353. IJRM. The Creators’ Dilemma: Authenticity v. Monetization.
March 6, 2025
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Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for brands, but it's important to understand the nuances of this strategy to make it work. In this interview Professor Dr. Johanna Gollnhofer, an expert in customer-centric marketing, discusses the concept of the "creator's dilemma," which is the tension between maintaining authenticity and making money as a content creator.
Key takeaways include:
Authenticity is crucial for social media creators because followers connect with them on a personal level.
Monetization can threaten authenticity if it's not done right. Creators need to find a balance between making money and staying true to themselves.
There are three strategies that creators use to resolve the dilemma: moving from paid advertising to co-creating with brands, improvising content instead of staging it, and expanding their brand beyond social media.
Brands that want to work with creators should:
give them creative freedom
be open to new content formats
choose the right creators to partner with, making sure that there's a good fit between their brand and the creator's values.
By following these tips, brands can build strong relationships with creators and create authentic content that resonates with their target audience.
Click here for the Research Article
The Up Next podcast’s access to this content is courtesy of the International Journal of Research in Marketing, an international, double-blind peer-reviewed journal for marketing academics and practitioners. IJRM aims to contribute to the marketing discipline by providing high-quality, original research which advances marketing knowledge and techniques. As marketers increasingly draw on diverse and sophisticated methods, IJRM‘s target audience is comprised of marketing scholars, practitioners (e.g., marketing research and consulting professionals) and policymakers.
IJRM aims to be at the forefront of the marketing field with a particular emphasis on bringing timely ideas to market. The journal embraces innovative research with the potential to spur future research and influence practice. Hence, it welcomes contributions in various aspects of marketing. The editors, while accepting a wide array of scholarly contributions from different disciplinary approaches, especially encourage research that is novel, visionary or path breaking.
Interviewee
Prof. Dr. Johanna Gollnhofer is the Managing Director of the Institute for Marketing & Customer Insight and the Rector's Delegate for Quality Development at the University of St. Gallen. She conducts research, gives lectures, and advises companies on issues related to customer-centric marketing and trends such as sustainability and influencer marketing. Her research has been published in leading journals such as the Journal of Consumer Research, Organization Studies and the International Journal of Research in Marketing. Her latest book, The 60% Potential – winning over mainstream consumer for green consumption (In German), was published by Campus Verlag in September 2024 (pre-order available on Amazon).
Corresponding Author
Professor Reto Hofstetter is Professor of Executive Education and Marketing at the University of St. Gallen. Professor Hofstetter’s current research focuses on digital consumer behavior, crypto-marketing, NFTs, social media, influencer marketing, AI/algorithm aversion, crowdsourcing, open innovation, digital self-presentation, -reporting and disclosure. His research has been published in top-tier academic journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Marketing Letters, or the Journal of Product Innovation Management and has been repeatedly featured by Forbes, Harvard Business Review, or National Geographic.
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International Journal of Research in Marketing
Johanna Gollnhofer
Reto Hofstetter