Commercial Surveys

Commercial Surveys

Influencer Characteristics in Social Media and Purchase Intention: Explaining the Role of Trust and Image Satisfaction (case of study: women's clothing industry)

Document Type : definition

Authors
1 Associate Professor, Department of Management, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Iran
2 MSc Business Administration, Rahbord Shomal, Guilan, Iran
3 Phd student in Strategic management , allame tabatabaei university, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Recently, with the spread of social media, marketers and brands use Influencers as marketing strategies to introducing products, however, the realization of marketing goals is not possible without a complete understanding of the influencers' characteristics. In this regard, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the the effect of the influencers' characteristics (expertise, credibility, physical attractiveness, homogeneity) on the purchase intention with the mediating role of trust and image satisfaction in the clothing industry. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection method. The statistical population of the research includes all female users on the Instagram social network. The required sample size was determined based on Cochran's formula of 384 people, and the samples were selected using the available non-probability method. To collect data, a standard questionnaire was used, and its reliability and validity were confirmed. The research data were also analyzed using the method of structural equation modeling with partial least squares approach. The results showed that trust mediates the effect of credibility and homogeneity on purchase intention. However, the effect of expertise and physical attractiveness on the creation of trust was not significant. In the following, it was found that image satisfaction mediates the effect of expertise, physical attractiveness, and homogeneity on purchase intention, and the effect of credibility on image satisfaction was not confirmed. The findings of the research lead to a better understanding of influencer marketing in the clothing industry.
 
