The Ethics of Influencers

Using Influencers has become one of the hottest trends in marketing. In 2018, 81% of marketers reported that using influencers as part of their marketing plan was an effective strategy. But there are all sorts of ethical issues associated with this trend that must be understood and carefully addressed. For example, there is the issue of inauthentic partnerships and content, as influencers do not always use or even like the products they endorse on social media. Similarly, influencers do not always disclose if a certain recommendation is a sponsored endorsement or not (a 2018 survey of influencers done by Marketer demonstrated that less than half of the respondents labeled their endorsements with the FTC-mandated hashtags when they are specifically asked, and 7% never did so at all). This Ethics of Influencers event will cover these, as well as other issues, and include a general discussion on the ethical implication of digital marketing technologies.