Title: Content Creation Strategy Under Peer Influence on Social Media Platforms

Speaker:Mengyang Sun ( the College of Business, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics)

Time: 14:30(Wednesday),October 28th, 2026

Venue: Room712, Mingde Business Building (Zhongguancun Campus)

Language: Chinese & English

 

Abstract：

Understanding peer effects in influencer marketing is crucial due to the transformative impact of social media platforms and the rapid expansion of influencer marketing. Influencers often rely on peers’ strategies to navigate challenges in content creation and market engagement. This study examines peer effects on influencers’ sponsored content strategies by addressing three questions: influencers’ responses to peers, mechanisms driving these effects, and implications for social media platforms. Using a linear-in-means model and data from a leading Chinese social media platform, the research addresses selection into influencer–brand collaborations, endogenous peer group formation, correlated unobservables, and simultaneity in decision-making. Findings reveal significant peer effects on the quantity, but not the quality, of sponsored content, and these effects are driven by social learning and competition motives. The authors further show that peer effects increase influencers’ spending on in-feed advertising services, boosting platform revenues without affecting sponsored content pricing. Moreover, peer effects in sponsored content quantity also amplify the negative trade-off between content quantity and quality. The findings underscore the need for balanced strategies prioritizing both platform growth and influencer sustainability, offering insights into managing content volume, quality, and financial outcomes.

Short biography：

Mengyang Sun is a PhD candidate in Marketing at the College of Business, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Her research focuses on digital marketing and the platform economy, particularly peer interactions, brand collaborations, and AI-assisted content creation in influencer marketing. She uses large-scale data, econometric models, causal inference, and machine learning. Her work has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science and Nankai Business Review. She has received the Second Prize for Best Paper at the JMS Doctoral Forum, research funding from the CMAU Doctoral Forum, and a China Scholarship Council scholarship for overseas study.