Who feels influenced? Investigating the (non-)political experiences of young adults with social media influencers using a latent profile analysis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20508328 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Pascal Merz (0000-0002-0216-2308, Department of Psychology, RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, Landau, Germany), Christian Von Sikorski (0000-0002-3787-8277, Freie Universität Berlin, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1703-1723 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Information Communication & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-118X • E-ISSN: 1468-4462 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1369118x.2025.2590159 |
| OpenAlex | W4416420829 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 46 |
Young people increasingly rely on social media influencers (SMI) for news and socially relevant information. Despite the growing importance of these communicators, the interplay between young people’s non-political and political experiences with SMI remains underexplored. That is, a nuanced, person-centered understanding of how recipients experience and are influenced by different types of SMIs (i.e., lifestyle and political) is still lacking. To fill this gap, we conducted a latent profile analysis (LPA) to uncover the diversity within the target audience of SMI, particularly among young (aged 18–29 years), social media-savvy individuals in Germany (N = 1,501). We identified three user profiles: Average, Politically Engaged, and Politically Disengaged SMI users. These user profiles differ regarding SMI exposure, perceptions, and perceived past influence. Our findings highlight the complexity of SMI influence, showing that only certain young people are particularly susceptible to SMI communication, challenging generalized concerns about their vulnerability
Influencer marketing · Latent class model · Life course approach · Social media · Young adult · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Social Media and Politics
Relationships of media use and political disaffection to political efficacy and voting behavior
Political Trust and the “Crisis of Democracy”
Responses to Social Media Influencers’ Misinformation about Covid-19
Processing news on social media. The political incidental news exposure model (Pine)
Popular Among Distrustful Youth? Social Media Influencers’ Communication About Covid-19 and Young People’s Risk Perceptions and Vaccination Intentions
Young adults’ motivations for following social influencers and their relationship to identification and buying behavior
From social media diet to public riot? Engagement with “greenfluencers” and young social media users' environmental activism
Getting news from social media influencers and from digital legacy news outlets and print legacy news outlets in seven countries
The commercialization of social media stars
Social Media Influencers’ Role in Shaping Political Opinions and Actions of Young Audiences
Political Influencers on YouTube
The social power of algorithms
About amateurs and professionals
Politics – Simply Explained? How Influencers Affect Youth’s Perceived Simplification of Politics, Political Cynicism, and Political Interest
Does Journalism Still Matter? The Role of Journalistic and non-Journalistic Sources in Young Peoples’ News Related Practices
Social media influencers talk about politics
A Systematic Literature Review of Latent Variable Mixture Modeling in Communication Scholarship
Responses to Mental Health Care Posts by Social Media Influencers
Journalistic YouTubers and Their Role Orientations, Strategies, and Professionalization Tendencies
Ambassadors of ideology
Revisiting opinion leadership in the digital realm
Latent Class Modeling with Covariates
Who Relies on Social Media Influencers for Political Information? A Cross-Country Study Among Youth
Uses and Gratifications Research
Influencers as Empowering Agents? Following Political Influencers, Internal Political Efficacy and Participation among Youth
Social media influencers can increase collective political beliefs and actions
Exploring the boundaries of journalism
Political communication in a high-choice media environment
Influence You Can Trust? Exploring Trust in Social Media Influencers for Political Information
The Political Role of Social Media Influencers
Do Influencers Influence? A Meta-Analytic Comparison of Celebrities and Social Media Influencers Effects
Political Influencers on Social Media
Political Knowledge to Go
Online Social Influence and the Convergence of Mass and Interpersonal Communication
The Media Use Model
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |