From Credibility to Purchase Intentions : How Sports Influencers Drive Consumer Intentions Through Identification and e-WOM

초록

In digital marketing, sports influencers now play a key role in influencing consumer purchase intentions.They impact consumers' perceptions and choices of sports products with professional content and charisma. As social media use grows, their recommendations and reviews play an increasingly important role in consumers' purchasing decisions.While existing research has explored influencer marketing broadly, limited studies have examined how sports influencers’ credibility—trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness—affects consumer behavior. This study investigates the impact of sports influencer credibility on consumer purchase intentions (PI) by integrating social identity theory and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) dynamics as mediating mechanisms. Using survey data from 326 Douyin users in China, the study employs structural equation modeling (SEM) to test its hypotheses. Results reveal that all three dimensions of credibility positively influence PI. Furthermore, both consumer identification and eWOM significantly mediate the relationship between influencer credibility and PI. Through mediation analysis, this study finds that influencer expertise has the largest indirect impact on purchase intention via consumer identification and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Also, consumer identification has a more significant mediating effect on purchase intention than eWOM. This highlights the key role of expertise and influencer identification in influencer marketing.The study extends source credibility theory by demonstrating that influencer credibility fosters identification and eWOM, which in turn drive purchase intentions. From a practical perspective, brands should prioritize influencers with high expertise and credibility, fostering deeper consumer engagement and positive eWOM. By strategically aligning their influencer partnerships with consumer identification mechanisms, marketers can enhance consumer trust and optimize influencer marketing effectiveness. This approach not only strengthens the connection between consumers and the brand but also drives purchase decisions by leveraging the influencer's authoritative status and the collective influence of community feedback.

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