The Bad-Influencer Effect: Indulgence Undermines Social Connection

This research tested the “bad influencer” effect, whereby consumers are less willing to connect with content creators on social media who post about their indulgence (vs. self-control) with respect to the goals valued by those consumers. We present six studies that test the bad-influencer effect across multiple domains involving indulgence (vs. self-control): a poster eating indulgent (vs. healthy) foods, spending their time mindlessly (vs. mindfully), and using profane (vs. proper) language. Our findings show consumers are less willing to connect with indulging (vs. self-controlled) posters because they believe such posters will have a more negative influence on their own valued goals (i.e., interpersonal instrumentality expectations). We further identify two theoretically derived moderators of the bad-influencer effect: goal commitment amplifies the effect, whereas goal suppression attenuates the effect. Finally, we show that willingness to connect (WTC) has downstream consequences for consumers’ receptivity to word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations made by the poster. Our research suggests that content creators and marketing managers seeking to maximize connections should avoid sharing content that appears indulgent with respect to their target audience’s goals.