Publish at February 26 2025Updated February 26 2025
Mechanisms of influence: understanding the power of influencers
The psychological and educational levers of influence
Many social network users have already made a purchase on the recommendation of an influencer. Most of the time, we don't even question the reliability of the advice given. Behind the perfectly edited videos, captivating stories and millions of followers lies an insidious power, capable of shaping opinions, desires and behavior on a massive scale.
How do influencers manage to exert such a stranglehold on our minds, and why should this question be of concern to those in the world of education?
Understanding these mechanisms is not just an intellectual curiosity: for the world of education, it's a question of giving learners the tools to protect themselves against a sometimes manipulative influence.
Although influencers can also have a positive influence on behavior, we need to consider what motivates them - money or the desire to pass on and share.
The tools of influence: how influencers captivate their audience
Influencers, whether human or virtual, don't owe their success to chance. Their ability to captivate and shape behavior is based on skilfully orchestrated techniques, combining psychology, creativity and strategy.
And it works, because 84% of brands say influencer marketing is effective. Storytelling, emotional marketing and the biased presentation of facts form a powerful arsenal that, if misunderstood, can escape the critical analysis of audiences, particularly younger ones. Let's decipher these mechanisms for a better understanding.
Storytelling: the art of telling compelling stories
Storytelling is at the heart of influence. It's about building a narrative that goes beyond the simple transmission of information to create an emotional connection with the audience. According to Green and Brock (2000), in their study of Transportation Theory, a persuasive narrative transports individuals into a universe where they identify with the characters, thus increasing their receptiveness to the messages conveyed.
Influencers exploit this ability to immerse their audience to reinforce their effect.
Take the example of Lil Miquela, a virtual influencer followed by millions on Instagram. Created by the company Brud in 2016, she shares personal narratives blending fashion, music and existential reflections, as in her 2018 collaboration with Prada. Although she's a digital avatar, her storytelling simulates an authentic life, capturing the attention and empathy of her followers.
An incredible example of storytelling was InoxTag's Everest climb, a video that generated over 40 million views :
Emotional marketing: playing on feelings
Emotional marketing relies on the exploitation of emotions - fear, joy, nostalgia or a sense of belonging - to influence choices. This mechanism is based on simple psychology: human decisions are guided more by the emotions than by reason.
Jonah Berger, in his book Contagious, points out that content arousing intense emotions, such as admiration or anxiety, is 30% more likely to be shared.
Influencers have understood this well: a tearful video about a social cause or a photo celebrating a personal achievement activates powerful emotional levers.
In the classroom, teachers can draw on this approach to motivate, while teaching students to recognize when their emotions are being manipulated.
Biased presentation of facts: when truth becomes subjective
A common technique is to present facts in a biased way, using selective omission, exaggeration or biased framing.
Although subtle, this practice alters the perception of reality.
For example, an influencer promoting a product may omit its faults or amplify its benefits, creating an idealized vision.
In its report Journalism, Fake News & Disinformation, UNESCO warns against this type of strategy. It contributes to misinformation and blurs consumers' critical reference points.
The risk is clear: an uninformed audience can lose its ability to distinguish truth from falsehood. For teachers, this underlines the urgent need to teach how to analyze the sources and intentions behind influential messages.
The psychology behind influence: exploiting human flaws
Influence relies not only on communication techniques, but also on a detailed understanding of human psychological flaws. Influencers, whether operating on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, exploit these vulnerabilities to shape perceptions and behaviors. Cognitive biases, social desires and ethical drifts form a formidable trio that, without vigilance, can turn admiration into manipulation.
Cognitive biases: mental shortcuts that can be manipulated
Cognitive biases, those mental shortcuts that simplify our processing of information, are powerful levers for influencers. Daniel Kahneman, in Thinking, Fast and Slow, describes confirmation bias - the tendency to favor information that confirms our beliefs - as a universal mechanism.
The halo effect, where a positive first impression (for example, the attractiveness of an influencer) colors any subsequent perception, and the anchoring effect, which leads us to trust an initial piece of data presented (such as a high initial price), are equally exploited. On Instagram, an influencer can reinforce his credibility by posting a flattering photo followed by a product review: the halo effect does the rest. These biases, often unconscious, amplify persuasion, making messages more convincing without the audience questioning them.
Social desires: the need to belong and be recognized
Social networks amplify deeply human desires: to belong to a group and to be recognized. According to a Pew Research Center study dating back as far as 2018, 70% of teenagers felt pressure to conform to social norms online, a phenomenon exacerbated by platforms like TikTok, which has a very young audience.
Influencers play on this need by creating communities around trends or products, offering their subscribers a sense of inclusion.
The consequences are twofold: increased conformity, where the individual blindly follows recommendations, and vulnerability to manipulation, as the desire to belong takes precedence over critical judgment.
Young people, particularly receptive because of their intensive use of networks, are the most affected. Their lack of critical filters in the face of biased content can have a lasting effect on their beliefs and choices, making educational support essential.
Virtual influencers: a paradox
Virtual influencers (VIs), avatars created by artificial intelligence, embody a fascinating and worrying paradox. Their success is based on an impeccable appearance and storytelling that attracts millions of subscribers despite their fictitious nature.
Unlike human influencers, their credibility depends not on real authenticity, but on an illusion controlled by brands. Their advantage: they never deviate from the script, avoiding human scandals.
But this total control poses a danger. Their artificial perfection exploits cognitive biases and social desires. For young people, this invisible influence blurs the line between reality and fiction, amplifying misinformation and ethical manipulation.
Louise De Laet Derache (2021) notes that virtual influencers, despite their artificial nature, manage to generate a perceived "social presence", reinforcing a sense of belonging among their subscribers. This need for social acceptance or validation, exacerbated by networks, makes audiences vulnerable to these strategies.
The role of schools: shaping critical and resilient minds
Faced with the omnipresence of influencers on platforms like TikTok or Instagram, educators have a crucial role to play. Shaping critical and resilient minds. We should also see this as an opportunity to enrich teaching methods by drawing inspiration from strategies that captivate young people.
Teaching critical thinking: a shield against manipulation
These skills are vital. A practical classroom exercise might involve deconstructing an influencer's message: for example, analyzing a publication touting a product. Students examine who is behind the account (a brand?), what facts are omitted and what emotional bias is solicited. This exercise, rooted in their daily digital lives, makes them more adept at spotting the pitfalls of persuasion.
Drawing inspiration from influencers: techniques for teaching
Influencers excel in the art of captivation, and educators can draw inspiration from them. Storytelling and emotional marketing, the pillars of their success, can transform a lesson into a memorable experience. Emotional stories improve student retention. Personal anecdotes, provided they are linked to a concept to be learned, often arouse curiosity.
Protecting learners: equipping them to resist
Protecting learners requires an early awareness of cognitive biases and influence strategies. From the earliest age, pupils, who spend hours on social networks every day, need to learn to recognize the psychological levers exploited by influencers.
Since 2023, the Council of Europe has recommended integrating media education into school curricula to promote responsible digital citizenship. This includes discussions on the need to belong exacerbated by networks or the risks of fake news. By equipping young people to question what they consume online, educators are not just protecting them: they are preparing them to become enlightened players in a digital world.
Language is a means of communication. When spoken, facial expressions and body language complement what is said. In writing, respondents do not have these two additional pieces of information. L'Art de bien formuler les demandes et de dire ce qui est attendu comme production.
The flow (from source to receiver) that meets the perceived need generates student satisfaction. Teachers, students, pedagogies, technologies, and media can foster or disrupt this flow and generate satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
