Bloggers’ Advertising on Instagram: Influence on the Buying Behavior of Russian Millennials

Nowadays bloggers' advertising is a popular marketing tool among companies that seek to increase sales by promoting their brand on social media. However, the question of how exactly bloggers influence the buying behavior of the Russian audience remains understudied. This study aims to fill this gap in the scientific discussion. The work considers Instagram-bloggers due to the fact that they are the most widely represented media influencers in Russia, as well as the social network Instagram. Besides, it analyses the audience of Russian millennials who are the main users of Instagram and consumers of bloggers' content. Previous researchers have studied buying intention and certain factors of establishing trust for bloggers, which is the focus of this work. The aim of the study is to determine which factors of trust for Instagram bloggers influence Russian millennials' buying intention. Based on a review of early research, 5 factors of trust inherent in Millennials were identified: similarity, number of followers, bloggers' competence, critical evaluation of the advertised product and frequency of advertising content. The research examines the way the aforementioned trust factors influence Russian millennials' buying intentions. A quantitative research design was chosen and an online survey was conducted among Russian millennials. As a result of the statistical analysis of 160 responses, it was determined that number of followers, bloggers' competence, critical evaluation and frequency of advertising affect buying intention. Based on the results, the conclusions of the research work were determined and recommendations for the development of the research topic in the future were offered.