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In recent years there has been an increase in the usage of social media. This trend coincided with the increase in promotion via influencers and with overall growth in public interest in health and fitness. This has led to an opportunity for new marketing strategies, namely influencer marketing. Through empirical observations we have identified early adopters of the influencer marketing strategy growing exponentially, especially in the sports wear fashion industry where relatively young companies have taken market share from bigger companies. Literature has shown influencer marketing to be beneficial to target customer segments efficiently and cheaper compared to traditional means of marketing. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine how companies in the sportswear fashion industry use influencer marketing, how influencer marketing affects the consumers buying process and post-purchase behavior. By analyzing various factors of influencer marketing and the customer journey we have gained valuable insights into the interaction dynamics between companies, influencer and consumers and into what constitutes a successful influencer marketing campaign.

In order to conduct this study, a theoretical framework has been designed centered on theories about influencer marketing, consumers' journey and brands. The study has used a qualitative method where 8 semi-structured in-depth interviews with industry representatives have been carried out. The respondents come from four different sportswear fashion brands and are well versed in this subject. The authors have considered all ethical aspects and made sure that non-identifying information is included that can be traced or linked back to the respondents. The interviews were conducted via Zoom and over the phone and the authors chose to do a thematic analysis to answer the research question:

How do brands use social media influencers to affect consumers' journey within the sportswear fashion?

The results from this study indicate that brands can use social media influencers to influence consumers' journey in sportswear fashion. The biggest and foremost reason brands can influence the consumer journey is the choice of influencers. A developed model from empirical data and analysis has been created to explain this process. The model shows how brands start by choosing an influencer, what factors influence the choice, then who the influencer should be and the desired characteristics, and finally how influencers affect consumers, how consumers react and the relationship between all parties.