Can Influencer Persona Increase the Effectiveness of Social Media Video Ads? The Mediating Effect of Consumer Perceptions of Self

Persona, a special means of image management by social media influencers (SMIs), has become a trending phenomenon and it is expected to substantially affect SMIs’ persuasiveness and ad effect. This study aims to explore the impact of SMIs’ personas constructed through personal values on the effectiveness of social media video ads. Adopting the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study validates how SMIs’ personas constructed through self-enhancement values and self-transcendence values affect consumer cognitive processes and responses. Consumer behavioral intentions are used to verify the effectiveness of ads derived by SMIs. The findings reveal that influencers’ personas constructed by values can promote consumer purchase intention and forwarding intention. Consumer perceptions of self (i.e., ideal self and actual self) have a mediating role. Results also show that SMIs’ personas with self-enhancement values are more effective in stimulating female consumers’ forwarding intention, whereas personas with self-transcendence values are more influential in female consumers’ purchase intention. This study enriches the influencer marketing literature by providing a more tailored understanding of the impact of SMIs’ personas and extending the applicability of value theory. It also provides insights for stakeholders involved in influencer marketing on how to significantly capitalize on the benefits and deploy marketing campaigns.