Tiwari, A. et al.

(2023) Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Journal of Fashion Marketing and
Management | Emerald Insight. Available at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1361-2026.htm (Accessed: 12
March 2024). The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1361-2026.htm

Fashion
Impact of fashion influencers on influencer
consumers’ purchase intentions: marketing

theory of planned behaviour and

mediation of attitude
Archana Tiwari , Audhesh Kumar and Rishi Kant Received 29 November 2022
Revised 21 March 2023
Department of Commerce, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India, and Accepted 27 May 2023
Deepak Jaiswal
Department of Management (MBA), Siddharth University, Siddharth Nagar, India

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of fashion influencer measures on consumers’
purchase intentions and the mediation of attitudes to understand the phenomenon of influencer marketing in
the backdrop of the fashion industry.
Design/methodology/approach – The present study employs a conceptual model based on extended
theory of planned behaviour (TPB) with added perceived trust. Data were collected from 341 participants
from different regions of the country and analysed using direct path analysis and mediation technique.
Findings – The study found that attitudes toward fashion influencers are positively influenced by perceived
trust, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. However, perceived behavioural control is not
directly related to purchasing intents in the research model. The results confirmed that attitudes have
a positive association with purchase intentions both directly and indirectly (partially mediation).
Research limitations/implications – The study advocates market practitioners and advertisers to
acknowledge the increasing importance of influencer marketing and the promotion of their fashion
offerings in the setting of emerging fashion industry.
Originality/value – The present study adds crucial value to enhance the understanding of fashion
influencer marketing in the Indian context. This research offers several insights into the continually
growing knowledge domain of influencer marketing by predicting the direct relationships with purchase
intents and the mediation of attitudes.
Keywords Influencer marketing, Fashion influencers, Purchase intentions, Social media influencer,
Attitude toward the influencer, Extended theory of planned behaviour
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
In the last few years, influencer marketing has become a growing trend in marketing and
advertising to reach potential customers and promotion of brands (Lou and Yuan, 2019;
Martinez-Lopez et al., 2020). Social media platforms were seen by marketers as an
imperative channel for communicating and interacting with customers (Bianchi et al.,
2017; Xu and Pratt, 2018). The influencer uses social networking for endorsing the service
or product named as social media influencers (SMIs) (Lee and Eastin, 2020). They can
reach a larger audience as they have thousands and millions of followers (De Veirman
et al., 2017).
Customers are exposed to different kinds of advertisement everyday and everywhere,
and they try to stay away from advertisement as much as possible by skipping ads or
installing ad-blocking softwares (Chopra et al., 2020). Celebrities, opinion leaders, friends
Journal of Fashion Marketing and
Management: An International
Journal
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that no possible conflicts of interest are associated with this © Emerald Publishing Limited
1361-2026
publication. DOI 10.1108/JFMM-11-2022-0253
JFMM and peers all are having an impact on consumers’ purchase decisions, whereas advertisers
have no impact on purchase decision (Sun et al., 2021). People can express their views on
how they wish to be perceived in society and in relation to particular socio-economic groups
by using stylish fashion accessories (Parrott et al., 2015). Therefore, when an influencer
communicates a message, it is viewed as being more genuine and credible than by any
advertiser (Belanche et al., 2021; Torres et al., 2019).
Bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers and YouTubers are essentially included in the sphere
of influence marketing (Kadekova and Holienčinova, 2018). Fashion blogging is one of
several SMI kinds (Mainolfi and Vergura, 2022). This type of SMI was successful in
promoting lifestyle products like fashion by communicating with consumers and taking
use of their sincerity, confidence, and engaging nature (Uzunoglu and Kip, 2014). Despite
the fact that vlogging and blogging share many similarities, there are notable differences as
well. In particular, vlogging concentrates on video content on social media platforms,
whereas blogging platforms are more focused on written or graphic information on
websites (Hill et al., 2017; Ladhari et al., 2020). An individual who has gained a lot of
followers on Instagram by attracting the viewers with their high-quality photo material are
known as Instagrammers (Kadekova and Holienčinova, 2018). The method taken by
bloggers and influencers differs significantly using several social media platforms. They
are generally opinion leaders who have developed likeable personality by regularly
producing and sharing activities, skills, opinions, information and suggestions on their
accounts (Lou and Yuan, 2019) Influencers frequently use less overt tactics to advertise
goods and services (Kadekova and Holienčinova, 2018). A blogger might review a product,
for instance, but an influencer would advertise their lifestyle and showcase their expertise
how the product fits in (De Veirman et al., 2017). Influencer marketing is beneficial to
businesses, influencers and consumers (the target audience). Influencers generate money
through sponsorships, partnerships and social media activities (Stubb et al., 2019).
Influencers may enhance the desire for particular products among their followers and
persuade them to make purchases by offering stimulating and inspiring content (Lou and
Yuan, 2019; Jimenez-Castillo and Sanchez-Fernandez, 2019). Consumers who have a strong
connection with the brand more likely engage in repurchasing behaviour and spreading
positive word of mouth (Nyadzayo et al., 2020).
In addition, influencer marketing is used in several industries, among which the fashion
industry has received a lot of consideration in recent years (Chetioui et al., 2019). Fashion
influencers are online personalities with significant number of followers who create fashion
content and have ability to influence followers’ opinions and purchasing decisions (Chetioui
et al., 2019). Generally, younger readers of fashion prefer to look at fashion bloggers who act
as fashion models because of their interesting fashion and lifestyle-themed posts and
pictures (Testa et al., 2021; Choi, 2020).
Thus, it is more effective to use peer customers as the spokesperson when marketing to
high-fashion consumers than celebrities (Jin and Ryu, 2018). Social media plays a very
important role in improving the performance of small business in fashion industry (Rienda
et al., 2020). However, there is a lack of research focused on finding the relationships
between fashion influencers and consumers’ purchase intentions, especially in Indian
context. Therefore, this study intends to fill the imperative literature gap by investigating
the factors affecting consumers’ attitude toward fashion influencers, which in turn affect
consumers’ purchase intentions. The primary objective of this research study is to uncover
the variables influencing both consumers’ attitudes toward fashion influencers and their
purchase intentions; next, to examine the direct and mediating effect of attitudes on
consumers’ fashion purchase intentions.
2. Theoretical framework and hypothesis development Fashion
2.1 Theory of planned behaviour influencer
Theory of planned behaviour (TPB) by Ajzen (1991) is a social-psychology-based
alternative method to understand and predict human behaviour, which serves as the base
marketing
for the conceptual framework that we have developed for the study. In TPB, an individual’s
purchase intention is influenced by attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural
control. Attitude toward the behaviour means a degree to which a person thinks favourable
or unfavourable about the particular behaviour (Ajzen, 1991; Jaiswal and Kant, 2018).
Subjective norm refers to a social pressure which is concerned with the possibility that
particular people or groups (referents) with whom the individual is motivated to comply
will either approve of or disapprove the behaviour (Armitage and Conner, 2001). Perceived
behavioural control specifies “people’s perception of the ease or difficulty of performing the
given behaviour” (Ajzen, 1991). Purchase intentions measure the propensity of customers to
plan or be inclined to make a future purchase of a specific good or service (Jaiswal et al.,
2022b; Kim et al., 2013). Purchase intentions refers to a consumer’s willingness to purchase
a particular product or brand at a particular time or under specific situation (Lu et al., 2014).
To better understand consumers’ attitudes and behavioural intentions, the TPBs were
extended with perceived trust in the study by the researchers. Perceived trust is a personal
belief that someone will fulfil their obligations. Even though trust is intangible, it has the
potential to be the strong motivator when a consumer is evaluating whether or not to make
a purchase (Hajli et al., 2017). Trust plays a very significant role in today’s environment
even in influencer marketing (Kim and Kim, 2021; Lou and Yuan, 2019). Many researchers
used perceived trust as an extended variable in the context of new product offerings
(Biswas et al., 2022; Chan and Lee, 2021). Based on that, trust is considered to be one of
the important factors affecting users’ attitude and their intended behaviour. This theoretical
framework along with perceived trust has not been used in the context of the fashion
industry in previous studies.
To fill the crucial research gap, in the present research, all the determinants provided by
TPB, that is perceived behaviour control, subjective norm and attitude, are combined along
with trust as an additional variable in framing an extension of TPB as a research model
(Figure 1). Based on TPB, purchase intention is also used to predict the behaviour of
consumers as it has been proven that it is affected by consumers’ attitude. Additionally,
in this study, attitudes toward fashion influencer acted as the mediating factor and
perceived trust was used as an extended variable.

