Abstract

Recently, social media influencer marketing has received great attention from businesses. Companies spend an increasing amount of money on working with influencers who promote the products/brands through their social media posts. Instagram, a popular social networking site, has become the most used platform by social media influencers for brand promotion. This has led to emergent research on social media influencers and how they shape their follower’s behaviors. Two key factors have been found to impact the behaviors of influencers’ followers: opinion leadership of and para-social relationship with the influencer. In this study, we extend the current literature by introducing the concept of influencer type and considering its potential moderating effects on the relationship between focal elements (opinion leadership and para-social relationship) and followers’ behavioral intentions.

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Meformer vs. Informer: Influencer type and Follower Behavioral Intentions

Recently, social media influencer marketing has received great attention from businesses. Companies spend an increasing amount of money on working with influencers who promote the products/brands through their social media posts. Instagram, a popular social networking site, has become the most used platform by social media influencers for brand promotion. This has led to emergent research on social media influencers and how they shape their follower’s behaviors. Two key factors have been found to impact the behaviors of influencers’ followers: opinion leadership of and para-social relationship with the influencer. In this study, we extend the current literature by introducing the concept of influencer type and considering its potential moderating effects on the relationship between focal elements (opinion leadership and para-social relationship) and followers’ behavioral intentions.