Competence is power: How digital influencers impact buying decisions in B2B markets

In B2B markets, vendor companies increasingly rely upon influential individuals in the digital environment to communicate information about their offerings to client organizations. Given the growing B2B digital engagement, cues that help to differentiate highly impactful digital influencers are crucial for vendor companies. Drawing from Stereotype Content Model, we analyze competence and warmth as relevant cues of digital influencers. Employing experimental studies, we examine how competence and warmth influence B2B purchasing managers' evaluation and selection of vendors' solutions. We find that the digital influencers' competence enhances purchasing managers' intention to buy the advocated vendor's offering. When compared with warmth, competence minimizes capability and relational concerns associated with the purchase decision. Further, we show that such effect of competence is prominent when manager-influencer identification is low. Our research advances knowledge on the characteristics of digital influencers that shape B2B purchasing managers' evaluation and selection of vendors. We identify concern-based psychological mechanisms underlying the effect of influencers' characteristics, and related boundary conditions. Our findings provide implications for digital influencers seeking to expand reach in B2B markets, and for vendor companies and marketing agencies in the selection of digital influencers.