2.2 Hypotheses development

2.2.1 Perceived trust. Perceived trust is the belief of one party in the dependability and
integrity of an exchange partner (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). In the present research context,
trust is characterized as the extent to which consumers believe influencers to be
trustworthy for both their words and actions. When a consumer trusts an influencer, he
is more inclined to believe the influencer’s suggestions or recommendations, which may
impact his opinion of the product and his purchasing habits (Singh et al., 2020; Wiedmann
and Mettenheim, 2020). Past research show the positive relationship between the trust and
attitude (Chopra et al., 2020; Ohanian, 1990). Accordingly, a fashion influencer who seems
more trustworthy has more chances to influence the attitudes of its customers.
Previous research have suggested that increasing consumer trust in an e-digital business
platform will help it bring in more customers and positively influence their purchase
intentions (Escobar-Rodriguez and Bonson-Fernandez, 2017). When a consumer is
considering purchasing a product or plans to do so, the trustworthiness of the opinions,
information and reviews that are frequently posted on social media is essential (Leung et al.,
JFMM

Figure 1.
Research model
Source: The authors

2022). Previous studies stated that purchase intentions can be positively influenced by
consumers trust (Kim and Ko, 2010; Lou and Yuan, 2019). Therefore, we developed the
following hypotheses:
H1. There is a positive association between perceived trust and consumers’ attitudes
toward the influencer.
H2. There is a positive association between perceived trust and purchase intentions.
2.2.2 Subjective norms. Individuals’ subjective norms are social in nature as they are based
on information that is obtained from sources other than oneself, i.e. from people around the
individual (Jaiswal et al., 2022a; Park, 2000). Subjective norms are also known as perceived
social pressure (Chetioui et al., 2019). Individuals not only engage in behaviour as a result of
social pressure but also gather information about the correctness of the behaviour under
consideration from the subjective norm (Jaiswal et al., 2018; Singh et al., 2022). Subjective
norm is the discernible judgements of people who are significant to and near to a person and
who continue to have influence over decision-making of an individual (Hegner et al., 2017).
These judgements influence a person’s behaviour by influencing whether or not they will
perform an action (Armitage and Conner, 2001). An individual will be more (or less) likely to
intend to demonstrate a behaviour if they believe that others (approve or disapprove) of it
(Ajzen, 2020; Chetioui et al., 2019).
The relationship between attitudes toward behaviour and subjective norms was
analysed by (Chang, 1998). It was notable in Chang’s (1998) study that the relationship
between subjective norms and attitudes toward behaviour was significant. Several studies
have found a positive correlation between subjective norm and consumers’ purchase
intentions (Jain and Khan, 2017; Summers et al., 2006). Subjective norm plays
a significant role in determining a behavioural intention along with positive attitude and
strong perceived behavioural control (Ajzen, 2011). Accordingly, we developed the
following hypotheses:
 H3. There is a positive association between subjective norms and consumers’ attitudes Fashion
toward the influencer. influencer
H4. There is a positive association between subjective norms and purchase intentions. marketing
2.2.3 Perceived behavioural control. TPB is a derivation of the theory of reasoned action by
including the important concept of perceived behavioural control in it (Ajzen, 1991). Some
previous studies equated perceived behavioural control with the self-efficacy, but
operationally they are different (Ajzen, 2020). Perceived behavioural control means
“people’s perception of the ease or difficulty of performing the given behaviour” (Ajzen,
1991). It has been discovered that perceived behavioural control has a favourable impact on
attitude, behavioural intentions and actual behaviour (Ajzen, 2020; Jaiswal and Kant, 2018).
Several studies have demonstrated that perceived behavioural control and purchase
intentions have a strong meaningful relationship (Jain et al., 2017). Accordingly, the
following hypotheses have been developed:
H5. There is a positive association between perceived behavioural control and
consumers’ attitude toward the influencer.
H6. There is a positive association between perceived behavioural control and
purchase intentions.
2.2.4 Meditating role of attitudes toward the fashion influencer. Attitudes toward the
influencer is not a well-defined construct (Taillon et al., 2020). Attitude toward the
behaviour intends the degree to which a person thinks favourable or unfavourable about
the particular behaviour (Ajzen, 1991; Jaiswal et al., 2021). People are more inclined to
implement that behaviour when they have positive attitudes toward it (Armitage and
Conner, 2001). Consumers are exposed to a variety of product advertisements
everywhere, which helps in the development of their attitudes toward advertisements,
which in turn shape their attitude toward the brand (Paul and Bhakar, 2018). Previous
studies also show that positive attitude toward celebrities has a direct positive impact on
consumers’ attitude toward brand (Amos et al., 2008; Silvera and Austad, 2004).
Consumer behaviour studies demonstrate a consistent association between attitudes and
purchase intentions (Lim et al., 2017; Ting and de Run, 2015). According to some of the
studies, individuals’ intentions to make a purchase can be significantly predicted by their
positive attitudes toward a particular product (Jaiswal et al., 2021). The more favourable the
consumers’ attitude toward the behaviour, the more strong and positive consumers’
purchase intentions (Armitage and Conner, 2001; Chetioui et al., 2019). This indicates that
a positive attitude toward a product promoted by influencers will increase the likelihood
that the consumer will make a purchase (Lim et al., 2017). The TPB also takes into account
purchase behaviour as a direct function of attitude (Ajzen, 2011).
Accordingly, a positive attitude toward the influencer leads to positive impact on
purchase intentions of consumers. Moreover, in the context of influencer marketing,
researchers have found that a positive consumer attitude results in a favourable purchase
intention (Li and Peng, 2021). On the basis of this, we hypothesize that the trust, subjective
norms and perceived behavioural control may indirectly influence consumers’ purchase
intentions through the mediating role of attitudes. Accordingly, we developed the following
hypotheses:
H7. There is a positive association between consumers’ attitudes toward the influencer
and purchase intentions.
H8a. Attitudes toward the influencer mediates the relationship between trust and
purchase intentions.
JFMM H8b. Attitudes toward the influencer mediates the relationship between subjective
norms and purchase intentions.
H8c. Attitudes toward the influencer mediates the relationship between perceived
behavioural control and purchase intentions.

