Abstract

The influencer trend, where people are often paid by brands to use, talk about and otherwise promote their products on social media has become increasingly popular. This study examines the potential interplay of perceived homophily with, perceived authenticity of an influencer and the reasons people may follow an influencer on subsequent purchase intentions of items the influencer has showcased on their Instagram account. Key findings suggest that the type of perceived homophily one shares with their favorite influencer is linked to the reasons they follow that influencer, and that following an influencer because they are trendy when a person also indicated perceived status homophily (e.g., similarities in size) did lead to increased purchase intent. However, influencers that are followed because they are unique and share morals and values with a follower (i.e., ‘value homophily’) do not encourage purchase intent. We find that an influencer who is perceived as more ‘authentic’ will mediate the relationship between perceptions of homophily and subsequent purchase intent.

摘要

影响者趋势越来越流行，品牌通常会向人们支付费用，让他们在社交媒体上使用、谈论和以其他方式推广他们的产品。本研究调查了感知同质性与影响者感知真实性的潜在相互作用，以及人们可能会关注影响者对影响者在其 Instagram 帐户上展示的商品的后续购买意向的原因。主要研究结果表明，一个人与他们最喜欢的影响者分享的感知同质性类型与他们追随该影响者的原因有关，并且追随影响者是因为当一个人也表现出感知状态同质性（例如，尺寸相似）时，他们是时髦的。导致购买意向增加。然而，因为他们是独一无二的并且与追随者分享道德和价值观（即“价值同质性”）而被追随的影响者不会鼓励购买意图。我们发现，被认为更“真实”的影响者会调节同质性感知与后续购买意愿之间的关系。