3. Empirical Validation of Drivers of User Engagement in Influencer Branding

The chapter begins with a comprehensive literature review on influencer branding, celebrity endorsement, and social media marketing to derive potential drivers of user engagement. It then introduces the methodological basics and research context, focusing on Instagram as the primary platform due to its visual content and user engagement features. The study selects four global brands across three product categories—baby products, cosmetics, and household appliances—to analyze real-world data. The data collection involves manual selection of Instagram posts with brand-related hashtags, ensuring posts are within the same time frame and user engagement activities are largely completed. The chapter concludes with the empirical user engagement models and results, highlighting the impact of likes and comments as key metrics.