3. Methodology
3.1 Questionnaire design and data collection
A questionnaire was formulated using Google form and distributed through online mode on
emails, WhatsApp and Instagram. The language of the questionnaire was English as it was
an official language of the country. The questionnaire consists of two sections. The first
section covers demographic profiles of the respondents which includes age, gender,
education, occupation and household income. The second section covers the level of
agreement and disagreement of consumers on different variables taken under the study.
More than 500 questionnaires were distributed using purposive convenient sampling
method to the general public who were the user of social media, and out of which 341 were
found to be appropriate for the current study. For applying SEM, it was seen from previous
studies that 341 was an appropriate fit as guideline suggested by Hair et al. (2021). The
sample size for the present study was 341, with five constructs of 19 items considered to be
fit and above (341 > 19*15 = 285). In the present study, the data were collected from the
major cities of North India, which includes, Delhi NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The data were collected from June 2022 to
September 2022.
Table I presents the demographic profile of respondents which comprises male and
female in equal proportion, that is 170 (49.9 per cent) each and 1 (0.3 per cent) respondent
prefer not to say about gender. According to age (in years), maximum respondents 260 (76.2
per cent) were between 20 and 30 years age group, 48 (14.1 per cent) were between 30 and 40
years, 25 (7.3 per cent) respondents were below the age of 20 years, 6 (1.8) were between the
age group of 40 and 50 and only 2 (0.6 per cent) respondents were above the age of 50 years.
It shows that maximum respondents were young adults of the country. Education-wise,
majority of respondents 138 (40.5 per cent) were post graduate, 124 (36.4 per cent)
respondents were graduate, 22 (6.5 per cent) were having MPhil/PhD, 25 (7.3 per cent)
were professionals and 32 (9.4 per cent) were from other categories. Occupation-wise,
majority of respondents 142 (41.6 per cent) were students, then 120 (35.2 per cent)
respondents were doing private job, 50 (14.7 per cent) respondents were self-employed
and least number of respondents 29 (8.5 per cent) were doing government job. In terms of
families’ monthly household income, 81 (23.8 per cent) respondents who answered belonged
to the income band of below Rs. 20,000, 82 (24.0 per cent) respondents to the income class
Rs. 20,000–40,000 and so on (shown in Table I).

3.2 The measures

With some adjustments, all constructs were adapted from previous literature. A five-item
scale for trust was drawn from Chetioui et al. (2019), Lu et al. (2014) and Ohanian (1990). The
perceived behavioural control construct with four items was taken from Ajzen (2011) and Li
et al. (2020), while subjective norms comprised two items based on Ajzen (2011) and Yang
and Jolly (2009). Attitude toward the influencer with four items was adopted from Ajzen
(2011) and Casalo et al. (2018), followed by four items of purchase intentions based on Ajzen
(2011) and Martins et al. (2017). To measure all such items of the different variables of this
study, we used a Likert scale with a range of one to seven, with one being “strongly
disagree” and seven denotes “strongly agree”.
 Frequency Per cent
Fashion
influencer
Gender marketing
Male 170 49.9
Female 170 49.9
Prefer not to say 1 0.3
Age (years)
Below 20 25 7.3
20–30 260 76.2
30–40 48 14.1
40–50 6 1.8
50 above 2 0.6
Education
UG 124 36.4
PG 138 40.5
MPhil/PhD 22 6.5
Professional 25 7.3
Others 32 9.4
Occupation
Student 142 41.6
Government job 29 8.5
Private job 120 35.2
Self-employment 50 14.7
Monthly household income (Rs.)
>20K 81 23.8
20K–40K 82 24.0
40K–60K 58 17.0
60K–80K 45 13.2 Table I.
<80K 75 22.0 Demographic profile of
Source: The authors respondents (n = 341)

