The Impact of Social Media Influencer (SMI) Characteristics on Consumer Purchase Intention (CPI) of Beauty and Personal Care (BPC) Products in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Influencer Marketing is a form of social media promotion that incorporates the promotion of products and the placement of influencers' endorsements. These influencers are known for having a high level of expertise and attractiveness. It is common for people to misunderstand this and confuse Influencer Marketing with celebrity marketing. There may be some overlap, but a person's perceived popularity alone is insufficient to create successful influencer marketing. Many influencers have built huge communities to whom they promote an agreed product or activity. Different SMIs’ characteristics lead consumers to have positive purchase intentions towards the products in which they are promoting. However, such effects of influencer characteristics on purchase intention of various products in the Sri Lankan market have not been adequately researched. Moreover, it appears that the BPC product market has not been investigated as well. The purpose of this study is to bridge this research gap by examining the impact of SMIs’ characteristics on the purchase intention BPC products among Sri Lankan consumers, with an emphasis on identifying if there are significant impact on the consumers’ attitudes towards the influencers as well. The data was obtained using a self-administered structured questionnaire from 202 consumers who uses social media in Sri Lanka. It was later analyzed using various statistical techniques such as descriptive analysis, simple linear regression, multiple linear regression, and mediation analysis. The findings demonstrated that credibility is having a more impact on purchase intention of BPC products promoted by SMIs than the attractiveness of them. The findings also revealed that consumers’ attitude towards the SMIs is having a major impact on purchase intention of BPC products promoted by the SMIs through the significant complete mediation.