Influencer Marketing: Role of Influencer Credibility and Congruence on Brand Attitude and eWOM

Abstract

Despite marketers increasing interest in influencer marketing, selecting the right influencer(s) for such campaigns remain a challenge. The success of any marketing strategy can simply be attributed to its ability to achieve desired objectives. Hence, to advise brands, the present study examines the role of influencer credibility and influencer-brand congruence in impacting the brand’s two main goals of conducting influencer marketing campaigns on Instagram, i.e., brand attitude and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention. This research intends to recommend which factors brands should consider while selecting influencer(s) for their marketing campaigns on Instagram. A survey using a self-administered questionnaire was performed on 383 Instagram users. Data analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. The findings indicate that expertise, similarity, and congruence have a positive relationship with brand attitude. While expertise, trustworthiness, and similarity have a positive relationship with users’ intention to engage in eWOM. The current study also offers theoretical and managerial implications.

Keywords:

• Influencer-brand congruence
• influencer credibility
• influencer marketing
• Instagram
• SNS
• social media
• social media influencers
• social networking sites