The moderating effect of influencer on the causal map of mutual information, coproducer and customer value: a thematic analysis of messages posted by brand communities

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced customer behaviour to shift from partial online searching and buying to full use of online services. Most of the products shipped must be assembled or adjusted for personal consumption. With different needs, customers learn to customize their consumption into an experience that is more trustworthy and practical than using an influencer. This research aimed to investigate the effect of an influencer moderating the path between the coproducer and brand’s mutual information. To fulfil this objective, we collected Thai customers’ message posts from 50 brands’ fan pages in 2020. The data preparation process used word segmentation and keyword relevance identification. Finally, the data set of 300 vectors with four measurement variables, including coproducer, influencer, mutual information, and customer value, was analysed by PROCESS Model 7 in SPSS. The results showed that the antecedent variables have positive effects on customer value, with the exception of the influencer moderating variable, which has a negative coefficient of − 0.055 (p < 0.1). Since the moderating effect of influencers has decreased the indirect effect on customer value, traditional influencer marketing must be improved to support customers who engage in expertise consumption as coproducers.