Exploring the Impact of Book Influencers on Reading Intentions in the Scroll Era

While social media influencers' impact on consumer choices in brands and products has been extensively studied, their influence in the realm of arts and culture, particularly literature, remains underexplored. This study fills this gap by examining the influence of literary influencers, or "book influencers", on readers' book choices and their likelihood of following such recommendations. Using source theory as our framework, we develop a model focused on the perceived credibility of these influencers. We hypothesize that this credibility depends on the influencer's characteristics, like popularity, and the reader's literary preferences, such as genre specialization. Our empirical experiment with 280 French readers reveals that an influencer's perceived credibility significantly affects readers' intentions to read a book, only when the influencer is less popular. This effect is amplified when readers lack genre specialization, indicating omnivorous reading habits. These findings challenge initial hypotheses and open new avenues for research into the role of literary influencers in shaping readers' choices.