Transforming a social media influencer’s influential power to followers’ word of mouth and purchase intention: the role of brand attachment, brand credibility, and parasocial relationship

Ching-Fu Chen () and Hsiao-Han Lu ()
Additional contact information
Ching-Fu Chen: National Cheng Kung University
Hsiao-Han Lu: National Cheng Kung University

Journal of Brand Management, 2024, vol. 31, issue 4, No 4, 415-429

Abstract: Abstract With the rise of influencer marketing, companies and brands are increasingly cooperating with social media influencers as another important promotion tool. In this context, it is important to understand the followers’ perspective on how the influential power of the influencer transforms into their brand perception and actions toward the brand. This study explains the effects of perceived influence on brand attachment (i.e., brand self-connection and brand prominence) and brand credibility on followers’ word of mouth and purchase intention. Our findings reveal that perceived influence positively affects two dimensions of brand attachment and brand credibility. In addition, our study also finds the more prominent role of brand credibility over brand attachment in affecting followers’ actions (i.e., word of mouth and purchase intention). Finally, the results confirm that the parasocial relationship acts as a moderator in the relationship between three brand-relevant constructs and behavioral outcomes. This paper offers a better understanding of the effect of social media influencers’ influential power on followers’ brand-related thoughts and their responses to the recommended brand.

Keywords: Influencers; Perceived influence; Brand attachment; Word of mouth; Purchase intention; Parasocial relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41262-023-00349-2 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:pal:jobman:v:31:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1057_s41262-023-00349-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41262

DOI: 10.1057/s41262-023-00349-2

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Brand Management is currently edited by Joachim Kernstock, Shaun M. Powell, Mark Davies and Ur a Golob

More articles in Journal of Brand Management from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().