This study examines the mechanisms behind influencer effectiveness in the rapidly evolving social media environment. Specifically, it evaluates the effects of influencer attributes—physical attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise—on consumers' purchase intentions and investigates the mediating role of followers' attitudes toward the influencer in this relationship. The study also tests the moderating effect of interaction frequency on this indirect relationship. The research was designed based on the Source Credibility Model and conducted with data from 392 active social media users. The analyses tested both mediation and moderated mediation effects using the Hayes PROCESS Macro Model 14. Crucially, the findings reveal a moderated mediation effect: as followers' interaction frequency increases, the positive indirect effect of an influencer's attributes on purchase intention becomes significantly stronger. This research offers a novel perspective by demonstrating that attitude toward the influencer mediates the effect of influencer attributes on purchase intention, while interaction frequency strengthens this relationship.
Vesile Özçifçi (Fri,) studied this question.