(How) Does the Number of Followers Impact the Success of Influencer Marketing? A Construal Level Perspective

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we welcome back Kirsten Cowan (The University of Edinburgh) to discuss her article, "(How) Does the Number of Followers Impact the Success of Influencer Marketing? A Construal Level Perspective," coauthored with Ben Marder (The University of Edinburgh), Laura Lavertu (University of Strathclyde), and Jiayuan Li (Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University), published in the March 2026 issue of JAR. Kirsten takes on a question that sits behind nearly every influencer campaign: does a bigger following automatically make an influencer more persuasive? The answer is not always.  Drawing on construal level theory, the paper shows that follower count works as a cue of social distance. Macro influencers, with followers in the hundreds of thousands, feel closer and more relatable, while mega influencers with millions of followers feel more distant and aspirational, and persuasion depends on matching that distance to the message. Macro influencers perform best with concrete, direct content, such as overtly tagging the brand and posting on their own channels. Mega influencers are more effective with subtle brand linkages, storytelling, and appearances on the brand's own channel. Secondary Instagram data and three experiments support this matching process, with self-brand connection explaining why the right pairing lifts purchase intentions. The practical takeaway is that brands and PR agencies should stop choosing influencers on follower count alone and instead write different briefs for different tiers: detail, brand tagging, and product-in-use content on the influencer's own page for macro influencers, and benefit-focused, lifestyle-oriented content and brand-channel collaborations for mega influencers. Kirsten also makes the case for working across tiers, since smaller influencers deliver community depth and engagement while larger ones deliver reach and awareness. Our conversation also digs into the project's origins in those top influencer lists ranked purely by follower count, the challenge of comparing engagement across wildly different audience sizes, the trade-off between realism and control when studying real versus fictitious influencers, and future directions like influencer expertise, short-form video, and what happens to authenticity when lifestyle influencers endorse categories outside their lane. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2482276 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter:  https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/