4. Analysis and results

4.1 The measurement model
For the study, structural equation model has been designed for the evaluation of research
model and testing of hypothesis. The measurement model of the study was tested using
SPSS and AMOS software. First, this study tested the reliability of the survey data. Table II
confirms the scale’s reliability, with the Cronbach’s alpha (a) being above the threshold of
0.70 (Kant and Jaiswal, 2017; Nunnally, 1978), indicating acceptable reliability for each
construct. Second, this study conducts confirmatory factor analysis and also
examines structural validity of the model. Convergent and discriminant validity are two
important components of structural validity, and they were examined by average variance
extracted (AVE), composite reliability (CR) and correlation coefficients. The CR of each
construct exceeds the standard value of 0.70, and the AVE for each construct was greater
than the standard value of 0.50, indicating that the convergent validity was supported (Hair
et al., 2021; Lavuri et al., 2023).
The discriminant validity of the test was confirmed by examining whether the
correlations between constructs are less than 0.85 and whether the average variance of
each construct is more than the square of the correlation coefficient between latent variable
(Fornell and Larcker, 1981; Kaushal et al., 2021). In Table III, the diagonal values show the
average variance computed for each latent variable and the off diagonal values indicate the
square of the correlation coefficient between latent variables. Table III indicates that the
condition for discriminant validity was satisfied for all latent variables. Therefore, the
JFMM Factor Composite Average variance Cronbach’s
Constructs Indicators loadings reliability (CR) extracted (AVE) alpha

Attitude toward the ATTIN1 0.880 0.939 0.794 0.939

influencer ATTIN2 0.906
ATTIN3 0.900
ATTIN4 0.879
Perceived PBC1 0.799 0.880 0.650 0.877
behavioural control PBC2 0.879
PBC3 0.858
PBC4 0.672
Purchase intentions PI1 0.896 0.960 0.856 0.959
PI2 0.927
PI3 0.947
PI4 0.930
Subjective norms SN1 0.856 0.895 0.810 0.892
SN2 0.942
Trust TR1 0.922 0.967 0.854 0.967
TR2 0.920
TR3 0.942
Table II. TR4 0.937
Results of TR5 0.900
measurement model Source: The authors

ATTIN TR PBC SN PI

Attitude toward the influencer (ATTIN) 0.891

Trust (TR) 0.389 0.924
Perceived behavioural control (PBC) 0.336 0.098 0.806
Table III. Subjective norms (SN) 0.246 0.196 0.258 0.900
Results of Purchase intentions (PI) 0.421 0.544 0.066 0.248 0.925
discriminant validity Source: The authors

measurement model indicates adequate internal consistency, convergent validity and

discriminant validity and confirms that all constructs could be used to examine the
proposed research model of the study (Kant et al., 2019).

4.2 Model fit test

Table IV shows that the model fit was considered to be acceptable up to the recommended
threshold (Hair et al., 2021; Kant et al., 2017), that is, goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.935, root
mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.042, normed fit index (NFI) = 0.965,
comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.986, adjusted incremental fit index (IFI) = 0.986 and chi-
square/df = 1.611. The results of the study indicate that the proposed theoretical framework
is compatible with the actual survey data.

4.3 The results

4.3.1 Direct effects. The present study examined the impact of trust, subjective norms and
perceived behavioural control on attitude toward the influencer as well as on purchase
intentions and impact of attitudes toward the influencer on purchase intentions by using
direct path analysis.
 Indicators Norm Results Judgement
Fashion
influencer
Absolute fit measures GFI >0.9 0.935 Yes marketing
RMSEA <0.08 0.042 Yes
Incremental fit measures NFI >0.9 0.965 Yes
CFI >0.9 0.986 Yes
IFI >0.9 0.986 Yes
Parsimonious fit measures PGFI >0.5 0.699 Yes
PNFI >0.5 0.801 Yes
PCFI >0.5 0.819 Yes Table IV.
χ2/df <4 1.611 Yes Evaluation results of
Source: The authors the modified model

Table V indicates that the strongest and most essential predictor of purchase intention in
the current study was trust, which among all direct paths had the most favourable impact
on purchase intention (H2; b = 0.430, p < 0.001) followed by attitude toward influencer (H7;
b = 0.255, p < 0.001) and then subjective norms (H6; b = 0.125, p < 0.015). However, the
direct positive association between purchase intention and perceived behavioural control
was not confirmed in the predicted direction and instead showed a negative significant
coefficient (H4; b = −0.094, p < 0.073), leading to the rejection of H2.
Furthermore, in respect of attitude, it was discovered that trust had the biggest positive
impact on consumers’ attitudes toward the influencer (H1; b = 0.341, p < 0.001) followed by
perceived behavioural control (H3; b = 0.274, p < 0.001) and lastly subjective norms (H5; b =
0.109, p < 0.050). Thus, all of the hypothesized path coefficients were found significant and
accepted (H1, H2, H3, H5, H6, H7) in the model, except H2. The findings suggested that trust
is an important construct for predicting positive attitudes of consumers toward influencers
as well as impacting their purchase intentions which is in line with the past research
(Chetioui et al., 2019; Kim and Kim, 2021).
4.3.2 Mediating effects of attitudes toward the influencer. Table VI reports the results of
the mediating effect of attitude toward the influencer on consumers’ purchase intentions.
The three-stage technique recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986) and Jaiswal et al.
(2022b) was used to analyse the mediation effect in the present study. The independent
variable must significantly affect the dependent variable during the initial stage. The
independent variable needs to have a substantial impact on the mediator in the second
stage. In the final stage, the condition of full mediation is confirmed if the mediator
considerably affects the dependent variable even though independent variable does not

Hypothesis Path Coefficient SE p value Test results

H1 ATTIN ← TR 0.341 0.041 0.001 Yes

H2 ATTIN ← PBC 0.274 0.083 0.001 Yes
H3 ATTIN ← SN 0.109 0.047 0.050 Yes
H4 PI ← TR 0.430 0.048 0.001 Yes
H5 PI ← PBC −0.094 0.090 0.073 No
H6 PI ← SN 0.125 0.052 0.015 Yes Table V.
H7 PI ← ATTIN 0.255 0.066 0.001 Yes Results of the
Notes: TR, perceived trust; PBC, perceived behavioural control; SN, subjective norm; ATTIN, attitudes structural equation
toward the influencer and PI, purchase intentions model and hypothesis
Source: The authors testing
JFMM strongly affect the dependent variable. If the dependent variable is substantially impacted
by both the independent variable and the mediator, then it is a case of partial mediation.
Consequently, no mediation effect can be verified if the independent variable has no
meaningful impact on either the dependent variable or the mediator in the first or second
stages (Jaiswal et al., 2021).
According to the method suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986) in the present model,
Table VI’s mediation results revealed that attitude toward the influencer partially mediated
both trust and subjective norm on purchase intentions positively. Based on this, it was decided
to adopt the H8a and H8b hypotheses. However, the pessimistic measure of the perceived
behavioural control was not significant in the second stage, demonstrating that attitude did not
mediate the relationship between perceived behavioural control and intention to purchase.
Therefore, the H8c hypothesis was not supported. The model’s partial confirmation of the
mediation of “attitude” between the effects of two favourable variables, namely “trust” and
“subjective norm” on “purchase intentions,” resulted that H8 was partly supported.

