still focused on information technology (Bürklin, et al., 2019). Furthermore, the two categories of consumer engagement behaviors may have an additional impact on the likelihood that a customer will make a purchase in the social commerce community (Wang, et al., 2023). Social media platforms were initially used as avenues for engagement and brand awareness. But buy buttons, in-platform shopping tools and influencer marketing have made social commerce a strong ecosystem that allows for direct transactions within social media settings. The importance of social commerce resides in its capacity to combine social connections with business dealings, improving customer buying experiences and opening up new revenue sources for companies (Gautam, et al., 2024). Personalized targeting, user-generated content and peer recommendations are some of the ways that social commerce fosters authenticity and trust. Customer loyalty and conversion rates rise as a result. Social commerce allowed businesses to access a wider audience, engage with customers in realtime and gather valuable data for better targeted marketing initiatives. Social commerce and influencer marketing: Examining the function of influencer communities in forecasting intent to use (Kim, et al., 2022). Businesses can also use social data in conjunction with e-commerce platforms to enhance product recommendations and personalize the purchasing experience. Higher sales and happier customers are the results of this. Despite its enormous potential, social commerce has a number of drawbacks, including the need for smooth platform integration, privacy issues and data security threats. Additionally, algorithms employed for content curation and recommendation run the risk of creating filter bubbles and echo chambers, which limits the range of options available to customers and hinders product discovery (Patwa, et al., 2024). With advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) poised to further transform the shopping experience, social commerce has a promising future. AI will continue to affect social media networks as it develops and evolves. AI's potential in social media is virtually limitless. Artificial intelligence and social media are collaborating to businesses' tremendous benefit (Sadiku, et al., 2021). Immersion technology will be integrated with social media platforms to provide virtual try-ons, interactive product demos and customized shopping assistants, resulting in previously unheard-of levels of engagement and conversion rates. The distinction between social interactions and commercial transactions is becoming increasingly hazy in the framework of e-commerce due to the disruptive power of social commerce (Al-Kfairy, et al., 2024). Due to its evolution, businesses now have more ways than ever to interact with their customers and take advantage of social influence. However, maintaining its development trajectory will require tackling issues like platform interoperability and privacy concerns. With its unmatched ease, customization and social connectivity, social commerce is set to completely transform online buying in the years to come as technology advances. Social support, trust among community members and social presence are all positively impacted by social commerce. Social presence and support have a good impact on community members' trust. While flow has a beneficial impact on community involvement, we also discovered that community member trust had a favorable impact on both (Algharabat, et al., 2021). The emergence of influencer marketing is overshadowing traditional advertising techniques in the current digital era. The emergence of social media platforms has led to the emergence of influential persons who possess a significant voice and the ability to shape the thoughts and behaviors of consumers. This essay explores the topic of influencer marketing, including its definition, history, efficacy, difficulties and potential. Promoting products and services by collaborating with individuals who have a substantial social media following and influence is known as influencer marketing. Influencer marketing used to only involve celebrity endorsements. Influencer marketing is a recent and significant trend in the marketing business that is viewed as a new means of influencing consumer choices in the tumultuous world of social media and the internet (Theocharis, et al., 2020).
Materials And Methods
The trustworthiness of live-streaming influencers has a tiny but positive impact on viewers' intentions to make a purchase, the attractiveness and expertise of these influencers have a favorable and considerable impact on viewers' intentions to make a buy. The single most important factor influencing the possibility that viewers will purchase live-streaming e-commerce is the influencer's level of skill. Influencers may therefore want to enhance their professional skills and informational capabilities to increase their influence over current and potential customers (Zhao, 2023). The professional expertise, charismatic attitude and way of life that embodies the brand values of the products of internet superstars are also significant factors. Therefore, researching how this model affects consumers' intentions to shop is important from a practical standpoint. The rise of celebrity live broadcast e-commerce encourages impulsive and herd consumption behaviours, which in turn fuels customers' shopping urges. Customers can get additional information about products and hear other people's perspectives by interacting with other users and Internet celebrities on these platforms. But there are also drawbacks, such as poor product quality, excessive reliance on well-known online personalities and a dearth of platform oversight (Tong, 2023).
