The effect of influencers on brand image and TikTok users' intention to purchase fashion and beauty products, and comparison with YouTube and Instagram.

Details

Supervisors

Schuiling, Isabelle

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

Social media influencers have the ability to provide companies with access to new audiences by using their personal brand to promote products. This thesis investigates influencer’s attributes and perceived characterizations made by followers. It tests whether those have a positive impact on brand image and intention to purchase fashion and beauty products on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Additionally, a comparative analysis is conducted to evaluate the differences between these social networks. The attributes of influencers considered in this study encompass attitude homophily, physical and social attractiveness, while the perceived characterizations made by followers include the credibility of influencers and the para-social relationship they develop with their followers. To answer our research question, an online quantitative study was conducted in the French-speaking part of Belgium. As could be expected based on the existing literature, the results show that brand image, credibility and para-social relationship have a positive effect on intention to purchase fashion and beauty products on those platforms, and brand image mediates the relationship between credibility and purchase intention. However, contrary to previous studies, the findings indicate that credibility has a greater positive impact on purchase intention compared to PSR, suggesting that the arguments presented by influencers carry more weight than the relationships developed between them and their followers. Results also confirm what has been found before as both attitude homophily and physical attractiveness positively impact credibility. Additionally, the impact of attitude homophily and physical attractiveness on brand image and purchase intention is mediated by credibility. Para-social relationship is also positively impacted by attitude homophily, physical and social attractiveness. Moreover, the effect of attitude homophily, physical attractiveness and social attractiveness on purchase intention is mediated by para-social relationship. This thesis found that attitude homophily has a bigger impact on PSR than social and physical attractiveness, which differs from prior research where social attractiveness was found to play a more prominent role in predicting PSR. Interestingly, physical attractiveness, both as predictor for credibility and para-social relationship, is not as influential as other influencer’s attributes.