Social Media Influencer Marketing: The Effects of Influencer Attributes on Purchase Intention, the Mediating Role of Perceived Characterization

This study aims to look into the credibility of influencers and how they affect consumer purchase intention, as well as how perceived characterization can act as a mediator between the influencer and the consumer. This is an explanatory and cross-sectional study using the quantitative analysis method. The results of this research demonstrated that a person's physical attractiveness and social attractiveness both have a significant and favorable influence on purchase intention, although a person's credibility and physical attractiveness had a minor impact on either variable. Also, this study result shows an influencer's physical attractiveness has a substantial impact on the para-social relationship they have with an endorser. On the other hand, the credibility of an influencer has a significant effect on their purchase intent. The examination of the findings revealed that social attractiveness had a strong and favorable effect on the credibility of the influencer. It was also observed that social attractiveness has a substantial effect on the para-social relationship that exists between that follower and a social media influencer. This study contributes to the knowledge of social media influencer marketing by demonstrating that perceived characterizations have a mediating role between influencer attributes such as physical and social attractiveness and followers' purchase intentions.