Shah, Sana Inam (2024) Brand storytelling in the digital age: an interpretive study of social media influencers and their relationship with Generation Z followers on Instagram and TikTok in the UK beauty industry. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.
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Abstract
Purpose: This research aims to explore how storytelling is being developed by reader response theory and explore the self and social identities of Generation Z impacted by the use of Instagram and TikTok in the UK beauty industry. Research Design and Methodology: The research philosophy approached for data collection will be an interpretivism paradigm, as the researcher needs to understand the discrepancies between people as social agents. Social constructionism within the research has assisted in developing the primary research by language, which is embedded into qualitative research of semi-structured interviews, Netnography, and subjective personal introspection (SPI). The primary research was translated and transcribed around 80,000 words of interview data. The primary research of interviewing influencers assisted in developing an understanding of how influencers use Instagram and TikTok in engaging with brands and consumers, PR representatives in the beauty sector to develop an understanding of how storytelling is approached with influencer marketing to gain consumer responses. Lastly, consumers of Generation Z to be able to gain a more of a rounded perspective and understand how they perceive and respond to storytelling strategy by brands and influencers on Instagram and TikTok. Netnography was approached to explore how the consumers’ self and social identities are influenced through their following of influencers on social media by analysing the Instagram and TikTok accounts of beauty brands and influencers engagement levels and consumer responses. SPI was approached in the form of a personal essay to provide a deeper understanding of the topic from the researcher’s point of view as an influencer. Findings: The primary findings in the research assisted in developing upon the reader-response theory by Scott (1994) by looking into the different perspectives of the consumer, brand, and influencer, and using researcher observation to develop an understanding of how storytelling is being perceived and the on the self and social identity of consumers in the beauty industry. Implications: This study presents an enhanced iteration of Scott's (1994) reader response theory. This study aids to provide practitioners and scholars to better understand how storytelling strategy is widely approached by beauty brands and influencers today on Instagram and TikTok. The study also provides insights into the perception of storytelling among Generation Z consumers and its influence on their self and social identities. Key Words: Influencers, Consumer, Reader-response Theory, Generation Z, Storytelling
Metadata
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Copyright Holders: | The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted. |
| Depositing User: | Acquisitions And Metadata |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Feb 2025 15:04 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Sep 2025 01:38 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/54989 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00054989 |
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