How influencers’ credibility on Instagram is perceived by consumers and its impact on purchase intention

• Autor(a) principal: Rebelo, Marta Figueiredo
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/23360
• topic: Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

The purpose of this thesis is to understand the perception Instagram users, in other words consumers, have of influencers they follow on Instagram. Consumer perceived credibility of influencers, and its impact on the purchase intention, is therefore studied. This dissertation aims to highlight which credibility dimensions better explain the purchase intention. Gender is also explored to verify behavior differences between female and male consumers. To better analyze the perceived credibility of influencers and purchase intention, scales previously developed were applied and adapted as proposed by Ohanian (1990) and Dodds, Monroe & Grewal (1991), respectively. The present study is exploratory and quantitative. It was implemented through an online survey, where only active Instagram users that follow one or more influencers on the platform were selected. Overall, 285 valid responses were collected. The results of the present study indicate that perceived “attractiveness” and “trustworthiness” of influencers are the dimensions of credibility that better explain consumers’ purchase intention. In what concerns gender differences, it is verified that more female than male consumers are influenced by perceived trustworthiness. The developed model aims to support brands and marketers in better understanding the effects perceived credibility of influencers has on consumption, and of its impact in purchase intention.