The Effect of Social Media Influencers on Brand Trust and the Moderating Role of Brand Reputation on Brand Commitment and Brand Loyalty
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51153/mf.v19i1.643Keywords:
Social media influencers, expertise, authenticity, attractiveness, brand trust, brand reputation, brand loyalty, and brand commitment.Abstract
Firms need help retaining and attracting new customers in the prevailing competitive era. Therefore, besides other strategies, they have started using social media influencers to enhance their brand image and trust. Given its importance, the study has examined the impact of social media influencers (expertise, authenticity, attractiveness, and homophily) on brand trust. It also examined the effect of brand trust on brand commitment and loyalty. The study also examined the moderating effect of brand reputation on brand commitment and loyalty. The study collected data from Karachi’s social media users. The study found that the social media influencer’s expertise and homophily positively affect brand trust. Social media influencer authenticity and attractiveness insignificantly affect brand trust. Brand trust promotes brand commitment and brand loyalty. Brand reputation significantly moderates brand trust and brand commitment. However, brand reputation insignificantly moderates brand trust and brand loyalty. We recommend that firms select authentic and attractive influencers while selecting social media influencers. We also suggest that firms confirm that their recruited social media share entertaining content and keep the followers engaged. Brand trust promotes brand commitment and brand loyalty. Therefore, we suggest that firms focus on increasing brand trust through adequate marketing strategies.References
Akoyeva, I., Atanayeva, M., Buldybayev, T., Ospanova, U., & Nurumov, K. (2019, November). Trust in Media in Kazakhstan. In Papers of Canadian International Conference on Humanities & Social Sciences 2019 (p. 26).
Ali, M. A. B. (2022). The Effect of Firm's Brand Reputation on Customer Loyalty and Customer Word of Mouth: The Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction and Customer Trust. International Business Research, 15(7), 1-30.
Alnaim, A. F., Sobaih, A. E. E., & Elshaer, I. A. (2022). Measuring the Mediating Roles of E-Trust and E-Satisfaction in the Relationship between E-Service Quality and E-Loyalty: A Structural Modeling Approach. Mathematics, 10(13), 1-15.
Amora, J. T. (2021). Convergent validity assessment in PLS-SEM: A loadings-driven approach. Data Analysis Perspectives Journal, 2(3), 1-6.
Andonopoulos, V. (2021). Authentic, but make it personal: an examination of social media influencer personal authenticity (Doctoral dissertation, UNSW Sydney).
Apasrawirote, D., & Yawised, K. (2022). Factors influencing the behavioral and purchase intention on live-streaming shopping. Asian Journal of Business Research, 12(1), 39-49.
Arshad, F. N. (2023). Building Lasting Connections: Cultivating Brand loyalty through Relationship and Commitment. IRASD Journal of Management, 5(3), 116-135.
Atulkar, S. (2020). Brand trust and brand loyalty in mall shoppers. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 38(5), 559-572.
Ballester, E., Ruiz-Mafé, C., & Rubio, N. (2023). Females' customer engagement with eco-friendly restaurants in Instagram: the role of past visits. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 35(6), 2267-2288.
Bowden, A. (2022). The Impact of Followers' Attitudes and Beliefs on the Effectiveness of Social Media Influencers as Product Endorsers (Doctoral dissertation, University of Brighton).
Burhanudin, B. (2022). Examining the effect of service value and reputation on customer loyalty with trust and electronic word of mouth as mediation. Jurnal Aplikasi Manajemen, 20(3), 514-527.
Cardoso, A., Gabriel, M., Figueiredo, J., Oliveira, I., Rêgo, R., Silva, R., ... & Meirinhos, G. (2022). Trust and loyalty in building the brand relationship with the customer: empirical analysis in a retail chain in northern Brazil. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(3), 109-136.
Casula, M., Rangarajan, N., & Shields, P. (2021). The potential of working hypotheses for deductive exploratory research. Quality & Quantity, 55(5), 1703-1725.
Cheah, J. H., Thurasamy, R., Memon, M. A., Chuah, F., & Ting, H. (2020). Multigroup analysis using SmartPLS: Step-by-step guidelines for business research. Asian Journal of Business Research, 10(3), I-XIX.
Cheung, G. W., Cooper-Thomas, H. D., Lau, R. S., & Wang, L. C. (2023). Reporting reliability, convergent and discriminant validity with structural equation modeling: A review and best-practice recommendations. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 1-39.
Cho, S., Park, C., & Lee, F. (2022). Homophily and peer-consumer behaviour in a peer-to-peer accommodation sharing economy platform. Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(2), 276-291.
Connell, E. (2023). Pooshing the Boundaries of Instagram Influencers: How Celebrity and Color Strategy Impact Source Credibility Perceptions and Parasocial Behavior Within the Online Health Community (Doctoral dissertation, University of Wyoming).
