Influencers' “organic” persuasion through electronic word of mouth: a case of sincerity over brains and beauty

Filieri, R., Acikgoz, F., Li, C. and Alguezaui, S. ORCID: 0000-0001-9163-9173, 2023. Influencers' “organic” persuasion through electronic word of mouth: a case of sincerity over brains and beauty. Psychology and Marketing, 40 (2), pp. 347-364. ISSN 0742-6046

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Abstract

Despite the growing importance of influencers’ word-of-mouth through audio-visual content, little is known about its effect on consumers' brand evaluation, purchase intentions, and decisions. Drawing on Ohanian’s (2010) source credibility framework, we conducted two studies across different influencers, product categories, and respondents’ gender and tested the hypotheses using Covariance-based and Partial Least Square structural equation modelling. Study 1 focuses on a mega-influencer of cosmetic and beauty brands and predominantly involves female respondents. The findings show that the influencer’sattractiveness affects perceptions about source expertise and source trustworthiness but not brand attitude, while source expertise predicts source trustworthiness, and both mediate the effect of source attractiveness on brand attitude. In contrast, brand attitude predicts purchase intention and mediates the impact of source credibility dimensions. Study 2 focuses on various influencers of hedonic products (lifestyle, fashion, beauty). The results confirm the influence of source attractiveness and expertise on source trustworthiness, which ultimately predicts consumer purchase decisions. This study reveals the interdependencies between different source constructs, contributing to source credibility theory. Furthermore, we show that the effect of source dimensions that are relevant in the celebrity endorsement literature, such as source attractiveness, do not directly influence consumers' intentions and decisions in the context of influencers’ eWOM. Finally, the two studies confirm that only influencers perceived as honest and sincere can influence consumers’ purchase decisions.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Psychology and Marketing
Creators:	Filieri, R., Acikgoz, F., Li, C. and Alguezaui, S.
Publisher:	Wiley
Date:	February 2023
Volume:	40
Number:	2
ISSN:	0742-6046
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1002/mar.21760 DOI 1766320 Other
Rights:	This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Filieri, R., Acikgoz, F., Li, C., & Alguezaui, S. (2023). Influencers' “organic” persuasion through electronic word of mouth: a case of sincerity over brains and beauty. Psychology and Marketing, 40(2), 347-364, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21760 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	31 May 2023 09:26
Last Modified:	31 May 2023 09:26
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/49090

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