Abstract
This chapter explores the relations between social media influencers, consumers, and brands within the realm of social networks. Based on a study including 120 female respondents, the research highlights the major role of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in shaping brand loyalty and purchase intentions. The findings illuminate a robust positive correlation between eWOM engagement, brand loyalty, and the intention to purchase fashion goods. This study contributes significantly to understanding consumer behavior, particularly in the context of women's fashion purchasing decisions. Additionally, the chapter sheds light on the strategic implications for businesses, emphasizing the effectiveness of social media influencers as reliable advocates, building trust, and fostering long-term brand loyalty. The research emphasizes the impact of influencer marketing, offering empirical evidence and analysis on its long-term benefits for companies navigating the dynamic landscape of social media.
TopBackground
Social media—particularly social influencer marketing—has emerged as a major determinant in shaping consumer decision-making. Recent studies have explored the impact of social media influencers on consumer behavior (see, for example: Pick, 2021; Koay et al., 2022); however, despite the growing interest in this domain, research specifically addressing the evaluative impact of them on consumer behavior remains underexplored, thus motivating the focus of this study.
Social networks for personal or professional connections are often classified as social networking sites. Online social networks have revolutionized information dissemination by making it simple for exchange and consumption through the Internet. For instance, since its establishment in 2004, Facebook has reported having over 3 billion active users (as of 2023). Indeed, the unique features of social media, coupled with its immense popularity, have reshaped business strategies, including advertising and promotion. Notably, consumer behavior has also been influenced by social networks, from information acquisition to post-purchase behavior like dissatisfaction comments or consumer service complaints (Taillon et al., 2020).
Consumer engagement through social media is fostered by e-commerce credibility. Consumers' social involvement on social media platforms helps peers develop or dispel trust in a provider. Consumer social interaction across social media occurs in two ways: directly through social interactions among consumers, and indirectly through brand participation. Consumers' perceived trust is significantly influenced by the social relationships they form on social media. In particular, WOM is a significant strategy that has a substantial and persuasive impact on consumer purchasing decisions, and can be any positive or negative statement made by potential consumers, current consumers, or former consumers about a product or company available to the public through the Internet.
Several studies shed light on the influence of social media marketing on consumer purchasing decisions (Ansari et al., 2019; Voramontri and Klieb, 2019; Horváth and Fedorko, 2023). For example, social media tools, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, help disseminate consumer-generated content created by users sharing different experiences about their purchases (Goel and Diwan, 2022), which subsequently helps other consumers decide whether or not to buy from particular websites. Conversely, information generated by marketers consists of traditional advertisements such as TV, radio, or Internet ads. However, information generated by social media users consists of discussions between consumers that stems from WOM, which is a mode of informal communication about a company's products and services. This form of communication has been made easier by providing an expanding space online for consumers to share their personal opinions and experiences in the form of eWOM.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Purchase Intentions: Description of the extent to which consumers are inclined towards buying particular products or services. It is a measure of the propensity of each consumer to purchase them.
Brand Loyalty: Repeat purchases from the same brand, despite the potential to purchase offering similar products or services from competitors. Brand loyalty is closely associated with positive feelings toward the specific brand. When brand loyalty increases, price becomes a less important factor in purchasing decisions.
Word of Mouth (WOM): The transfer of information from one person to another using oral communication between a communicator and a recipient who perceives the respective message as non-commercial. Word of mouth is used to describe the results of a marketing strategy that causes consumers and target audiences of businesses to discuss the product or the service in an everyday conversation, passing a positive or negative judgment on it to others.
Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM): The digital counterpart of traditional word-of-mouth marketing (see below). This includes online reviews, social media shares, blog posts, and other digital content describing products or services. Potential, actual, or former consumers often use them to share their experiences and opinions with a wider audience or to gain information about intended purchases.
Social media: Digital technology that allows the sharing of ideas and information, including text and audiovisuals, through virtual networks, discussion forums, and communities.
Social Media Influencers: Content creators on social media (see above) who have established credibility in a specific industry. They have access to a large audience and can share information to persuade others through their authenticity and reach to purchase products or services that they include in their online content.
Social Networking: Websites and apps that allow users and organizations to connect, communicate, share information, and form relationships online.