 
Keywords

 
Abidin, U.F.U.Z., S.W. Arendt and C.H. (2013).“Strohbehn, Exploring the culture of food safety: the role of organizational influencers in motivating employees’ safe food-handling practices”. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 14(4),. 321-343.
Akbari, M., & Alipour Pijani, A. (2013). “ICT َadoption: a case study of SMEs in Tehran (Iran)”. The International Journal of Humanities, 20(3), 93-121.
Akbari, M., Dostyar, M., Masoudifar, M., Navidi, M. (2019). The Impact of Television Advertising on Consumerism and Emotional Attachment among People. Cultural Studies & Communication, 15(56), 197-224. [In Persian]
Akhtari, A., Doroudi, H. (2019). Study of Social Media Roles in Export Field, Case Study Zanjan Province Exporter Companies. Commercial Surveys, 17(97), 79-96. [In Persian]
Armitage, C.J. and M. Conner. (2001). “Efficacy of the theory of planned behaviour: A meta‐analytic review”. British journal of social psychology, 40(4), 471-499.
Boerman, S. C., Willemsen, L. M., & Van Der Aa, E. P. (2017). “This post is sponsored” effects of sponsorship disclosure on persuasion knowledge and electronic word of mouth in the context of Facebook. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 38(1), 82-92.
Breves, P. L., Liebers, N., Abt, M., & Kunze, A. (2019). “The perceived fit between instagram influencers and the endorsed brand: How influencer–brand fit affects source credibility and persuasive effectiveness”. Journal of Advertising Research, 59(4), 440–454.
Chen, X., Huang, Q., & Davison, R. M. (2017). “Economic and social satisfaction of buyers on consumer-to-consumer platforms: The role of relational capital”. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 21(2), 219-248.
Chen, X., Huang, Q., & Davison, R. M. (2017). Economic and social satisfaction of buyers on consumer-to-consumer platforms: The role of relational capital. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 21(2), 219-248.
Chin, W. W., & Newsted, P. R. (1999). Structural equation modeling analysis with small samples using partial least squares. Statistical strategies for small sample research, 1(1), 307-341.
Etzkorn, K. (2021, Apr 9). How digital shopping will evolve: Three trends to watch.Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/04/09/how-digital- shopping-will-evolve-three-trends-to-watch/?sh= 6d43c2e73773.
Evans, N. J., Phua, J., Lim, J., & Jun, H. (2017). “Disclosing Instagram influencer advertising: The effects of disclosure language on advertising recognition, attitudes, and behavioral intent”. Journal of interactive advertising, 17(2), 138-149.
Eyal, G. (2018). Why influencers fail to disclose commercial relationships and the brands that enable them. Adweek, https://www.adweek.com/digital/why- influencers-fail-to-disclose-commercialrelationships-and-the-brands-that- nable- them/
Eyvazinezhad, S., Akbari, M. (2021). “Designing a Perceived Risk Model for Buyers of Unknown Brand Products on Instagram Social Network: Based on the Grounded Theory”. Quarterly Journal of Brand Management, 8(1), 109-148. [In Persian]
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and statistics.
Freberg, K., et al.,(2011). Who are the social media influencers? A study of public perceptions of personality. Public relations review. 37(1), 90-92.
Grönroos, C., (1990). Service management and marketing. Vol. 27. Lexington books Lexington, MA.
Homan, H.A (2004). Modeling of structural equations with the use of Lisrel software, published by the Organization for the Study and Compilation of University Humanities Books (Samt). [In Persian]
Hovland, C. I., Janis, I. L., & Kelley, H. H. (1953). Persuasion and communication. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
in Management and Engineering, Tehran. [In Persian]
Kim, D. Y., & Kim, H. Y. (2021). Trust me, trust me not: A nuanced view of influencer marketing on social media. Journal of Business Research, 134, 223-232.
Lee, J. A., Sudarshan, S., Sussman, K. L., Bright, L. F., & Eastin, M. S. (2021). “Why are consumers following social media influencers on Instagram? Exploration of consumers’ motives for following influencers and the role of materialism”. International Journal of Advertising, 1-23
Li, Y., & Peng, Y. (2021). Influencer marketing: purchase intention and its antecedents. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.
Lou, C., & Yuan, S. (2019). “Influencer marketing: How message value and credibility affect consumer trust of branded content on social media”. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 19(1), 58–73.
Mahmoudi, M., khosroabadi, M. (2018). The Effect of Celebrity endorser Credebility on Brand Equity, by Consider of Mediator Role Brand Trust. Commercial Surveys, 15(86-87), 59-74. [In Persian]
McGuire, W. J. (1968). The Nature of Attitudes and Attitude Change. In G. Lindzey, & E. Aronson (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology (pp. 233–346). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Montano, D. E., & Kasprzyk, D. (2015). Theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior, and the integrated behavioral model. Health behavior: Theory, research and practice, 70(4), 231.
Morgan, R. M., & Hunt, S. D. (1994). “The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing”. Journal of marketing, 58(3), 20-38.
Nejati Rashtabadi, H., Akbari, M., Delafrooz, N., Gholipour Soleimani, A. (2021). “Identifying the concept of customer trust in blockchain-based digital advertising: Model development with grounded theory”. Journal of Business Management Perspective, 20(45), 92-119. [In Persian].
Noami, A., Saki, M. (2019). Designing (explaining) the model of influencing factors of reference groups (influencers) on consumer buying behavior with a phenomenological approach, research approaches in social sciences, 12, 1-16. [In Persian]
Peña-García, N., Gil-Saura, I., Rodríguez-Orejuela, A., & Siqueira-Junior, J. R. (2020). Purchase intention and purchase behavior online: A cross-cultural approach. Heliyon, 6(6), e04284.
Rakhshanizadeh, M., Fatahi A., Khalili Nasr, A. (2019). Examining the characteristics of social network influencers on users’ purchase intention (case study: clothing industry on Instagram), International Conference on Interdisciplinary Studies.
Sadr Zadeh, M., Bayat, M., Akhavan Kharazian, M. (2021). Investigating the Application of Values and Development of Common Values in Order to Increase the Social Capital of Influencers: A Case Study of Influencers on Instagram Social Network. Social Capital Management, 8(1), 151-179. [In Persian]
Saima, & Khan, M. A. (2020). “Effect of social media influencer marketing on consumers’ purchase intention and the mediating role of credibility”. Journal of Promotion Management, 27(4), 503-523.
Shekarchizadeh, Z., Valikhani, Z. (2022). The Effects of Social Media Influencers on Online Purchase Intention through the Mediating Role of Attitude towards Advertising and Brand (Case of Study: Followers of Leather Clothing Pages on Instagram). New Marketing Research Journal, 11(4), 157-176. [In Persian]
Statista, (2022). Distribution of Instagram users in the United States as of March 2022, by gender https://www.statista.com/statistics/530498/instagram-users-in-the-us-by-gender/.
Statistica. (2021). Influencer marketing market size worldwide from 2016 to 2021. Statistica. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1092819/global-influencer-market-size/.
Vrontis, D., Makrides, A., Christofi, M., & Thrassou, A. (2021). “Social media influencer marketing: A systematic review, integrative framework and future research agenda”. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4), 617-644.
Wang, P., Huang, Q., & Davison, R. M. (2020). How do digital influencers affect social commerce intention? The roles of social power and satisfaction. Information Technology & People. 34(3), 1065–1086.
Yoon, S., Petrick, J. F., & Backman, S. J. (2017). “Twitter power and sport-fan loyalty: The moderating effects of Twitter”. International Journal of Sport Communication, 10(2), 153-177.
 
 
Volume 21, Issue 119 - Serial Number 119
May and June 2023
Pages 27-44

  • Receive Date 16 July 2022
  • Revise Date 24 August 2022
  • Accept Date 25 August 2022