Influencers who most engage on Instagram. The effect of their expertise, taste leadership and opinion leadership on their followers’ behavioural intentions

Carmen Pérez Cabañero, Ivan Veas González, Carolina Navarro Cisternas, Hugo Zuleta Cortés and Camila Urizar Urizar

Cuadernos de Gestión, 2023

Abstract: [EN] This study aims at explaining the impact of Instagram social media influencers on behavioural intentions (i.e., intentions to interact with them and recommend them, and also purchase the products they endorse or post). It focuses on influencers’ expertise and their role as opinion and taste leaders. Based on opinion leadership theory, a survey was conducted on 210 Instagram users. Main findings reveal that post originality, uniqueness, and quality impact on influencers’ opinion leadership which, in turn, impacts on behavioural intentions. Influencers’ expertise impacts on the intention to recommend the influencers and purchase the products posted, while influencers’ taste leadership only influences the intention to interact with them. Few papers analyse the direct effects of influencers’ expertise and opinion and taste leadership on followers’ behavioural intentions. Consequently, when designing a social media marketing campaign influencers’ selection should be made according to those traits which stimulate specific behaviours such as fostering interaction, increase electronic word of mouth or persuade to purchase the products posted. In case of product endorsements, selecting influencers with acknowledged expertise is recommended as they will cause an impact on the intention to purchase endorsed products. Influencers perceived as opinion leaders have an overall influence on their followers’ behavioural intentions.

Keywords: social media; influencers; expertise; opinion leadership; taste leadership; behavioural intentions; redes sociales; experiencia; líder de opinión; iíder en estética; comportamiento (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://addi.ehu.eus/handle/10810/61303 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehu:cuader:61303

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa, Revista Cuadernos de Gestión, Facultad de CC. Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad del País Vasco, Avda. Lehendakari Aguirre 83, 48015 Bilbao, Spain
https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/CG

Access Statistics for this article

Cuadernos de Gestión is currently edited by Pilar Fernández

More articles in Cuadernos de Gestión from Universidad del País Vasco - Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa (IEAE) Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa Avda Lehendakari Aguirre 83 CP 48015 Bilbao (Vizcaya) Spain. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Alcira Macías Redondo ().