High on Bitcoin: Evidence of emotional contagion in the YouTube crypto influencer space

Eva Andrea Meyer, Philipp Sandner, Bernard Cloutier and Isabell M. Welpe

Journal of Business Research, 2023, vol. 164, issue C

Abstract: Video blogs (vlogs) on content sharing platforms continue to grow in importance in online marketing. We show the strong influence that vloggers exert on their audience in the quickly expanding blockchain, crypto-assets, and Web3 industry. Measuring the correlation of sentiment in the title and transcript of 11,954 videos to that of cumulatively 3.6 million viewer comments, we find significant emotional contagion across all seven selected YouTube Bitcoin vlogs, all of which—in line with the gender imbalance of both Web3 and the YouTube influencer sphere—are hosted by men. The effect of emotional contagion is more pronounced for negative than positive emotions, and, although emotional bonds are said to intensify with recurring exposure to an influencer, it does not increase over time. The findings are relevant for marketers in blockchain-based markets, for financial regulators to understand the disruption potential exerted by crypto vloggers, and for crypto vlog viewers.

Keywords: Emotional Contagion; Crypto-assets; Blockchain; YouTube; Vlogs; Online Influencer Marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296323002084
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:164:y:2023:i:c:s0148296323002084

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.113850

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside

More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().