The Value of Visibility? A case study of corporate visibility on TikTok and employee brand ambassadorship practises’ facilitation of pressure in the workplace.

Abstract

This thesis explores the conditions under which low-wage employees are expected to work as brand ambassadors for their organisations. The practice of brand ambassadorship is contextualised in our digital age, where social media have leveraged new opportunities for companies to conduct their marketing practices. It interrogates how corporate approaches to “authentic” marketing on such platforms affect employees. The findings indicate that unorganised approaches to building employee brand ambassadorships may affect work culture to an extent where it constitutes increased pressure on low-wage earners. It further explores the practice of employee brand ambassadorship in the context of immaterial labour and suggests that certain approaches to employee brand ambassadorship are not only uncompensated but potentially “value-reducing” for employees. Feedback, such as through comment sections, is seen to potentially amplify the employees’ possible negative experiences of participation in promotional content. It is further argued that ambassadorship can reduce the felt value of a job through experiences of context collapse, where employees lose some control over their self-presentation and can experience reduced feelings of credibility in the eyes of others.