B2B influencer marketing collaborations: A relational governance perspective

Abstract

Influencer marketing has grown rapidly in business markets, yet existing research remains largely rooted in consumer contexts and organization-centric perspectives. Little is known about how B2B influencers perceive collaborations with companies. Addressing this gap, this study conceptualizes B2B influencer collaboration as an interactionally constituted governance process and examines how governance mechanisms are interpreted by internal and external influencers. Drawing on relational governance and role theory, we analyzed 27 interviews with B2B influencers. The findings show that collaborations emerge through ongoing negotiation in which firms and influencers balance competing demands across collaboration stages. We identify two distinct role logics that explain why similar governance mechanisms are interpreted differently and are associated with different collaboration dynamics. The study contributes by framing B2B influencer collaboration as negotiated governance and introducing a role logics perspective to explain governance interpretations, with authenticity emerging as an outcome that can be enabled or constrained by governance arrangements.