Abstract

Recent marketing trends indicate the rise of influencers as an extension of word of mouth
campaigns. As consumers turn to social media platforms, organizations are realising the power
of influencers in affecting purchase decision. The current study throws light on various aspects
of influencer marketing that drive consumer behaviour by using the theory of planned
behaviour (henceforth referred to as TPB) (Ajzen (1988, 1991) and social learning theory by
Bandura (1963) as part of the quantitative research to identify key factors of influencer
marketing that impact consumer acceptance. A positive attitude towards influencers followed
by inspiration, subjective norm and low perceived behavioural control were the drivers of
consumer acceptance. High acceptance of influencers resulted in consumers’ willingness to
purchase products recommended by influencers, having a positive image of the brand and being
willing to know more about the category.

Key Words: Influencer marketing, theory of planned behaviour, drivers of purchase intention
 I. Introduction

“In today’s evolved and crowded world, the traditional sentiment of hearing the voice
of people who matter hasn’t still changed. Even with the rapid changing technology
across spectrum of life, the importance of resting the belief on influencer’s words on a
topic especially new technology thing is ever growing and is certainly a new form of
“word-of-mouth” (now digitally).” - Amit Gujral, CMO, LG India (Social Samosa,
January 8, 2018).

With the digital media exploding at the advent of technology and increasing smart
phone penetration, consumers have plethora of options to invest their time in the new
digital-socio world. And brands are facing an even bigger challenge to seize their
limited attention and communicate their message across. Today consumers no longer
consume advertisements merely on television. The advertising landscape has changed
from traditional channels (television, print and radio) to an amalgamation of traditional
and digital channels (social media, websites, blogs etc.). A study by an digital
advertising platform- Infolink’s suggests only 14 percent of their respondents could
recall the last commercial they watched and identify the hidden brand message
(Talaverna, 2015). Consumers are increasingly using adblockers and premium services
such as Spotify and Netflix etc. in lieu of escaping advertisements (Talaverna, 2015).
In this changing market dynamics, it is essential for marketers to use novel and
innovative ways to reach out to their consumers.

Brands have recently discovered the extensive effect and viral growth capabilities of
working with influencers - individuals who assemble a large network of followers and
are rated as trusted experts in one or a few categories – for product promotions. Brands
implementing influencer marketing use influencers, who are "ordinary individuals"
with a huge number of social media follower base, to put across the brand's message
(Tapinfluence, 2017). The influencers team up with organizations by creating an
exclusive post to promote the products and services of the brands and in turn are paid
to get the word out (Tapinfluence, 2017). They engage with their followers on all kinds
of social media platforms with Blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter
being especially effective ones (Markethub, 2016). A typical example of an influencer
marketing campaign would be a travel blogger promoting Airbnb rooms or a fashion
blogger promoting H&M (Hennes & Mauritz) clothes. Social influencers generally

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 focus on specific content areas — like fashion, beauty, parenting, or gaming —and cater
their content to a specific vertical. They are found to have higher user engagement than
content generated by brands itself (Influencer Marketing Report 2018, Business
Insider). It was found in a research study by Berger and the Keller Fay Group (2016)
that influencers are being rated as more credible, believable, and knowledgeable, and
that 82% of their respondents are highly likely to pursue an influencer’s suggestions.
Promoters are thus leveraging the influencer’s viral capabilities by propagating their
brand message and increase brand awareness and consideration, thereby driving sales.
(Influencer Marketing Outlook – 2018, Buzzoka).

Better return on investment, more credible and believable messaging, greater connect
with relevant target audience, two-way communication on a real time basis are the
genesis for further exploration of influencer marketing. Few years back there were a
mere 1000 influencers across India however today, Instagram has 600,000 influencers
on its platform; while there are approximately 44 million influencers worldwide
(Economic Times, May 24, 2018). Influencer marketing being a relatively new term,
there is a lack of exact academic definition (Johansen and Guldvik, 2017). This is
especially true in the Indian context. Most of the academic research focusing on word
of mouth marketing, viral marketing, social media marketing and celebrity
endorsements. Specifically these researches focused on impact of different social media
on credibility, intention to buy and different type of celebrities (Djafarovaa and
Rushworth, 2016), effectiveness of personality on advertisement credibility
(Laimona,2009), potential of peer to peer referral in online marketing (De Bruyn &
Lilien, 2008), influence of online social networks on adoption of products and services
(Subramani & Rajagopalan, 2003), positive or negative effect of word of mouth on
consumers intention to purchase (Ahmad et.al, 2014).

