“I will buy what my ‘friend’ recommends”: the effects of parasocial relationships, influencer credibility and self-esteem on purchase intentions

Abstract

PurposeInfluencer marketing is a newer interactive marketing model that has attracted the attention of scholars and marketers. The study aimed to examine the mediation role of influencer credibility (IC) and the moderation role of self-esteem in the effects of individuals' parasocial relationships (PSR) with YouTube influencers on their product attitudes (PATs) and purchase intentions (PIs).Design/methodology/approachThe researchers used an online survey to test a sequential mediation model and moderation mediation models using Hayes PROCESS modeling.FindingsThe researchers revealed a sequential mediation model that IC and PAT mediate the association between PSR and PI. Individuals who perceived IC to be low were more likely to buy an endorsed product when their self-esteem got lower. When their self-esteem is low, individuals tend to purchase the endorsed products if they have stronger PSR with the influencers. However, they are less likely to buy the endorsed products when their self-esteem gets higher.Originality/valueThe study expands the dimensions of IC. The persuasive power of IC and influencer-user relationship was affected by individual differences, namely, self-esteem. Brands should pay attention to customers' personalities, motivations and preferences when designing strategies to market their products via social media.

Motivations and attitudes towards consulting eWOM when booking accommodation

“…The literature indicates that credibility plays a key role in the eWOM communication process as it reinforces the consumer’s attitude and increases purchase intentions (Matute-Vallejo et al 2016 ; Bi and Zhang 2022 ). The work of Rahman and Mannan ( 2018 ) confirms that credibility mediates the relationship between the adoption of eWOM information and the online purchase decision.…”

Response to social media influencers: Consumer dispositions as drivers

“…However, recent literature has established that it is consumers' willingness to follow particular individuals on these platforms that plays a major role in PSR‐SMIs (Wang & Hu, 2021). Hence, there is a need to pay attention to the individual consumer constructs (Bi & Zhang, 2022), as well as their association with SM platforms, to better understand the influencer‐user relationships in the current SM environment. Therefore, this study takes an alternate route to understand PSR‐SMIs by prioritizing consumers' attachment to SM platforms and interaction with an influence source as the basis for the effectiveness of SMIs.…”

“…In the recent literature on SMIs, researchers have called for SMI‐related investigations to pay special attention to consumer‐specific characteristics such as consumers' attachment to SM (Baboo et al, 2022; Bi & Zhang, 2022), interactive tendencies in PSI‐SMIs (Lou, 2022; Fazli‐Salehi et al, 2022), and susceptibility to online information (Stöckli & Hofer, 2020). By addressing these calls, the present study not only has filled some of the overlooked research gaps but has also extended the SM influence literature, which mostly has restricted itself to the investigations of source‐related effects (De Veirman et al, 2017; Gunawan & Huarng, 2015; Kay et al, 2020; Kim & Kim, 2021; Lee & Watkins, 2016; Shan et al, 2020; Sokolova & Kefi, 2020) or content‐related characteristics (Casaló et al, 2020; De Veirman & Hudders, 2020; Evans et al, 2017; Gunawan & Huarng, 2015).…”

“…The present study contributes to the existing literature through three ways. First, this study moves beyond the influencer or content characteristics and investigates consumer‐related characteristics to unravel the influence mechanisms of SMIs, since we argue that SMIs' persuasive power is affected by consumers' individual differences (Bi & Zhang, 2022). Second, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that has considered consumers' compliance intentions as a principal behavioral outcome.…”

How are ad scepticism levels of young consumers shaped? Testing with simultaneous quantile regression analysis

“…In marketing studies, self-esteem has been subject to research from various perspectives (Bi & Zhang, 2022;Consiglio & van Osselaer, 2022;Fu & Xu, 2021;Tsai, Chi, & Hu, 2009). In terms of its relation with ad scepticism, previous research suggested a positive relationship between the two variables, namely self-esteem and ad scepticism (Boush et al, 1994;Kerkhof et al, 2004;Obermiller & Spangenberg, 1998;Thakor & Goneau-Lessard, 2009).…”