Damirchi, S., Öney, E., & Sahranavard, S. A. (2022). The effects of social media influencers on consumers' buying intentions with the mediating role of consumer attitude. In New Dynamics in Banking and Finance: 5th International Conference on Banking and Finance Perspectives, Famagusta, Cyprus (pp. 45-72). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Eivazinezhad, S. (2022). Theory of Homophily and Trust in Buyer-seller: Effect of Individual Characteristics. Organizational Resources Management Research, 11(4), 93-111.
Ermeç, A. (2022). How Effective Are Social Media Influencers' Recommendations? The Effect of Message Source on Purchasing Intention and e-Word of Mouth (WOM) from a Para-Social Interaction Perspective. ??letme Ara?t?rmalar? Dergisi, 14(1), 1077-1095.
Ertug, G., Brennecke, J., Kovács, B., & Zou, T. (2022). What does homophily do? A review of the consequences of homophily. Academy of Management Annals, 16(1), 38-69.
Feng, Y., Chen, H., & Kong, Q. (2021). An expert with whom I can identify: The role of narratives in influencer marketing. International Journal of Advertising, 40(7), 972-993.
Fatma, M., Khan, I., Rahman, Z., & Pérez, A. (2021). The sharing economy: The influence of perceived corporate social responsibility on brand commitment. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 30(7), 964-975.
Filieri, R., Acikgoz, F., Li, C., & Alguezaui, S. (2023). Influencers' "organic" persuasion through electronic word of mouth: A case of sincerity over brains and beauty. Psychology & Marketing, 40(2), 347-364.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal Of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50.
Gupta, P., Burton, J. L., & Costa Barros, L. (2023). Gender of the online influencer and follower: the differential persuasive impact of homophily, attractiveness and product-match. Internet Research, 33(2), 720-740.
Hair Jr, J. F., Howard, M. C., & Nitzl, C. (2020). Assessing measurement model quality in PLS-SEM using confirmatory composite analysis. Journal of Business Research, 109, 101-110.
Homans, G. (1961). Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World, Inc.
Hovland, C.I., Janis, I.L., & Kelley, H.H. (1953). Communication and Persuasion. Yale University Press.
Hussein, A. S., Sumiati, S., Hapsari, R., & Abu Bakar, J. (2023). Bank 4.0 experiential quality and customer loyalty: a serial mediating role of customer trust and engagement. The TQM Journal, 35(7), 1706-1721.
Iqbal, A., Anwar, A., Sufyan, M., Salam, A., & Arsalan, M. (2023). Unveiling The Impact Of Brand Commitment As A Moderator In The Relationship Between Brand Trust And Brand Loyalty: Insights From Pakistan's Mobile Phone Industry. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 737-757.
Infante, A., & Mardikaningsih, R. (2022). The potential of social media as a means of online business promotion. Journal of Social Science Studies (JOS3), 2(2), 45-49.
Irfan, M., & Ramlie, F. (2021). Analysis of parameters which affects prediction of energy consumption in buildings using Partial Least Square (PLS) approach. Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Sciences and Engineering Technology, 25(1), 61-68.
Jin, S. V., Muqaddam, A., & Ryu, E. (2019). Instafamous and social media influencer marketing. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 37(5), 567-579.
Juwaini, A., Chidir, G., Novitasari, D., Iskandar, J., Hutagalung, D., Pramono, T., ... & Purwanto, A. (2022). The role of customer e-trust, customer e-service quality and customer e-satisfaction on customer e-loyalty. International Journal Of Data And Network Science, 6(2), 477-486.
Kalkbrenner, M. T. (2023). Alpha, omega, and H internal consistency reliability estimates: Reviewing these options and when to use them. Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation, 14(1), 77-88.
Kamboj, S., & Sharma, M. (2023). Social media adoption behaviour: Consumer innovativeness and participation intention. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 47(2), 523-544.
Konuk, F. A. (2023). Trustworthy brand signals, price fairness and organic food restaurant brand loyalty. Management Decision, 61(10), 3035-3052.
Korkmaz, S., & Demir, Y. (2023). Investigation of some univariate normality tests in terms of type-i errors and test power. Journal of Scientific Reports-A, (052), 376-395.
Khanam, K. Z., Srivastava, G., & Mago, V. (2023). The homophily principle in social network analysis: A survey. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 82(6), 8811-8854.
Ki, C. W. C., Park, S., & Kim, Y. K. (2022). Investigating the mechanism through which consumers are "inspired by" social media influencers and "inspired to" adopt influencers' exemplars as social defaults. Journal of Business Research, 144, 264-277.
Kim, D. Y., & Kim, H. Y. (2021). Trust me, trust me not: A nuanced view of influencer marketing on social media. Journal of Business Research, 134, 223-232.