5. Discussion and implications

Influencer marketing has gained a considerable attention from researchers as a distinct and
emerging phenomenon. In order to examine the effectiveness of influencer marketing, previous
research have mostly analysed followers’ perceptions of influencers and messages as well as
their own traits. These studies gave valuable insight into the effectiveness of influencers.
For instance, research related with followers’ perception of an influencers with respect to
physical and social attractiveness, attitude homophily, trustworthiness, similarity,
expertise, opinion leadership (Casaló et al., 2018; Singh et al., 2020; Wiedmann and von
Mettenheim, 2020), narration, storytelling (Feng et al., 2021), credibility and parasocial
relationships (Jin et al., 2021; Jin and Ryu, 2018) influence their behavioural intentions
with regard to the influencer’s recommendations.
The impact of SMIs on Indian consumers’ purchasing intentions has only been the basis of
a few research. In an effort to broaden the understanding of the relationship between the
reliability of fashion influencers and consumer purchase intentions, the researcher employed
the TPB in this study. The present study examined the influence posed by trust, perceived
behavioural control and subjective norms on consumers’ attitude toward fashion influencers
and further explain consumers’ purchase intentions through the mediating role played by
attitudes. The findings of this study enhance the body of existing literature and providing
thorough understanding of influencer marketing in the domain of fashion in Indian context.

5.1 Theoretical implications

This research advances knowledge of consumer behaviour toward influencer marketing
using extended TPB framework in the fashion sector and in a developing market like India.
There are several theoretical implications of this research as follow.

Hypotheses IV M DV IV → DV IV → M IV + M → DV IV → DV M → DV Mediation role

8(a) TR ATTIN PI 0.545** 0.390** 0.449** 0.246** Partial

8(b) SN ATTIN PI 0.280** 0.251** 0.175* 0.375** Partial
Table VI. 8(c) PBC ATTIN PI 0.075ns 0.343** −0.077ns 0.448** No mediation
* **
Results of mediating Notes: p < 0.05; p < 0.01, ns = not significant. IV = independent variable, M = mediator,
effects of attitudes DV = dependent variable
toward the influencer Sources: The authors
 First, among all, perceived trust has highest significant impact on purchase intention, Fashion
which is consistent with the previous studies (Kim and Kim, 2021), followed by attitude influencer
(Lim et al., 2017; Masuda et al., 2022) and subjective norms (Chetioui et al., 2019). However,
results of the study indicate that a relationship between perceived behavioural control and
marketing
purchase intention was not significant. Perceived behavioural control do not influence
purchase intention, which differs from the previous studies (Pena-Garcia et al., 2020).
Therefore, according to the findings of this study, an influencer who is perceived as more
trustworthy seems to have more impact on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intention.
Second, in regards of attitude toward fashion influencer, it was revealed that trust
strongly impact attitude, followed by perceived behavioural control and then subjective
norms, which is in line with previous findings (Chetioui et al., 2019). The study’s findings
demonstrated that subjective norms had the least influence on consumers’ attitudes, which
is line with the previous studies’ findings (Chetioui et al., 2019).
The addition of the mediating variable is the third contribution. The study enhances
knowledge and understanding of mediating role of attitude in the context of influencer
marketing. The study findings indicate that the influence of subjective norms and trust on
customers’ purchase intentions was partially mediated by attitude (H8a and H8b). However,
it was discovered that the attitude did not mediate the connection between perceived
behaviour control and purchase intentions (H8c). Thus, the model partially supported H8.
There is some difference with the prior research findings of Magano et al. (2022), in which
trustworthiness was fully mediated by the attitude toward fashion influencers on purchase
intentions. Kim et al. (2013) shows mediating effect of customers’ subjective norm on
behavioural intention through attitude towards behaviour and concluded it is fully
mediated by attitude. The fact that, when mediated by attitude, trust and social pressures
from other people have a significant impact on purchasing intent. People are impacted by
the opinions of close relationships; thus, if potential buyers believe that influencers are
highly trustworthy and their friends and family would accept their actions, they may be
more likely to purchase fashion products promoted by influencers.
The study’s findings also revealed that participants who had a positive attitude toward
fashion influencers would usually have the positive intention to buy the influencers’
promoted fashion products. These theoretical implications have led us to the conclusion
that influencer marketing is an effective tool for fashion businesses, marketers and
advertisers to increase purchase intentions among their customers.

5.2 Practical implications

Organizations are emphasizing on SMI marketing as a result of the recognition that
customers are spending more time on social networking sites. This study focused on
India’s rapidly expanding fashion industry. The fashion industry depends on frequent
changes in fashion. The fashion influencer is crucial in helping fashion companies persuade
a sizeable portion of their customers to switch from older to current fashion.
The present study offers some valuable insights for fashion marketers as well for
academicians. We can conclude two key practical implications from the findings of the
current study. First, research has shown that customers perceive trust as most important
factor when following fashion influencers, followed by perceived behavioural control. But
customers’ perceptions of fashion influencers are unaffected by subjective norms.
Advertisers and fashion marketers may take these issues into account for successful
implementation of influencer marketing in business.
To survive in today’s competitive environment, fashion marketers must obtain higher
sales and higher rates of investment. The findings may assist managers and fashion
marketers in the fashion industry in selecting influencers available to promote their
JFMM fashion-related products that could induce purchase intentions among consumers. Fashion
brand marketers have power to select fashion influencers who may seem as highly
trustworthy among their target audiences. Marketers should select fashion influencers
based on their specialty in order to promote products that are compatible with their
lifestyle.
Furthermore, it has been shown that attitude toward fashion influencers has a significant
positive impact on consumers’ purchase intentions, and attitude is partially mediated by the
relationship toward purchase intentions. Customers are therefore more likely to purchase
the fashion items suggested by influencers when they perceive them to be genuinely
trustworthy as well as when people believe that their behaviour is approved by their
closed ones. According to our research, fashion managers should not limit their
influencer selection process to criteria like the number of followers but rather should
concentrate on their influencers’ capacity to address potential customers by winning their
trust and develop positive attitudes toward the marketed products. The study leads us to
conclude and suggest that fashion marketers should be aware of influencer marketing as
a successful tactic for boosting online word of mouth about their goods and services,
consequently, inspiring consumer purchase intentions, which leads to increment in sales
and market shares of the company.

