Purpose

Social media influencers (SMIs) have become an important source of influence that affects consumer behaviours in their decision-making processes. As such, this justifies scholarly attention in understanding how SMIs transfer their meanings to endorsed brands and drive consumers’ positive behavioural intentions. With the intention to fill this knowledge gap, this paper aims to examine the impact of SMIs’ credibility, as manifested by trustworthiness, attractiveness and expertise, along with the moderating effects of materialism, on followers’ purchase intention.

Design/methodology/approach

Self-administrated online surveys were used to collect data from Instagram users. A total of 191 usable data were collected and analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling.

Findings

The results show that SMIs’ trustworthiness and expertise are significant predictors of followers’ purchase intention. Moreover, the moderating effect of materialism on the relationship between attractiveness and purchase intention is significant. Notably, the influence of attractiveness on purchase intention is greater when materialism is high.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the SMI literature by examining the influence of SMIs’ trustworthiness, attractiveness and expertise, along with the moderating effect of materialism, on followers’ purchase intention.

中文翻译：

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社交媒体影响者营销：唯物主义的调节作用

目的

社交媒体影响者 (SMI) 已成为影响消费者决策过程中行为的重要影响源。因此，这证明了学术界在理解 SMI 如何将其含义转移到认可品牌并推动消费者积极的行为意图方面的关注是合理的。为了填补这一知识空白，本文旨在研究 SMI 的可信度（表现为可信度、吸引力和专业知识）以及物质主义对追随者购买意愿的调节作用。

设计/方法/方法

自我管理的在线调查被用来从 Instagram 用户那里收集数据。使用偏最小二乘结构方程模型收集和分析了总共 191 个可用数据。

发现

结果表明，SMI 的可信度和专业知识是追随者购买意愿的重要预测指标。此外，唯物主义对吸引力和购买意愿之间的关系有显着的调节作用。值得注意的是，当物质主义高时，吸引力对购买意愿的影响更大。

原创性/价值

本研究通过检验 SMI 的可信度、吸引力和专业知识以及物质主义对追随者购买意愿的调节作用，为 SMI 文献做出贡献。