Kim, D., & Kim, S. (2023). Social Media Affordances of Ephemerality and Permanence: Social Comparison, Self-Esteem, and Body Image Concerns. Social Sciences, 12(2), 87-103.
Koch, T., & Schulz-Knappe, C. (2021). Corporate lobbying: Role perceptions and perceived influence on political decisions of public affairs professionals. Public Relations Review, 47(4), 102-132.
Kwan, S. S. S., Amenuvor, F. E., Basilisco, R., & Owusu-Antwi, K. (2019). Brand trust and brand loyalty: A moderation and mediation perspective. Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology, 38(4), 1-17.
Le, T. T. (2023). Corporate social responsibility and SMEs' performance: mediating role of corporate image, corporate reputation and customer loyalty. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 18(10), 4565-4590.
Leonhardt, J. M., Pezzuti, T., & Namkoong, J. E. (2020). We're not so different: Collectivism increases perceived homophily, trust, and seeking user-generated product information. Journal of Business Research, 112, 160-169.
Loperfido, N. (2024). The skewness of mean–variance normal mixtures. Journal of Multivariate Analysis, 199, 1-19
Moscato, J. (2023). Evaluating Organizational Performance Using SmartPLS: A Management Perspective. APTISI Transactions on Management, 7(3), 273-281.
Mansouri, H., Sadeghi Boroujerdi, S., & Md Husin, M. (2022). The influence of sellers' ethical behaviour on customer's loyalty, satisfaction and trust. Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC, 26(2), 267-283.
McGuire, W.J. (1985), 'Attitudes and attitude change', in Lindzey, G. and Aronson, E. (Eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology, 2nd ed., Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey, pp. 262–276.
Malik, A. Z., Thapa, S., & Paswan, A. K. (2023). Social media influencer (SMI) as a human brand–a need fulfillment perspective. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 32(2), 173-190.
Mangiò, F., Pedeliento, G., Andreini, D., & Zarantonello, L. (2023). How persuasive is woke brand communication on social media? Evidence from a consumer engagement analysis on Facebook. Journal of Brand Management, 1-37.
Manchanda, P., Arora, N., & Sethi, V. (2022). Impact of beauty vlogger's credibility and popularity on eWOM sharing intention: The mediating role of parasocial interaction. Journal of Promotion Management, 28(3), 379-412.
Mir, I. A., & Salo, J. (2023). Analyzing the influence of social media influencer's attributes and content esthetics on endorsed brand attitude and brand-link click behavior: The mediating role of brand content engagement. Journal of Promotion Management, 1-28.
Margom, I., & Amar, M. B. (2023). Does the Physical Attractiveness of Instagram Influencers Affect Moroccan Consumer Behavior? A Dyadic Analysis: Influencer vs. Consumer. WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics, 20, 2188-2204.
Nadeem, W., Khani, A. H., Schultz, C. D., Adam, N. A., Attar, R. W., & Hajli, N. (2020). How social presence drives commitment and loyalty with online brand communities? the role of social commerce trust. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 55, 102136.
Nurudeen, M., Abdul-Samad, S., Owusu-Oware, E., Koi-Akrofi, G. Y., & Tanye, H. A. (2023). Measuring the effect of social media on student academic performance using a social media influence factor model. Education and Information Technologies, 28(1), 1165-1188.
Ong, Y. X., Sun, T., & Ito, N. (2022). Beyond influencer credibility: the power of content and parasocial relationship on processing social media influencer destination marketing campaigns. In Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2022: Proceedings of the ENTER 2022 eTourism Conference, January 11–14, 2022 (pp. 110-122). Springer International Publishing.
Ouvrein, G., Pabian, S., Giles, D., Hudders, L., & De Backer, C. (2021). The web of influencers. A marketing-audience classification of (potential) social media influencers. Journal of Marketing Management, 37(13-14), 1313-1342.
Parris, D. L., & Guzmán, F. (2023). Evolving brand boundaries and expectations: looking back on brand equity, brand loyalty, and brand image research to move forward. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 32(2), 191-234.
Proudfoot, K. (2023). Inductive/Deductive hybrid thematic analysis in mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 17(3), 308-326.
Quaye, E. S., Taoana, C., Abratt, R., & Anabila, P. (2022). Customer advocacy and brand loyalty: The mediating roles of brand relationship quality and trust. Journal of Brand Management, 29(4), 363-382.
Rachmawati, A., Sutrisno, S., & Saiful, S. (2023). The effect of brand trust, brand identification and brand commitment on brand loyalty of shoes sports. Jurnal Ekonomi, 12(01), 96-102.
Rasoolimanesh, S. M. (2022). Discriminant validity assessment in PLS-SEM: A comprehensive composite-based approach. Data Analysis Perspectives Journal, 3(2), 1-8.
