Effect of Influencer Marketing on Online Impulse Purchase

Abstract

Fashion retailers are increasingly using influencer marketing to build a consumer-brand relationship. However, influencer marketing remains an understudied area, and choosing from among traditional attractive celebrity influencers and expert influencers remains a conundrum for marketers. Hence, this research examines the comparative effectiveness of an attractive celebrity influencer, vis-à-vis an expert influencer on online consumer-brand engagement, further resulting in an online impulse purchase. The moderating role of impulse buying tendency between online consumer-brand engagement and online impulse purchase is also examined. Using survey data from respondents following fashion influencers, the author tested the proposed hypotheses using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that attractive celebrity influencers exhibit a significant effect on online consumer-brand engagement, which further leads to online impulse purchase. The findings also establish the moderating effect of impulse buying tendency and the mediating role of online consumer-brand engagement.