Influencers may also have an impact on the decisions made by consumers. As the internet has grown, blogging has become a more popular career and working with businesses is how most influencers get their money. Users who are more aware of their preferences may find influencers through big data promotion and more powerful influencers may persuade people to spend money by, for instance, including adverts in their posts or recommending certain goods. Customers could be enticed to purchase because they admire the influencer or they might be drawn in by the excellent way the product and plot are combined in the advertisement (Dou, 2023). Consumer’s continued purchasing behavior is significantly influenced by online stickiness and trust. Online trust is greatly impacted by the interaction of live streamers and online satisfaction is highly impacted by the perceived context value of live streaming platforms (Meng, 2023). Based on their YouTube viewing habits, Generation Z might be a valuable target audience for marketing or advertising on the platform, particularly through influencer marketing, since their youthful audience is probably easily swayed by the influencers they follow. To develop and build deeper brand relationships with these younger customers, brands would be wise to seize the opportunities provided by YouTube influencers (Hermawan, et al., 2023). While influencer livestreaming commercials on social media can heighten customers' impulsive purchases, there has been limited research on the potential effects of this novel and comparable advertising technique on ecommerce platforms. Although research has shown that the direct impact of influencer credibility on views towards influencer advertisements is negligible, the celebrity nonetheless exerts an influence on consumer's perceptions (Yan, et al., 2022). Users who engage in live streaming and turn into influencers can encourage more users to participate in activities and increase the amount of interaction on live streaming platforms. Live streaming platforms eventually gain from greater tips provided by live streaming users as a result of LSI engagement (Zhou, et al., 2022). Influencer marketing is the process by which a particular brand or product is mentioned by a social media influencer in another piece of work, like a movie or digital content. Product placements are integrated, alluded to or addressed throughout the broadcast to foster positive associations between the promoted brand and the audience. Using influencers to promote commercial products in digital content is a growing trend (Suri, 2022).
When an influencer endorses a brand or a product, culture is a major factor. Because influencers are no longer organic, people's faith in them has decreased. Additionally, the material is similar when it appeals to humour (Raja, et al., 2022). Brand engagement on social media is positively impacted by the trustworthiness of food influencers. Additionally, brand engagement has a favorable impact on customers' purchasing decisions. According to the study, social media food influencers are believable because they are appealing, truthful and knowledgeable (Sharma, et al., 2022). The influence process's role in emotional connection and perceived information value might cause followers to show behavioral intentions towards the products that influencers endorse (Sánchez-Fernández, et al., 2021). Various reasons for following influencers on Instagram, which vary in terms of their impact on trust and frequency of purchases: consumerism, authenticity, creative inspiration and jealousy. Additionally, materialism, a significant individual difference variable, showed a strong correlation with the four reasons, some of which served as crucial mediators supporting materialism's impact on consumer behavior (Lee, et al., 2022). Consumers are far less likely to believe verified accounts than unverified ones when the influencer is endorsing a product that is inconsistent with their trademark. They also identify verification more closely with celebrity than with authenticity (Dumas, et al., 2022). Brand attitude and post-engagement are enhanced when women perceive that they are more like female influencers than male ones, which heightens their parasocial interaction experiences. Male and female influencers did not significantly differ in terms of brand attitude or post-engagement through perceived similarity and parasocial interaction for men (Hudders, et al., 2022).
Search Strategy
• This research explores, the connection among grit, occupational stress and emotional intelligence.
• To see emotional intelligence and grit as a predictor of occupational stress among army personnels.
Hypotheses
• H1. There will be significant relationship amid grit, emotional intelligence and occupational stress among soldiers.
• H2. Emotional intelligence and grit as a predictor of occupational stress among soldiers.
Sample Size and Sampling Technique
A sample size of 100 Army personnel was taken; purposive sampling method has been used and army cantonment was approached for the collection of data.
Inclusion Criteria
• Army personnel in peacekeeping area rank Sepoys and Lance Naik.
• Slightest 3 years of service.
Exclusion Criteria
• Army personnel in field areas and paramilitary, BSF, CRPF and other defence services.
• More than 10 years of service.
Tools Used
Occupational Stress Index (OSI) (A.P. Singh, et al., 1984): This scale is designed to analyze the amount of stress employees perceive from their job settings. This measure comprises of total 46 items including 28 ‘true keyed’ items and 18 ‘false keyed’ items18, all statements evaluated on a five-point scale. Reliability and validity; split half and internal consistency.
Short grit scale (Angela Lee Duckworth, et al., 2009): The eight-item scale is an efficient measure of perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Scoring was calculated on a 5-point Likert scale for questions 2,4,7 and 8 (5,4,3,2,1 point has been assigned) and for questions number 1,3,5 and 6 (1,2,3,4,5 points given). Reliability and validity: internal consistency, test-retest stability, consensual validity and predictive validity.
Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) (Hyde, et al., 2002): This scale measures the different dimensions of emotional intelligence there are 34 statements and each of them to be scored on a 5-point scale (strongly agree 5 to strongly disagree 1 point to be given). It has content validity and split-half reliability.
Analysis
Attained data was processed and analyzed using SPSS20. P correlation and regression analysis was applied to get the relationship among grit, emotional intelligence and occupational stress.