However, there were very few studies found in the realm of influencer marketing
especially in the Indian context. Further understanding what are the key drivers, why
the millennial Indian cohort prefers influencers and the impact of influencers on their
behaviour has not been studied extensively (Howe and Strauss, 2000 define the
millennial cohort as consisting of individuals born between 1982 and 2004) of this
emerging economy. Few researches in the area of influencer marketing have mainly
focused on identifying different type of influencers and examining the effect of
different social media channels on consumer awareness.

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 This research aims to understand the antecedents of acceptance of influencers by
millennials. Further the study aims to understand if level of acceptance results in
differences in behaviour (actual purchase, positive word of mouth, recommendation,
becoming an opinion leader). The research also identifies which categories are followed
the most and type of influencer preferred for various categories. The authors have used
the Theory of Planned Behaviour (henceforth referred to as TPB) (Ajzen (1988, 1991)
and social learning theory by Bandura (1963) as the underlying framework. The results
indicate that positive attitude, inspiration, subjective norm (influence of peers and
popularity of influencers), and perceived behavioural control are important
determinants of influencer acceptance. Influencer acceptance was defined as intention
to recommend brands endorsed by influencers and intention to continue following
influencers. Positive attitude towards influencers as well as influencers being perceived
as inspiring have implications for marketers. The millennial cohort have a positive
attitude towards influencers given the perception that influencers are easy to relate to
and are credible. Further influencers are seen as role model, motivating them to act on
the ideas shared by them. Marketers need to focus on identifying the right kind of
influencers for their brand who is perceived as relatable and inspiring as opposed to
merely an endorser of the brand.

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II. Literature Review

A. Advent of Influencer Marketing

Recent studies have suggested that the impact of traditional channels like television and
print is reducing in the wake of consumers spending more time on social media
platforms. This has resulted in an increase in digital media spends as more and more
marketers try to make their presence felt on the internet. Given the amount of
advertising stimuli that an individual is subject to, the ability of a brand to stand out
from the clutter is becoming a challenge. This is resulting in the rise of influencer
marketing which is seen as a powerful tool by marketers (Perrey et al, 2013). While
prior research on word of mouth has demonstrated its impact on consumer decision
(Allsopet al.2007), more recent studies have focused on how social influences impact
electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on consumer purchase intentions (Tsahi & Arnon,
2018). Lindh et al (217) studied the effect of influencers on purchasing intent from the
emotional and rational perspective. While the term influencer marketing has been
recently added to academic literature, few definitions like the one given by Brown and
Hayes (2008) finds wide acceptance. The authors define influencer marketing as an
external person who fundamentally shapes the customer’s buying choices yet may ever
be responsible for it. Influencer marketing emphasises the use of influencers to reach
the target segment and propagate the brand’s message to them (Smart Insights 2017).
As opposed to traditional online advertisements influencer marketing has the power to
win consumer trust (Conick (2018).

Recent studies suggest that consumers may choose to skip online ads and often times
are annoyed a by pop-ups, pre-rolls or even banner ads. While social media has seen as
extremely useful medium for advertising, the amount of messaging has resulted in some
amount of confusion and controversial advertising is actually resulting in avoidance.
(Ferreira et.al 2017). Online trust has received academic interest (Mansour et al. 2014)
with the authors positing that online purchase is impacted by trust and perceived risk.
However, the study focused on trust as an integrative construct including personality,
cognitive trust and institution trust. Specifically, the role of influencers was not
addressed.

Given the ubiquity nature of the internet online influencers seem to be emerging as
dynamic third-party endorsers (Freberg et al. 2011). Influencer’s promote products,

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 give reviews and speak about the latest trends and offerings to their followers across
platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, (Markethub 2016). Given
the power of influencers to engage with their followers’ marketers are now leveraging
them to address a new consumer segment i.e. people who have always skipped, ignored,
or completely avoided advertisements (Conick 2018).

A recent report by Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in April 2018 indicated

that close to 58% of brands had an affiliation with 25 influencers last year. This is
indicative of how marketers are focussing on driving influencers to better connect with
audiences (Conick, 2018).

