PERCEPTION OF UNDERGRADUATES AT KWARA STATE UNIVERSITY ON THE IMPACT OF ONLINE INFLUENCER ADVERTISING ON BRAND INFORMATION RECALL AND PREFERENCE

ABSTRACT The study was carried out to examine the perception of undergraduates at Kwara State University on the impact of online influencer advertising on brand information recall and preference. The specific objective of the study was to assess the perception on the type of media content used by online influencers for advertisement, examine the level of exposure to social media platforms used to interact with influencer advertisement, ascertain the extent to which online influencer advertisement promotes brand information recall and assess the influence of online influencer advertisement on brand preference. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The population for this study were undergraduate students in Kwara State University. A total of three hundred and ninety-five undergraduate students were randomly selected for the study. However, the analysis was based on three hundred and fifty-six valid responses. The findings revealed that Undergraduate students engage with influencer advertisements across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, blogs, Snapchat, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Threads. It was also revealed that influencers commonly use video content, live streams, reels, memes, hashtags, discount codes, unboxing clips, story-based narratives and before-and-after visuals to promote products and services effectively. It was further revealed that influencer advertisements significantly enhance brand recall among students, helping them remember brand names, product features, and visuals. Finally, it was revealed that influencer marketing has a strong impact on brand preference as participants reported being more willing to try, switch and recommend brands. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the Influencers and marketers should prioritize high-traffic platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for campaign rollouts targeted at undergraduates, tailoring content to suit each platform’s unique interaction style. Also, brands should consistently collaborate with influencers who have strong audience connections to reinforce brand messaging.