6. Conclusion, limitations and scope for future research

To enhance long-term performance in the current, extremely competitive marketing
environment, it is crucial to monitor and value consumers’ potential future behaviour or
purchasing intentions. Based on TPB extension in fashion influencer marketing, the present
study made a valuable contribution by identifying the key variables that determine
consumers’ attitude toward fashion influencers and analysing its further effect on
purchase intentions. The research also contributes in enhancing our knowledge of
mediating role played by attitudes between influence predictors (trust, subjective norms
and behavioural control) and purchase intentions. A questionnaire survey was used to
gather the data, and an SEM model with mediation techniques was used to analyse it.
Findings of the research shows that all the variables are statistically significant.
However, we discovered that purchasing intentions are not significantly predicted by
perceived behavioural control. The study findings show that trust and subjective norms
both with purchasing intentions are partially mediated by attitudes; however, no mediation
exists between perceived behaviour control and purchase intentions. Therefore, the
research suggests that consumers’ perceptions of influencers’ trustworthiness and their
tendency to be influenced by the opinions of meaningful people around them play
a significant role in the formation of favourable attitudes toward purchase intentions.
The findings of the study draw the conclusion that influencer marketing is a viable
solution for fashion marketers and businesses looking to raise consumer awareness of their
services, improve market share and inspire purchase intentions among current and
potential customers. The present study significantly contributes to the existing body of
literature as extended TPB for understanding consumers’ attitude and perception toward
fashion influencers and how it further affects their purchase intentions and behaviours, as
well as mediation role of attitude towards purchase intentions.
Despite its contribution in the existing literature, the present study contains some
limitations which suggest some possible avenues for future research in the field of
influencer marketing. First, the study was conducted in India. Similar studies must be
carried out in various other countries for comparison of results in order to address social,
cultural and economic inequities. Second, this study focuses on purchase intentions of
consumers rather than actual purchase behaviour. Further studies would find impact of
variables on purchase decision of consumers. In addition, future researchers may also Fashion
include some important cognitive measure in the model of this paper such as credibility, influencer
expertise, attractiveness, etc., with the measure of purchase intentions and purchase
behaviour which better describe the important factors and their impact on attitude
marketing
toward influencers in India.

ORCID iDs
Archana Tiwari https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7208-2311
Rishi Kant https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2374-2288
Deepak Jaiswal https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9125-787X

