Narrative aesthetics and integrated advertising: audiovisual content by Chilean lifestyle influencers on Instagram

Abstract

This study examines the narrative and aesthetic construction of brand and product integration in Instagram Reels associated with Chilean lifestyle influencers. A descriptive content analysis combines categorical coding with an interpretive reading of audiovisual and textual resources. The initial collection contains 5,196 records associated with 150 users; the selected corpus comprises 1,008 records associated with 23 usernames. Two analytical periods, labelled 2024 (n = 415) and 2025 (n = 593), organize the comparison. These labels represent grouped periods rather than calendar-year-only samples. Brands or products appear in 87.4% of selected records, 56.4% show medium or high narrative integration, and 91.2% contain explicit or implicit testimony. Clear advertising disclosure is coded in 23.1%, while absent or ambiguous disclosure accounts for 76.8%; one record is uncoded. The findings describe how products are incorporated into routines, personal experience and visually curated scenes. They also identify a gap between product visibility and explicit disclosure. Commercial clarity and authenticity are coding judgments about content, rather than measurements of audience recognition or persuasive effects. The study contributes a content-based account of the relationship between narrative integration, testimonial strategies and advertising transparency in short-form audiovisual communication.