Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/325574 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Citation: 
[Journal:] European Journal of Management and Business Economics (EJM&BE) [ISSN:] 2444-8451 [Volume:] 33 [Issue:] 3 [Year:] 2024 [Pages:] 366-385
Publisher: 
Emerald, Leeds
Abstract: 
Purpose - Extending the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this study investigates the impact of social media influencers (SMI) on consumer well-being (CW) as well as the influence of CW on purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach - A between-subjects experiment (macro- vs mega-influencer) was conducted to assess the proposed hypotheses. A total of 190 consumers participated in the experiment, and SmartPLS 3.3 was used for multigroup analyses. Findings - Overall, argument quality (AQ), source's credibility (SC) and influencer's kindness positively predict CW, and CW predicts purchase intention. It was also found that SC is more important when information comes from a mega-influencer, whilst kindness is essential for a macro-influencer. Practical implications - The results of this study imply that CW should be an essential component of influencer marketing strategy. Marketing managers should hire credible and kind influencers who can produce quality arguments. Additionally, the selection of SMI (macro- vs mega-influencer) should be aligned with the marketing objective and type of persuasion required. Originality/value - This is one of the early attempts to extend ELM by introducing influencer kindness as a peripheral cue. Moreover, the study offers novelty by examining the effects of influencer characteristics (AQ, SC and kindness) on CW and comparing these effects across macro- and mega-influencers.
Subjects: 
Argument quality
Consumer well-being
Elaboration likelihood model
Kindness
Social media influencer
Source's credibility
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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