References
Ajzen, I. (1991), “The theory of planned behavior”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, Vol. 50 No. 2, pp. 179-211.
Ajzen, I. (2011), “The theory of planned behaviour: reactions and reflections”, Psychology & Health,
Vol. 26 No. 9, pp. 1113-1127.
Ajzen, I. (2020), “The theory of planned behavior: frequently asked questions”, Human Behavior and
Emerging Technologies, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 314-324.
Amos, C., Holmes, G. and Strutton, D. (2008), “Exploring the relationship between celebrity endorser
effects and advertising effectiveness: a quantitative synthesis of effect size”, International
Journal of Advertising, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 209-234.
Armitage, C.J. and Conner, M. (2001), “Efficacy of the theory of planned behaviour: a meta-analytic
review”, British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 471-499.
Baron, R.M. and Kenny, D.A. (1986), “The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social
psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations”, Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 51 No. 6, pp. 1173-1182.
Belanche, D., Casaló, L.V., Flavián, M. and Ibáñez-Sánchez, S. (2021), “Understanding influencer
marketing: the role of congruence between influencers, products and consumers”, Journal of
Business Research, Vol. 132, pp. 186-195.
Bianchi, C., Andrews, L., Wiese, M. and Fazal-E-Hasan, S. (2017), “Consumer intentions to engage in
s-commerce: a cross-national study”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 33 Nos 5/6,
pp. 464-494.
Biswas, A., Jaiswal, D. and Kant, R. (2022), “Investigating service innovation, bank reputation and
customer trust: evidence from Indian retail banking”, International Journal of Quality and
Service Sciences, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 1-17.
Casaló, L.V., Flavián, C. and Ibáñez-Sánchez, S. (2018), “Influencers on Instagram: antecedents and
consequences of opinion leadership”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 117, pp. 510-519.
Chan, W.M. and Lee, J.W.C. (2021), “5G connected autonomous vehicle acceptance: mediating effect of
trust in the technology acceptance model”, Asian Journal of Business Research Volume, Vol. 11
No. 1, pp. 40-60.
Chang, M.K. (1998), “Predicting unethical behavior: a comparison of the theory of reasoned action of
the theory of planned behavior”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 17 No. 16, pp. 1825-1833.
Chetioui, Y., Benlafqih, H. and Lebdaoui, H. (2019), “How fashion influencers contribute to consumers’
purchase intention”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal,
Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 361-380.
Choi, A. (2020), “Social comparison in fashion blogging: ‘creative self’ as the new genre in fashion
communication”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal,
Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 651-665.
JFMM Chopra, A., Avhad, V. and Jaju, A.S. (2020), “Influencer marketing: an exploratory study to identify
antecedents of consumer behavior of millennial”, Business Perspectives and Research, Vol. 9
No. 1, pp. 77-91.
De Veirman, M., Cauberghe, V. and Hudders, L. (2017), “Marketing through Instagram influencers: the
impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude”, International Journal
of Advertising, Vol. 36 No. 5, pp. 798-828.
Escobar-Rodriguez, T. and Bonson-Fernandez, R. (2017), “Analysing online purchase intention in
Spain: fashion e-commerce”, Information Systems and e-Business Management, Vol. 15,
pp. 599-622.
Feng, Y., Chen, H. and Kong, Q. (2021), “An expert with whom I can identify: the role of narratives in
influencer marketing”, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 40 No. 7, pp. 972-993.
Fornell, C. and Larcker, D.F. (1981), “Structural equation models with unobservable variables and
measurement error: algebra and statistics”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18 No. 3,
pp. 382-388.
Hair, J.F., Jr., Hult, G.T.M., Ringle, C.M. and Sarstedt, M. (2021), A Primer on Partial Least Squares
Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), Sage Publications, UK.
Hajli, N., Sims, J., Zadeh, A.H. and Richard, M.O. (2017), “A social commerce investigation of the role of
trust in a social networking site on purchase intentions”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 71,
pp. 133-141.
Hegner, S.M., Fenko, A. and Teravest, A. (2017), “Using the theory of planned behaviour to understand
brand love”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 26-41.
Hill, S.R., Troshani, I. and Chandrasekar, D. (2017), “Signalling effects of vlogger popularity on online
consumers”, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Vol. 60, pp. 76-84.
Jain, S. and Khan, M.N. (2017), “Measuring the impact of beliefs on luxury buying behavior in an
emerging market: empirical evidence from India”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and
Management, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 341-360.
Jain, S., Khan, M.N. and Mishra, S. (2017), “Understanding consumer behavior regarding luxury
fashion goods in India based on the theory of planned behavior”, Journal of Asia Business
Studies, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 4-21.
Jaiswal, D. and Kant, R. (2018), “Green purchasing behaviour: a conceptual framework and empirical
investigation of Indian consumers”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 41,
pp. 60-69.
Jaiswal, D., Deshmukh, A.K. and Thaichon, P. (2022a), “Who will adopt electric vehicles? Segmenting
and exemplifying potential buyer heterogeneity and forthcoming research”, Journal of Retailing
and Consumer Services, Vol. 67, p. 102969.
Jaiswal, D., Kant, R., Singh, P.K. and Yadav, R. (2022b), “Investigating the role of electric vehicle
knowledge in consumer adoption: evidence from an emerging market”, Benchmarking: An
International Journal, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 1027-1045.
Jaiswal, D., Kaushal, V., Kant, R. and Singh, P.K. (2021), “Consumer adoption intention for electric
vehicles: insights and evidence from Indian sustainable transportation”, Technological
Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 173, p. 121089.
Jiménez-Castillo, D. and Sánchez-Fernández, R. (2019), “The role of digital influencers in brand
recommendation: examining their impact on engagement, expected value and purchase
intention”, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 49, pp. 366-376.
Jin, S.V. and Ryu, E. (2018), “Celebrity fashion brand endorsement in Facebook viral marketing and
social commerce: interactive effects of social identification, materialism, fashion involvement,
and opinion leadership”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International
Journal, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 104-123.
Jin, S.V., Ryu, E. and Muqaddam, A. (2021), “I trust what she’s# endorsing on Instagram: moderating Fashion
effects of parasocial interaction and social presence in fashion influencer marketing”, Journal of
Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 665-681.
influencer
Kadekova, Z. and Holienčinova, M. (2018), “Influencer marketing as a modern phenomenon creating
marketing
a new frontier of virtual opportunities”, Communication Today, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 90-105.
Kant, R. and Jaiswal, D. (2017), “The impact of perceived service quality dimensions on customer
satisfaction: an empirical study on public sector banks in India”, International Journal of Bank
Marketing, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 411-430.
Kant, R., Jaiswal, D. and Mishra, S. (2017), “The investigation of service quality dimensions, customer
satisfaction and corporate image in Indian public sector banks: an application of structural
equation model (SEM)”, Vision, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 76-85.
Kant, R., Jaiswal, D. and Mishra, S. (2019), “A Model of Customer Loyalty: An Empirical Study of
Indian Retail Banking Customer”, Global Business Review, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 1248-1266.
doi: 10.1177/0972150919846813.
Kaushal, V., Jaiswal, D., Kant, R. and Ali, N. (2021 In press), “Determinants of university reputation:
conceptual model and empirical investigation in an emerging higher education market”,
International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. ahead-of-print ahead-of-print.
Kim, A.J. and Ko, E. (2010), “Impacts of luxury fashion brand’s social media marketing on customer
relationship and purchase intention”, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 164-171.
Kim, D.Y. and Kim, H.Y. (2021), “Trust me, trust me not: a nuanced view of influencer marketing on
social media”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 134, pp. 223-232.
Kim, E., Ham, S., Yang, I.S. and Choi, J.G. (2013), “The roles of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived
behavioral control in the formation of consumers’ behavioral intentions to read menu labels in
