The Effect Of Social Influencers’ Credibility On Consumer Purchase Intentions

Social media have become fundamental promotional tools for brands,facing new generations that are increasingly connected and less consuming traditional media.As a result,brands are now using social media to target this new audience and have adapted their marketing strategies.Using celebrity endorsement,brands use the stars of social media-the influencers-to promote their product to their community: social media influencer marketing.However,brands must know if the chosen influencer will positively impact the purchase intention of his followers.For Zietek(2016),credibility allows persuasion,and a lack of credibility leads to a loss of persuasion.Therefore,the influencer’s credibility is fundamental to measuring his impact on purchase intention as it legitimizes the purchase(Serban,2010).For Ohanian(1990),celebrities’ credibility can be measured through three main dimensions: Attractiveness,Trustworthiness,and Expertise.By determining the credibility of a source,we can determine its impact on the purchase intention of the recipients of its message.The purpose of this research paper is to determine which factors shape the credibility of social media influencers and influence the purchase intention of consumers using the Ohanian Source Credibility model.In addition,this research analyzed French and Chinese consumers to determine whether these factors are the same or differ between these countries.A total of 245 French and Chinese social media users answered a questionnaire about their social media use and their relationship with influencers.After various statistical analyses,it was determined that the three factors established in the Ohanian model also work for social media influencer marketing and allows measuring their credibility and,therefore,their persuasion on the consumers’ purchase intention.However,the factors do not have the same impact on French and Chinese consumers: Attractiveness and Trustworthiness positively impact the purchase intention of Chinese consumers but not that of the French.Expertise positively impacts the purchase intention of French consumers but not that of Chinese.Thus,the three factors of the Ohanian model allow us to measure the credibility of social media influencers.However,their impact can differ depending on the country or the market.A brand must determine the criteria to be considered to choose the most relevant influencers for the targeted consumers in its social media influencer marketing.