FCH - Dissertações de Mestrado / Master Dissertations
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- Influencer marketing and generation Z : evolution, perception, and analysis of the Balenciaga casePublication . Acella, Elisabetta; Tavares, Patrícia Isabel Ramos Pego NunesIn a communicative landscape where the identity of luxury brands is increasingly played in the digital sphere, influencer marketing has established itself as a central strategic tool to activate trusting relationships with new generations. In particular, Generation Z - native digital, hyper-connected and value demanding - does not just consume content, but acts as a critical interlocutor, asking brands for transparency, inclusiveness and narrative coherence (Francis, 2018). In this scenario, the ability to build and maintain a perceived authenticity becomes crucial for the reputational legitimacy of brands, especially in times of crisis. This dissertation aims to investigate how authenticity in influencer marketing is interpreted and judged by Generation Z, through the analysis of the Balenciaga case and the controversial 2022 "Gift Collection" campaign. The primary objective is to understand how the communicative choices of influencers and brands influence the perception of authenticity and, consequently, the trust and symbolic adherence of younger consumers. To address these issues, the study employs a qualitative approach based on a netnographic methodology, complemented by a thematic analysis of user-generated content and public reactions on TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, and Twitter (Braun, 2006). The corpus analysed focuses on the responses of Generation Z to the Balenciaga campaign, with particular attention to the languages of moral indignation, irony, minimization, value dissociation and strategic role (or failure) of influencers in reputation management. The results show that authenticity, in the public perception, does not correspond to an objective quality but to a relational effect built over time, based on expressive consistency, personal exposure and correspondence between stated values and public behaviour (Lou, 2019). When this balance is broken, as in the Balenciaga episode, dynamics of mistrust, rejection, and symbolic boycott are triggered, often extending to influential figures who choose to remain silent or adopt ambiguous positions (Ackerman, 2021). Generation Z is particularly sensitive to communicative dissonances, interpreting any lack of stance or apparent opportunism as a sign of unauthenticity. The case study analysed highlights the fragility of communication strategies based on aesthetic provocation and performativity without ethical anchoring, demonstrating that engagement cannot be separated from shared values. Finally, dissertation the dissertation proposes an interpretation of the role of influencers not only as channels of visibility but as cultural mediators, whose effectiveness depends on the ability to represent a credible, consistent and recognizable identity (Casaló, 2020). In this framework, perceived authenticity is not a rhetorical attribute, but a structural requirement for building trust, emotional participation and brand defence in high public exposure contexts. The analysis therefore suggests the need for luxury brands to rethink their digital strategies according to logics of transparency, narrative coherence and cultural responsibility, aligning themselves with the expectations of an increasingly critical public, competent and actively involved in the construction of meanings.