Influencer and creator marketing · Systematic literature review and meta-analysis
Predictors of Social Media Influencer Marketing Effectiveness: A Comprehensive Literature Review and Meta-Analysis
Spörl-Wang, K., Krause, F., & Henkel, S. (2025). Journal of Business Research, 186, 114991.
Plain-English take
The synthesis organizes predictors in a holistic framework and evaluates why earlier studies have produced conflicting conclusions about effectiveness. For your marketing: Use the reviewed predictors to structure creator-selection and campaign hypotheses.
How much weight to give this
3.5/5 Useful evidence with meaningful caveats
The 1–5 evidence-check score is a practical reading aid, not a formal peer review or a probability that a conclusion is true. It combines design strength (2 points), sample reporting (1), comparison/control clarity (1), and how much of the paper could be checked (1). Access affects how confidently this directory can assess a study, not the study's underlying quality. Blinding is reported separately because it is not relevant to every design.
A synthesis can show patterns across studies; its strength depends on the included evidence.
A usable sample size is not stated in the profile's accessible source.
No single control group; check inclusion criteria, study quality, and variation across settings.
This profile could be checked against an abstract or metadata, not the full paper.
Double-blind? Not applicable in the same way as a participant-treatment experiment.
Research question
What the authors investigated
Which factors predict the effectiveness of social media influencer marketing, and how can conflicting prior findings be reconciled?
Design
The authors conduct a comprehensive literature review and meta-analysis of 93 papers on predictors of influencer-marketing effectiveness.
Sample and setting
93 prior papers spanning influencer marketing studies; the accessible highlights do not specify the number of underlying effect sizes or participants.
Reported result
What the study found
The synthesis organizes predictors in a holistic framework and evaluates why earlier studies have produced conflicting conclusions about effectiveness.
This is a paraphrase of the source. Check the original paper for definitions, estimates, statistical uncertainty and analysis details.
Scope and transfer
Limitations to keep in view
The meta-analysis reflects its included studies, platforms, influencer types and outcome measures. It does not supply one universal influencer benchmark for B2B SaaS.
Possible founder application
Use the reviewed predictors to structure creator-selection and campaign hypotheses. Separate engagement from lead quality and revenue, and check which underlying contexts match your audience.
Evidence access
Publisher abstract and article highlights
Journal of Business Research publisher highlights and bibliographic record; the paper count and meta-analytic scope are stated by the publisher.
If only an abstract or metadata was available, the profile is limited to claims supported there. A paper's paywall does not change its evidentiary status, but it limits what we can substantiate from accessible text.