Influencer marketing and its impact on millennium consumer behavior: An investigative research

AbstractThe recent trends indicate that word-of-mouth exposure is driving the popularity of influencer marketing. With the growing prominence of the internet and the widespread use of social media platforms, businesses are increasingly acknowledging the impact influencers have on shaping consumer purchasing decisions. Based on the Social Learning Theory (Bandura & Walters, 1963) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991), this qualitative study examines the important aspects of influencer marketing that have effect on customer buying decision. The study emphasizes a number of TPB’s features and how it influences consumer behavior. It shows that attitudes toward influencers and perceived behavioral control—which improves domain knowledge—were important in influencing customer behavior, while peer influence had no discernible effect. Additionally, it was discovered that whereas perceived danger had no discernible impact on customer behavior, the notions of personal relevance, inspiration, and trust did. Since consumers followed certain influencers depending on different product categories, alignment between the influencer and the product was a significant element for them. Influencer marketing had four main effects on consumers: it raised awareness of brands, enhanced brand preference, strengthened subject matter expertise, and impacted purchasing decisions. The key to a successful influencer marketing campaign is choosing the proper influencers who can effectively engage the target audience with customized tales, recommendations, and advice.