Rivaldo, Y., Kamanda, S. V., & Yusman, E. (2022). The Influence Of Brand Image, Promotion And Trust On Customer Loyalty At Bank BSI Nagoya Batam Branch. Jurnal Mantik, 6(2), 2385-2392.
Rönkkö, M., & Cho, E. (2022). An updated guideline for assessing discriminant validity. Organizational Research Methods, 25(1), 6-14.
Salter, M. B., Mutlu, C. E., & Frowd, P. M. (Eds.). (2023). Research Methods in Critical Security Studies: An Introduction. England: Taylor & Francis.
Saul?te, L., Š?eulovs, D., & Pollák, F. (2022). The Influence of Non-Product-Related Attributes on Media Brands' Consumption. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(3), 105-127.
Shafiq, M. A., Ziaullah, M., Siddique, M., Bilal, A., & Ramzan, M. (2023). Unveiling the Sustainable Path: Exploring the Nexus of Green Marketing, Service Quality, Brand Reputation, and Their Impact on Brand Trust and Purchase Decisions. International Journal of Social Science & Entrepreneurship, 3(2), 654-676.
Siedlecki, S. L. (2020). Understanding Descriptive Research Designs and Methods. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 34(1), 8-12.
Statistica (2023), {Available},https://www.statista.com/statistics/1092819/global-influencer-market-size/
Suhan, M., Nayak, S., Nayak, R., Spulbar, C., Vidya Bai, G., Birau, R., ... & Stanciu, C. V. (2022). Exploring the sustainable effect of mediational role of brand commitment and brand trust on brand loyalty: An empirical study. Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja, 35(1), 6422-6444.
Santoso, N. P. L., Sunarjo, R. A., & Fadli, I. S. (2023). Analyzing the Factors Influencing the Success of Business Incubation Programs: A SmartPLS Approach. ADI Journal on Recent Innovation, 5(1), 60-71.
Tikochinski, R., & Babad, E. (2022). Perceived epistemic authority (source credibility) of a TV interviewer moderates the media bias effect caused by his nonverbal behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 46(2), 215-229.
Vaidya, R., & Karnawat, T. (2023). Conceptualizing influencer marketing: a literature review on the strategic use of social media influencers. International Journal of Management, Public Policy and Research, 2(Special Issue), 81-86.
Valette-Florence, R., & Valette-Florence, P. (2020). Effects of emotions and brand personality on consumer commitment, via the mediating effects of brand trust and attachment. Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition), 35(1), 84-110.
Vrontis, D., Makrides, A., Christofi, M., & Thrassou, A. (2021). Social media influencer marketing: A systematic review, integrative framework and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4), 617-644.
Van der Meer, T. G., Hameleers, M., & Kroon, A. C. (2020). Crafting our own biased media diets: The effects of confirmation, source, and negativity bias on selective attendance to online news. Mass Communication and Society, 23(6), 937-967.
Voorveld, H. A., Van Noort, G., Muntinga, D. G., & Bronner, F. (2018). Engagement with social media and social media advertising: The differentiating role of platform type. Journal of advertising, 47(1), 38-54.
Wang, R., & Chan-Olmsted, S. (2023). Decoding influencer marketing from a community perspective: typologies and marketing management implications. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 35(8), 1839-1856.
Yahya, R. M., Ciftci, D., & Isman, A. (2023). The Relationship between Social Media Exposure and Social Comparison Level: Instagram as a Model. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 22(2). 133-149.
Yousaf, A., Mishra, A., & Bashir, M. (2020). Brand trust, institutional commitment, and their impact on student loyalty: evidence for higher education in India. Studies in Higher Education, 45(4), 878-891.
Zeren, D., & Kara, A. (2020). Effects of brand heritage on intentions to buy of airline services: The mediating roles of brand trust and brand loyalty. Sustainability, 13(1), 303-329.
Zhafira, A. K., Purba, C. A. F., Asteriani, D., & Soesilo, P. K. (2022). The Effect of Social Media Influencer's Perceived Sincerity and Perceived Similarity on Consumers' Attitude and Purhcase Intention. Journal of Research in Business, Economics, and Education, 4(1), 22-32.
Zhang, W. (2022). Human vs. machine as message source in advertising: examining the persuasiveness of brand influencer type and the mediating role of source credibility for advertising effectiveness in social media advertising (Doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri--Columbia).
Zheng, L., Huang, B., Qiu, H., & Bai, H. (2023). The role of social media followers' agency in influencer marketing: a study based on the heuristic–systematic model of information processing. International Journal of Advertising, 1-26.
Zniva, R., Weitzl, W. J., & Lindmoser, C. (2023). Be constantly different! How to manage influencer authenticity. Electronic Commerce Research, 1-30.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
- Copyright of all the submissions to the Market Forces will remain to the contributors.
- Anyone is allowed to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon his/her work, even commercially, as long as it is credited/cited to the original contributors of the Market Forces.
