The impact of content, personality, and trustworthiness of social media influencers on consumer purchase intention and ewom in fashion industry

Abstract

The rising popularity of social media is causing a shift from traditional to digital media in advertising and marketing communications. It also affects a trend towards advanced social media influencer marketing. The increased presence of influencers effectively links businesses and consumers and helps improve communication and purchasing power. However, according to previous research, influencer marketing strategies are still in their infancy compared to other digital marketing approaches, and many firms have yet to tap into their success. Although digital marketing is slowly becoming more popular in Saudi Arabia, empirical research on the link between influencers and buying intentions are scarce. Similarly, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries have expressed worry over a lack of specific supporting ideas and related research findings. Thus, it is critical to undertake more research studies focusing on Saudi Arabia to close this gap, expand the theory, and examine the factors that determine the marketing impact of influencers on customer purchase and electronic word-of-mouth intention. This study aims to address this research gap by assessing the impact of social media influencer content, personality, and trustworthiness on consumers' fashion brand attitudes, purchase intentions and electronic word-of-mouth intention in Saudi Arabia. To support the study's objectives, the author adopted the theory of reasoned action and the halo effect. A close-ended questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 539 selected fashion brand consumers in Saudi Arabia. The data was analyzed using SmartPLS software. The result showed that influencers' personalities, content, and trustworthiness significantly impacted brand attitude, purchase intention, and electronic word-of-mouth intention. Furthermore, brand attitude significantly mediated the relationship between influencer content and trustworthiness towards purchase intention and electronic word-of-mouth intention. On the other hand, brand attitude did not mediate the relationship between influencer personality and electronic word-of-mouth intention. This study aimed to assist fashion retailers, and marketing professionals in better understanding social media influencer factors in improving consumer purchase intention and electronic word-of-mouth intention.