Exploring the Influence of Contagious Threats on Consumer Perceptions of Social Media Influencers

This study explores the impact of contagious threats on consumers' perceptions of social media influencers with different levels of social cues. By combining insights from the behavioral immune system (BIS) and research on social media influencers, we propose that contagious threats diminish consumers' inclination towards social media influencers whose posts have salient social cues compared to non-salient social cues, regardless of their interaction and purchase behavior on social media. The activation of the BIS due to contagious threats leads to a decrease in consumers' preference for objects associated with people, which explains the effect. The effect is also expected to be moderated by the type of influencer, with virtual influencers weakening the impact. Our initial findings from an experiment largely support our hypotheses. These findings enhance our understanding of the strategies guiding contagious threat avoidance and highlight how these strategies can influence consumers' behaviors in terms of social media marketing.