An Empirical Study on the Effects of Information Characteristics in Influencer Marketing on Consumers’ Purchase Intention

Abstract

With the continuous development of digital business, influencer marketing has gradually become a regular marketing strategy. In this marketing context, on the one hand, influencers play an indispensable role in recommending products and delivering information to consumers, and on the other hand, the proportion of the information released by influencers on consumers' purchasing intention has gradually increased, and more consumers are willing to trust the information recommended by influencers and thus generate corresponding consumption behaviours. Therefore, how information from influencers can contribute to the development of influencer marketing has become a focus of attention in both academia and industry. This study confirms the positive effect of consumers’ perceived information characteristics on purchase intention in influencer marketing through empirical experiments and reveals the mediating role of information credibility in it. Furthermore, the relationship between information credibility and consumers’ purchase intention was moderated by parasocial relationship. These findings point to the importance of information characteristics in influencer marketing with a view to providing some references for the enhancement of consumers’ purchase intention in influencer marketing.