B. Role of Influencers
Endorsement plays a significant role in a companies’ marketing efforts to achieve a
positive brand reputation and thus business goals. There is enough literature to support
the fact that endorsements play a significant role in shaping a brand’s reputation.
However recent trends in the marketing domain have pointed out to the use of
influencers. As per few studies online influencers who speak on various topics related
to beauty, travel, health and fitness etc. have amassed huge followers due to their unique
content thereby overshadowing celebrities (Harrison 2017; Patel 2016; Talaverna
2015). Observing this trend marketers are now looking at influencers as possible
endorsers for their brands (Booth and Matic 2011).As of late, online influencers have
become the potential endorsers themselves by creating a range of popular buzzwords
compared to other marketing methodologies such as celebrity endorsements, and are
regarded to be the most cost-effective and - successful marketing trend (Harrison 2017;
Patel 2016; Talaverna 2015). Furthermore, online influencers can likewise feature a
convincing result in both media coverage and consumer influence (Booth and Matic
2011). In any case, research on the online influencers is still generally inadequate
(Godey et al. 2016).

Interestingly, celebrity endorsements are more important in raising brand awareness

among customers, while online influencers assume a very critical role in driving
product engagement and further brand loyalty (Tapinfluece 2017) as they are fit to
communicate to a niche segment. It is believed by various organizations that
endorsement can warrant the factuality of product information (Amoateng and Poku
2013; Sassenberg et al. 2012).

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 The effectiveness of endorsement is widely analysed by the source credibility (Hovland
and Weiss 1951; Taghipoorreyneh and de Run 2016). In particular, a credible endorser
generally propagates a positive effect on the perception of consumers towards a
product/ service (Goldsmith et al. 2000). Moreover, an endorsement acts as stamp of
approval on genuineness of the product claims (Amoateng and Poku 2013; Sassenberg
et al. 2012).

It is the congruency between the product and the endorser that is fundamental to
accomplish excellent outcomes. The hypothesis analyses the fit between the brand and
an endorser (Kamins 1990). Hence it is essential for a successful marketing strategy to
establish an appropriate fit between an endorser and the brand itself (Till and Busler
1998).

To provide more specific explanation of consumers behaviour impacted by influencer

marketing, this study will expand on the original theory of planned behavior (TPB) by
examining the existing belief constructs (subjective norms, attitudes and perceived
behavioural control). Various authors have studied the role of celebrity/personality
trust. Trust was found to encourage consumers to buy goods or services even when the
source of the vendors was unknown (Akhter, Hobbs & Maamar, 2004). Studies in the
area of endorsements stated that the congruency between the product and the endorser
was fundamental to accomplish excellent outcomes and hence establishing an
appropriate fit between an endorser and the brand itself was crucial (Till and Busler
1998). While trust specifically personality trust has been adequately studied, the
authors realised that there are few studies in the area of product-influencer fit especially
in the Indian context. The authors have studied the fitment of various types of
influencers with different product categories among the Indian millennial. Also, while
extensive literature in marketing has focused on trust as a construct, more so to do with
celebrity credibility, the authors decided to examine the role of inspiration as a
construct. Influencers by their nature have huge followers, and the authors believed that
it was important to study the role of inspiration in consumer buying behaviour. A deeper
understanding of inspiration provides cues regarding how and why individuals feel (or
do not feel) compelled to act on their creative ideas. (Oleynick, Thrash, LeFew,
Moldovan, and Paul D. Kieffaber, 2014)

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 C. Theoretical Framework
The social learning theory by Bandura (1963) has been extensively used for scholarly
researches particularly in communication & advertisement areas (Bush et al. 2004). It
provides a framework for predicting consumption behaviours by identifying the
socialization agents (King and Multon 1996; Martin and Bush 2000). The social
learning theory legitimizes that an individual derives inspiration and thus displays
favourable attitude from socialization agents by the means of either immediate or
backhanded social interactions (Subramanian and Subramanian 1995; Moschis and
Churchill 1978). In the past, marketing studies have employed this hypothesis to
comprehend customer consumption through different socialization agents like, family
or peers or even famous celebrities (Kotze 2001; Clark et al. 2001; Martin and Bush
2000). The effect of various marketing initiatives has been studied on several
constructs, the most popular one being intention to purchase. The authors have
expanded customer consumption to include recommendation to others, positive image
of the brands, intention to continue following influencers along with intention to
purchase. Given the recent rise of influencer marketing, the authors wanted to have a
broader understanding of its impact beyond only purchase intention hence the inclusion
of the other variables. Further the study will also categorise the level of influence for
various product categories and the type of influencer most suited for different product
categories.

The theory of planned behaviour by Icek Ajzen (1988, 1991) (Figure 1) allows us to
understand how the behaviour of people can be changed. The TPB states that human
action is governed by three types of constructs – behavioural beliefs (beliefs about the
possible consequences of the action), normative beliefs (beliefs about the perceptions
and expectations of others) and control beliefs (beliefs about factors that may facilitate
or inhibit performance of the behaviour).

