The effects of food influencers' characteristics on consumers' purchase intentions

Naeimeh Kamjoo, Mohammad Hossein Ronaghi and Abolghasem Ebrahimi

American Journal of Business, 2026, vol. 41, issue 3, 136-154

Abstract: PurposeThe current research seeks to determine the influential attributes of influencers and examine the influence of food influencers (food bloggers) on consumers' purchase intention.Design/methodology/approachFirstly, the content analysis method was applied to identify the characteristics of the influencers, and after extracting factors and characteristics from previous studies, the factors were categorized based on similarities and experts' opinions. Then, an integrated model was designed based on the research hypotheses. In the second step, an online survey was performed on 291 Instagram users.FindingsThe results of structural equation analysis demonstrated that the influence of three factors: persuasive power, the scope of influence and influencer honesty, is stronger on purchase intention compared to other characteristics. The findings of this paper presented comprehensive recommendations on the paths to success for brands, marketing experts and influencers and provided valuable insights for influencers, food business owners, restaurant managers and audiences to build persuasive influencer marketing strategies and these lead to the consumers' encouragement to buy more.Originality/valueThe theoretical contribution of this study extends the food influencer literature and by identifying the most frequent and effective features of food industry influencers (key elements of food bloggers persuasion) on the purchase intention of followers on Instagram, it provides insights into how food industry professionals can use social media influencers to develop effective marketing strategies and enhance strong relationships.

Keywords: Marketing influencers; Influencer marketing; Instagram; Consumer behavior; Food blogger (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ajbpps:ajb-11-2025-0181

DOI: 10.1108/AJB-11-2025-0181

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