Racial Pay Gap in Influencer Marketing

Abstract

Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd's murder have put pressure on firms to communicate their support for the cause by increasing racial diversity in hiring and brand communications. Using a novel data set, we examine changes in the racial pay gap in influencer marketing campaigns conducted before and after George Floyd's murder. We find that Black macro-influencers have started receiving substantially higher payments per post than their White counterparts with similar characteristics. However, no such boost materialized for Black micro-influencers, indicating a visibility premium associated with hiring Black macro-influencers in the aftermath of Black Lives Matter protests. We examine and reject several alternative explanations for our results. These findings on the connection between job visibility and the racial pay gap in influencer marketing have important practical implications for influencers, managers, and regulators.

Keywords: influencer marketing, racial pay gap, racial inequality, George Floyd, Black Lives Matter