Kaskas is awarding University of Helsinki alumna Aurora Binder a €1,000 scholarship for her master’s thesis, which explores social media influencers’ perceptions of responsibility.
Aurora Binder, who graduated in 2024 from the Master’s Programme in Politics and Communication, is the first recipient of Kaskas’ thesis scholarship. Her thesis is titled “Social Media Influencers and Responsibility – The Influence, Understanding of Responsibility, and Value Backgrounds of Finnish Influencers”.
For her research, Binder interviewed around ten Finnish influencers to explore their views on responsibility. While all the influencers emphasized its importance, many were hesitant to publicly express their stance due to fear of criticism.
The scholarship reflects the Kaskas founders’ desire to highlight young voices working toward sustainability transformation, especially from their own alma mater.
“We want to reward theses that are bold in topic and socially relevant”, says Maria Ruuska, CEO of Kaskas.
We caught Aurora on the phone to ask her more about her thesis.
Congratulations on receiving the Kaskas thesis scholarship! How do you feel?
“I was very surprised, but also really happy and excited! When I got the first message about the scholarship, I thought it must be a scam. I wondered, ‘Is this for real?’ A quick check confirmed that it actually was.
Working on the thesis took a lot of effort and involved a fair bit of self-doubt. Especially near the end, I found myself wondering whether all that time had paid off. So it felt really good to hear that someone thought it turned out well!”
How did you choose your thesis topic and why is it important to study?
“I work part-time as a content creator myself, and that’s how I’ve closely followed the field. My interest in the topic grew from that. I also wrote my bachelor’s thesis on influencers and currently work in influencer marketing, so the field has always intrigued me.
Because of my background, I had a unique perspective on the influencer world and better access to interviewees—though all interviews were anonymized. Getting interviews can be difficult because influencers receive so many requests.
I wanted to give influencers the opportunity to define what responsibility means to them. It’s often too easy to categorize influencers as either responsible or irresponsible, without acknowledging how complex and personal the concept of responsibility actually is. Since influencers have a significant impact, it’s important to also talk about their responsibility.”
What was the most significant finding in your thesis?
“I noticed that influencers gave different weight to the responsibility they place on their audiences. Some emphasized the follower’s own responsibility when it comes to purchasing advertised products.
Others felt that it was directly their fault if a follower bought something from a company viewed as irresponsible. They saw that as contributing to wider overconsumption.
Most influencers agreed that speaking publicly about values or responsibility places them under a microscope. That’s why many avoid clearly articulating their principles—to sidestep criticism.”
Was there anything surprising in the interviews?
“I expected more vague answers than I actually got. I thought more people would say things like, ‘I’m not a full-time influencer, so I don’t feel that responsible.’
But all of the influencers emphasized that responsibility matters to them. They carefully considered how their professional values align with their personal ones.
What really stood out was how differently responsibility was perceived and experienced. There were more reasons behind their actions than I had anticipated, and the responses were more detailed than expected.”
You’ve followed the influencer field for a while—have you noticed trends or changes related to responsibility?
“Transparency—like labeling sponsored content—used to be a hot topic a few years ago and was a source of criticism. But now it doesn’t seem to be such a big issue anymore, except when new guidelines are introduced. It didn’t even come up in the interviews.
I think this reflects the impact of broader public debate. Finnish influencers seem to have internalized transparency as a self-evident standard for their work.
Overconsumption, however, has been a major topic more recently. Influencers have begun talking about it or adjusting how they recommend products as a result of public discussion.
So while the specific topics within the responsibility debate may come and go, I believe the conversation itself drives real change. Of course, trends are also heavily influenced by scandals involving either companies or influencers, which bring these issues to the forefront.”
Kaskas congratulates Aurora on her outstanding thesis!
Photo of Aurora: Vilja Pursiainen / Kaskas