Narrative branding in support of anthropomorphised personality: A case study of the South African dog influencer industry

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dc.contributor.advisorIrwin, Ronald
dc.contributor.authorLiss, Isabella
dc.date.accessioned2025-09-08T11:14:26Z
dc.date.available2025-09-08T11:14:26Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.date.updated2025-09-08T11:04:23Z
dc.description.abstractThe curation of accounts featuring one's dogs form a popular influencer subculture found on Instagram. While dog influencer Instagram accounts avidly portray a branded character, multiple other forms of media have the potential to support anthropomorphised personalities in similar ways. This paper explores links between narrative branding, transmedia storytelling, multimodal media, and framings of agency within the South African dog influencer industry. Through six qualitative interviews with different players in the Cape Town dog influencer industry, the relationship between narrative branding and anthropomorphised personality is examined. These are creators who make use of alternative mediums instead of a traditional influencer Instagram account to promote an anthropomorphised personality for their pets or related business. Most creators incorporate multiple mediums into their work, rather than personifying characters on social media exclusively. These mascots therefore make a case for harnessing the power of multimodal and transmedia narrative structure in advertising, dispersing the canine character across a range of platforms. It must be noted that in this paper, the term “dog influencer” has been extended to anthropomorphised personalities with mediated influence. This is an influence upon the audience which transcends mediums of delivery, so “influencer” is not used solely in reference to social media personalities. Unconventional dog “influencers” include television personalities without adjacent Instagram accounts, and book characters who use social media as a tool to extend their narrative universe.
dc.identifier.apacitationLiss, I. (2025). <i>Narrative branding in support of anthropomorphised personality: A case study of the South African dog influencer industry</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41720en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationLiss, Isabella. <i>"Narrative branding in support of anthropomorphised personality: A case study of the South African dog influencer industry."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies, 2025. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41720en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationLiss, I. 2025. Narrative branding in support of anthropomorphised personality: A case study of the South African dog influencer industry. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41720en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Liss, Isabella AB - The curation of accounts featuring one's dogs form a popular influencer subculture found on Instagram. While dog influencer Instagram accounts avidly portray a branded character, multiple other forms of media have the potential to support anthropomorphised personalities in similar ways. This paper explores links between narrative branding, transmedia storytelling, multimodal media, and framings of agency within the South African dog influencer industry. Through six qualitative interviews with different players in the Cape Town dog influencer industry, the relationship between narrative branding and anthropomorphised personality is examined. These are creators who make use of alternative mediums instead of a traditional influencer Instagram account to promote an anthropomorphised personality for their pets or related business. Most creators incorporate multiple mediums into their work, rather than personifying characters on social media exclusively. These mascots therefore make a case for harnessing the power of multimodal and transmedia narrative structure in advertising, dispersing the canine character across a range of platforms. It must be noted that in this paper, the term “dog influencer” has been extended to anthropomorphised personalities with mediated influence. This is an influence upon the audience which transcends mediums of delivery, so “influencer” is not used solely in reference to social media personalities. Unconventional dog “influencers” include television personalities without adjacent Instagram accounts, and book characters who use social media as a tool to extend their narrative universe. DA - 2025 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Anthropomorphism KW - Narrative Branding KW - Transmedia Storytelling KW - Multimodal Media KW - Instagram KW - Pet Influencer KW - Dog LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2025 T1 - Narrative branding in support of anthropomorphised personality: A case study of the South African dog influencer industry TI - Narrative branding in support of anthropomorphised personality: A case study of the South African dog influencer industry UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41720 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/41720
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationLiss I. Narrative branding in support of anthropomorphised personality: A case study of the South African dog influencer industry. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies, 2025 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41720en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Film and Media Studies
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectAnthropomorphism
dc.subjectNarrative Branding
dc.subjectTransmedia Storytelling
dc.subjectMultimodal Media
dc.subjectInstagram
dc.subjectPet Influencer
dc.subjectDog
dc.titleNarrative branding in support of anthropomorphised personality: A case study of the South African dog influencer industry
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
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