Unveiling the impact of social media influencers in inducing consumers’ impulse buying behavior

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the role of influencer marketing-related communication factors in affecting consumers’ trust in the posts of influencers, which subsequently affects their urge to buy impulsively (UBI). Additionally, this study looks at how product affection functions as a mediator and persuasion knowledge as a moderator between UBI and trust. The study combines Signaling Theory with the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model to develop the research model as tested through SEM. The findings related to the data collected from total 481 social media users-cum-followers revealed that the authenticity of factors of communication is crucial for building trust in the posts of the influencers, which in turn leads to UBI. The study also found that the relationship between trust and UBI is mediated by product affection and consumers with little persuasion knowledge are more likely to create UBI. This research gives marketers and advertisers useful information that helps them comprehend the significance of the credibility of communication factors in influencer marketing which leads to favorable consumer attitudes and behaviors. This study also fills in the current information gap about the pre-trust creation elements and their subsequent impact on UBI.