When Influencers Compare Brands: Defensive Processing of Sponsored Comparative Messages and Effects on Consumer Evaluations

Social media influencers comparing competing products helps draw the desirable consumer attention to their product recommendation. However, it may also risk backfiring, especially when the influencer post is sponsored by a given brand. In the present study, we explored consumer evaluations of sponsored influencer comparative marketing through two important defensive mechanisms—counterarguing and inferences of manipulative intent with a 2 (message appeal: noncomparative vs. comparative) × 2 (content sponsorship: organic vs. sponsored) between-subjects online experiment (N = 325). We found that when the post was sponsored, the comparative message generated significantly greater defensive reactions than the noncomparative message, leading to lower perceived trustworthiness and authenticity of the influencer, unfavorable brand attitude, and lower purchase intention. In contrast, when the post was organic, the observed difference diminished. Furthermore, we found more prominent effects via inferences of manipulative intent than counterarguing, suggesting that consumers considerably value the genuineness behind product promotion from influencers. These findings extend research on comparative advertising to the trending influencer marketing context, shedding novel light on mechanisms underlying consumer responses to sponsored comparative messaging.