Abstract Consumers frequently use lists that were created by marketers, experts, or media platforms, such as a list of favorite restaurants. The authors refer to such lists as curated lists because they include items that appear to be endorsed or recommended by the list maker. Although these lists are typically ranked and numbered, marketers sometimes create lists that are not numbered, making it unclear whether the items have been ranked. Twelve studies (N = 5,530) reveal that when presented with an unnumbered curated list, consumers regularly assume that a fundamental characteristic of numbered lists—best-to-worst ordinality—applies. Specifically, the authors find that when a list contains an endorsement cue (e.g., superlative adjectives, markers of exclusivity, list qualification criteria), consumers rely on the conversational norm of best-to-worst ordinality. This inferential process leads consumers to prefer and choose items that are located vertically higher on the list. However, consumers are less likely to assume best-to-worst ordinality when an unnumbered list does not resemble a typical list: when endorsement cues are absent or conversational norms governing lists are weakened in other ways. This research advances knowledge of how consumers process curated lists in everyday consumption contexts, while also providing actionable recommendations for list makers.

Abstract The use of social media influencers as persuasive marketing agents has become ubiquitous. However, a comprehensive understanding of their effectiveness, mechanisms, and moderation is still lacking. To address this gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of 71 papers, yielding 135 experimental studies and 571 effect sizes related to the impact of social media influencers compared to other forms of brand endorsements. Our results reveal that social media influencers significantly impact both consumer engagement and purchase intention, and they are relatively more effective than brand posts, virtual influencers, and celebrities. A meta-analytic structural equation model analyzing the influencing mechanisms suggests that social media influencers enhance consumer responses indirectly through their credibility and attractiveness. A meta-regression analysis further shows that various factors—including characteristics of the influencers, message, products, social media platforms, and followers, as well as their interaction with influencer size—moderate the effectiveness of social media influencers. Notably, our results indicate that influencer size can address some inconsistencies in previous research. For instance, small and medium-sized influencers are more effective in driving engagement, while larger influencers have greater impact on purchase intention. Our research provides novel, rich, and nuanced insights that can help managers with decisions such as: (a) when to choose influencers over alternatives, and (b) how to optimize their use.