The impact of using food influencers on consumer purchase intention with attitude toward influencers as mediator

ABSTRACTSocial media influencers have cemented their place as pivotal elements within the broader marketing matrix, gaining recognition from corporate entities and academic circles. Notwithstanding, scholarly discourse on this phenomenon remains somewhat underdeveloped, requiring more comprehensive studies. This study is conducted to identify the main factors affecting consumers’ attitudes toward influencers and the impact of attitudes toward purchase intention. The population in this study is 333 university students in Hanoi following food influencers. The data analysis method used in this study is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the SPSS & AMOS 22 program. The results reveal that various factors, such as trust, social attractiveness, specialization, experience, and perceived usefulness, significantly influence consumers’ attitudes. Customers’ attitudes, perceived usefulness, and credibility significantly influence consumers’ purchase intention. The research results will be helpful to businesses as well as individuals in understanding consumer behavior, thereby improving marketing and service strategies and attracting more potential customers.KEYWORDS: Social mediainfluencerfood industrypurchase intention AcknowledgementsThe author gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the Banking Academy of Vietnam. The author is thankful to the dedicated students from the Banking Academy of Vietnam for their invaluable help with survey distribution and data collection (Hien Le, Thao Pham, Hoang Dang, Hoa Vu, Thuong Ha).Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Ethical approval and consentAll participants were informed about the purpose of the research, their participation was voluntary, and they were assured that their responses would remain confidential and be used solely for the purpose of this study. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.Additional informationFundingThis study is funded and approved by the Banking Academy of Vietnam under Research Working Group NCM.04/2023.