the restaurant industry”, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 35, pp. 203-213.
Ladhari, R., Massa, E. and Skandrani, H. (2020), “YouTube vloggers’ popularity and influence: the
roles of homophily, emotional attachment, and expertise”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services, Vol. 54, p. 102027.
Lavuri, R., Jaiswal, D. and Thaichon, P. (2023), “Extrinsic and intrinsic motives: panic buying and
impulsive buying during a pandemic”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution
Management, Vol. 51 No. 2, pp. 190-204.
Lee, J.A. and Eastin, M.S. (2020), “I like what she’s# endorsing: the impact of female social media
influencers’ perceived sincerity, consumer envy, and product type”, Journal of Interactive
Advertising, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 76-91.
Leung, F.F., Gu, F.F. and Palmatier, R.W. (2022), “Online influencer marketing”, Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 50, pp. 1-26.
Li, L., Wang, Z. and Wang, Q. (2020), “Do policy mix characteristics matter for electric vehicle
adoption? A survey-based exploration”, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and
Environment, Vol. 87, p. 102488.
Li, Y. and Peng, Y. (2021), “Influencer marketing: purchase intention and its antecedents”, Marketing
Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 39 No. 7, pp. 960-978.
Lim, X.J., Radzol, A.M., Cheah, J. and Wong, M.W. (2017), “The impact of social media influencers on
purchase intention and the mediation effect of customer attitude”, Asian Journal of Business
Research, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 19-36.
Lou, C. and Yuan, S. (2019), “Influencer marketing: how message value and credibility affect consumer
trust of branded content on social media”, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Vol. 19 No. 1,
pp. 58-73.
Lu, L.C., Chang, W.P. and Chang, H.H. (2014), “Consumer attitudes toward blogger’s sponsored
recommendations and purchase intention: the effect of sponsorship type, product type, and
brand awareness”, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 34, pp. 258-266.
JFMM Magano, J., Au-Yong-Oliveira, M., Walter, C.E. and Leite, Â. (2022), “Attitudes toward fashion
influencers as a mediator of purchase intention”, Information, Vol. 13 No. 6, p. 297.
Mainolfi, G. and Vergura, D.T. (2022), “The influence of fashion blogger credibility, engagement and
homophily on intentions to buy and e-WOM. Results of a binational study”, Journal of Fashion
Marketing and Management: An International Journal, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 473-494.
Martins, J., Costa, C., Oliveira, T., Gonçalves, R. and Branco, F. (2017), “How smartphone advertising
influences consumers’ purchase intention”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 94, pp. 378-387.
Martínez-López, F.J., Anaya-Sánchez, R., Fernández Giordano, M. and Lopez-Lopez, D. (2020), “Behind
influencer marketing: key marketing decisions and their effects on followers’ responses”, Journal
of Marketing Management, Vol. 36 Nos 7/8, pp. 579-607.
Masuda, H., Han, S.H. and Lee, J. (2022), “Impacts of influencer attributes on purchase intentions in
social media influencer marketing: mediating roles of characterizations”, Technological
Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 174, p. 121246.
Morgan, R.M. and Hunt, S.D. (1994), “The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing”, Journal
of Marketing, Vol. 58 No. 3, pp. 20-38.
Nunnally, J.C. (1978), “An overview of psychological measurement”, in Wolman, B.B. (Ed.), Clinical
Diagnosis of Mental Disorders, Springer, Boston, MA, pp. 97-145.
Nyadzayo, M.W., Johnson, L.W. and Rossi, M. (2020), “Drivers and outcomes of brand engagement in
self-concept for luxury fashion brands”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 24
No. 4, pp. 589-609.
Ohanian, R. (1990), “Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers’ perceived
expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness”, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 39-52.
Park, H.S. (2000), “Relationships among attitudes and subjective norms: testing the theory of reasoned
action across cultures”, Communication Studies, Vol. 51 No. 2, pp. 162-175.
Parrott, G., Danbury, A. and Kanthavanich, P. (2015), “Online behaviour of luxury fashion brand
advocates”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 360-383.
Paul, J. and Bhakar, S. (2018), “Does celebrity image congruence influences brand attitude and
purchase intention?”, Journal of Promotion Management, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 153-177.
Peña-García, N., Gil-Saura, I., Rodríguez-Orejuela, A. and Siqueira-Junior, J. (2020), “Purchase intention
and purchase behavior online: A cross-cultural approach”, Heliyon, Vol. 6 No. 6, p. e04284.
Rienda, L., Ruiz-Fernandez, L. and Carey, L. (2020), “Analysing trademark and social media in the
fashion industry: tools that impact performance and internationalization for SMEs”, Journal of
Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 117-132.
Silvera, D.H. and Austad, B. (2004), “Factors predicting the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement
advertisements”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 38 Nos 11/12, pp. 1509-1526.
Singh, A., Rana, N.P. and Parayitam, S. (2022), “Role of social currency in customer experience and
co-creation intention in online travel agencies: moderation of attitude and subjective norms”,
International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 100-114.
Singh, J., Crisafulli, B. and Xue, M.T. (2020), “To trust or not to trust: the impact of social media
influencers on the reputation of corporate brands in crisis”, Journal of Business Research,
Vol. 119, pp. 464-480.
Stubb, C., Nyström, A.G. and Colliander, J. (2019), “Influencer marketing: the impact of disclosing
sponsorship compensation justification on sponsored content effectiveness”, Journal of
Communication Management, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 109-122.
Summers, T.A., Belleau, B.D. and Xu, Y. (2006), “Predicting purchase intention of a controversial
luxury apparel product”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 10 No. 4,
pp. 405-419.
Sun, Y., Wang, R., Cao, D. and Lee, R. (2021), “Who are social media influencers for luxury fashion Fashion
consumption of the Chinese Gen Z? Categorisation and empirical examination”, Journal of
Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 603-621.
influencer
Taillon, B.J., Mueller, S.M., Kowalczyk, C.M. and Jones, D.N. (2020), “Understanding the relationships
marketing
between social media influencers and their followers: the moderating role of closeness”, Journal
of Product and Brand Management, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 767-782.
Testa, D.S., Bakhshian, S. and Eike, R. (2021), “Engaging consumers with sustainable fashion on
Instagram”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 569-584.
Ting, H. and de Run, E.C. (2015), “Attitude towards advertising: a young generation cohort’s perspective”,
Asian Journal of Business Research, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 83-96. doi: 10.14707/ajbr.150012.
Torres, P., Augusto, M. and Matos, M. (2019), “Antecedents and outcomes of digital influencer
endorsement: an exploratory study”, Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 12, pp. 1267-1276.
Uzunoglu, E. and Kip, S.M. (2014), “Brand communication through digital influencers: leveraging
blogger engagement”, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 34 No. 5,
pp. 592-602.
Wiedmann, K.P. and von Mettenheim, W. (2020), “Attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise-social
influencers’ winning formula?”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 30 No. 5,
pp. 707-725.
Xu, X. and Pratt, S. (2018), “Social media influencers as endorsers to promote travel destinations: an
application of self-congruence theory to the Chinese Generation Y”, Journal of Travel & Tourism
Marketing, Vol. 35 No. 7, pp. 958-972.
Yang, K. and Jolly, L.D. (2009), “The effects of consumer perceived value and subjective norm on
mobile data service adoption between American and Korean consumers”, Journal of Retailing
and Consumer Services, Vol. 16 No. 6, pp. 502-508.

Further reading
Chen, M.F. (2007), “Consumer attitudes and purchase intentions in relation to organic foods in Taiwan:
moderating effects of food-related personality traits”, Food Quality and Preference, Vol. 18 No. 7,
pp. 1008-1021.
Jaiswal, D., Kaushal, V., Deshmukh, A.K., Kant, R. and Kautish, P. (2022c), “What drives electric
vehicles in an emerging market?”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 40 No. 6, pp. 738-754.
Lou, C., Tan, S.S. and Chen, X. (2019), “Investigating consumer engagement with influencer-vs.
brand-promoted ads: the roles of source and disclosure”, Journal of Interactive Advertising,
Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 169-186.

Corresponding author
Rishi Kant can be contacted at: rishikant.lu@gmail.com

For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com