Results
Study Selection and Eligibility Criteria
In Figure 1, the PRISMA flow diagram (Moher, 2010) breaks down the steps of recognizing articles. The information in the abstract and title was used to screen the investigations. The entire article was downloaded in case this information wasn't sufficient to generate an opinion. The initial stage of the study included 220 articles. The study's selection criteria for eligibility: a) Both quantitative and qualitative research are chosen; b) The articles were written in English; c) The articles clearly state the role of Influencer Marketing in Over-the-Top Platform Services.The main reason for excluding publications from the current study based on title and abstract was their lack of connection to the topic. For example, in many papers, the term “Influencer Marketing” did not provide related evidence. Records identified through database searching (N=220); Records screened after checking duplication (N=215); Records excluded after reading abstract (N=25); Full-text articles assessed for eligibility (N=190); Records excluded with reasons (N=176); Finally, the articles included in the systematic review (n=14). In this qualitative article are 4 and quantitative article are 10 (Figure 1).
Figure 1 PRISMA DIAGRAM
Discussion
Summary of Evidence
The analysis's most obvious conclusion relates to the function of influencer marketing in over-thetop platform services. The records used for the study were Emerald, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, Springer, Pro Quest, EBSCO Host, Taylor and Francis, Elsevier and Google Scholar. Semantic Scholar and Google Scholar have many relevant articles when compared to other databases. The Keywords for the study were Influencer Marketing, Over-the-top platform services, social commerce and digitized world. Finally, 4 qualitative and 10 quantitative articles were included in the study. According to the study, to increase their influence over current and potential customers, influencers may want to enhance their professional skills and informational capabilities. It is advised that marketers find influencers to work with who are knowledgeable, attractive and trustworthy in the eyes of their target audience to create interesting advertising for live-streaming videos. To better understand how viewers' intentions to purchase are influenced by influencers' expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness, future research could greatly benefit from using a more qualitative methodology and interviewing influencers and marketers who livestream. From the perspectives of live streamers' professionalism, credibility, attractiveness and interactivity, the platform's perceived value (perceived content value, perceived context value and perceived infrastructure value), online satisfaction, online trust and online stickiness, the SOR theory examines the elements that affect consumers' ongoing purchases on live streaming platforms. Online stickiness and recurring purchases are influenced directly or indirectly by consumer’s opinions of the live streamer's professionalism, credibility, attractiveness and interaction, their confirmation of the platform's perceived value and their level of online trust and satisfaction. Based on their YouTube viewing habits, Generation Z might be a valuable target audience for marketing or advertising on the platform, particularly through influencer marketing, since their youthful audience is probably easily swayed by the influencers they follow. Influencer live-streaming advertisements were positively seen by a consumer, which implies that to strengthen their persuasiveness, firms should produce high-quality advertising content. Customers view influencer live-streaming advertisements as having more informative value when their degree of confidence in them is higher. On the other hand, customers who are less receptive to influencer advertisements can think they are less beneficial.
Conclusion
The final section of this research study examines the vital function influencer marketing plays in promoting social commerce on Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms. By examining case studies, industry trends and the corpus of recent literature, several significant findings have become apparent. First off, influencer marketing has emerged as a significant force in modern digital advertising, effectively using the social capital and genuineness of influencers to engage viewers. Influencers have the ability to significantly increase customer interest and engagement in the context of Over-The-Top (OTT) services, which facilitate the integration of social media and e-commerce platforms. Moreover, influencer marketing's ability to foster consumer trust, authenticity and reliability underscores its effectiveness in advancing social commerce within Over-The-Top (OTT) services. Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms can leverage influencers' platforms to showcase products, services or information through strategic partnerships, increasing brand awareness and credibility among their target audience. Furthermore, the link between influencers and over-the-top services is advantageous to both parties and extends beyond straightforward marketing campaigns. Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms and influencers often collaborate to create immersive experiences, exclusive content or special deals that enhance user experience overall and foster long-term brand loyalty.
Personalized recommendation algorithms, data analytics and technology advancements are all contributing to the growth of social commerce in Over-The-Top (OTT) services. OTT platforms may improve consumer satisfaction and conversion rates by employing data-driven insights to deliver hyperpersonalized content, optimize influencer partnerships and improve targeting strategies. The practical challenges and ethical conundrums associated with influencer marketing, such as those pertaining to transparency, authenticity and disclosure, must be acknowledged, nevertheless. As the landscape continues to expand, stakeholders must be cautious in upholding industry standards and best practices to guarantee a mutually advantageous environment for influencers, businesses and consumers alike. In conclusion, influencer marketing is a major factor in social commerce in Over-The-Top (OTT) services, offering businesses unparalleled opportunities to build authentic, captivating and immersive relationships with their target market. By adopting this dynamic paradigm shift, OTT platforms can take advantage of new chances for growth, innovation and sustained competitive advantage in a market that is increasingly going digital.
Acknowledgement
We wish to acknowledge the SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu, India for providing the resources and facilities necessary to carry out this study.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.FUNDING This research did not receive any financial support.
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Received: 09-May-2025, Manuscript No. AMSJ-25-15944; Editor assigned: 14-May-2025, Pre QC No. AMSJ-25-15944 (PQ); Reviewed: 28-May-2025, QC No. AMSJ-25-15944; Revised: 02-June-2025, Manuscript No. AMSJ-24-15944 (R); Published: 30-Jun-2025