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 Figure 1 – The Theory of Planned Behaviour (Adapted from Ajzen, 1991)

The theory of planned behavior was later enhanced by Mazzocchi et al. (2004) to
include trust and perceived risk (Mazzocchi et al. 2005) as additional determinants of
behavior. While preceding studies have dealt with the credibility element in consumer
acceptance, this study has focused on inspiration as a source of consumer acceptance
of influencers.

Influencers are followed by consumers because there is already an element of

credibility attached to them. However, most influencers started small as micro bloggers
and everyday experts before they became mega influencers. Followers keep regularly
track of the progress of influencers and engage with them on a continuous basis. The
authors believe that influencers almost inspire their followers. Literature in the area of
consumer behaviour has not touched upon the role of inspiration on consumer
acceptance. Inspiration is a state of motivations that compels individuals to bring ideas
into fruition. Olyenick et al. (2014). Inspiration is an intrinsic motivator since it is
aroused by external stimuli leading to the culmination of new ideas (Thrash and Elliot
2003). According to Elliot, 1997 inspiration implies motivation, directed towards
behavior.

After studying the literature, the authors observed there was a dearth of literature
examining the antecedents of acceptance of influencers by millennial consumers. To
provide more specific explanation of consumers' acceptance affected by influencer
marketing, this study expands on the original theory of planned behaviour (TPB) by
examining the belief constructs (subjective norms, attitudes and perceived behavioural
control) along with inspiration as the underlying framework. The authors propose to
study the effect of the above dimensions on consumer acceptance of influencers namely
willingness to recommend products endorsed by influencers and intention to continue

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 following influencers. Further product-influencer fitment for various categories have
also been studied.

Figure 2 Hypotheses and Suggested Framework:

Subjective Inspiration
Norms

Perceived
Recommend
Behavioural
products used
Control
by Influencers
to others
Acceptance

Will continue to
Attitude follow

The proposed research seeks to answer the following research questions:

RQ1 – Which factors significantly influence consumer acceptance of Influencer

Marketing?
RQ2 – Is there any hierarchy in order of importance of the various factors?
RQ3 – What is the outcome of consumer acceptance?

The following hypotheses have been proposed for the study:

H1: Subjective norms will have a positive impact on consumer acceptance
H2: Attitude will have a positive impact on consumer acceptance
H3: Low Perceived behavioural control will have a positive impact on consumer
acceptance
H4: Inspiration will positively affect consumer acceptance
H5: High consumer acceptance leads to higher action (higher intention to purchase,
better brand image and higher tendency to be an opinion leader)

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III. Research Methodology

The variables for the study were defined basis Subjective norm, Positive Attitude and
Perceived Behavioural Control from Theory of Planned Behaviour and Inspiration. The
outcome variable for the study was consumer acceptance of influencers. Early theories
of consumer behaviour focus on intention to purchase and actual purchase. Given the
recency of influencer marketing, the authors have identified consumer acceptance as
the dependent variable defined by two variables, namely, willingness to recommend
products recommended by influencers to others and willingness to continue following
influencers.

The study has used the quantitative research approach with the help of a structured
questionnaire. A 5-point Likert scale with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree
was initially used 3 items each of subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioural control,
attitude from Ajzen (1985) and 4 items of inspiration. Based on the factor loadings, the
appropriate measurement items were selected.

The target group was millennial from Tier I and Tier II cities who were technology
savvy and internet users with active social media presence (used social media at least
once a day). Further the target group were also followers of influencers. An in-depth
interview was first conducted amongst avid followers of influencers to expand the
authors understanding of influencers and the various categories followed. Post the in-
depth interviews a questionnaire was designed, and it was followed by conducting a
pilot test. The pilot test was conducted on a small sample of respondents to test whether
the survey items rightly understood by the respondents. Further the structure,
presentation and length of the questionnaire was also examined in the pilot test.
According to Naumannand Giel (1995) selecting the sample size for a pilot is subjective
without any defined set of rules and formulas that can tell how large the pre-test should
be. Hence the authors conducted a total of 8 pilot interviews among followers of
influencers. It was ensured that the respondents in the pre-test were similar to those who
would be part of the final survey in terms of demographics and attitudes and disposition
towards influencers (Diamantopolous et al., 1994). Participants who were part of the
pre-test were excluded from the final survey. The questionnaire was modified based on
the feedback given by the respondents during the pilot and then the final survey was
conducted. The target audience were respondents in the age group of 18-35 years who

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 actively followed influencers across different product categories (followed influencers
at-least three times a week). The number of respondents contacted were 150, of which
136 were part of the final survey. Post screening the questionnaire for errors and
incompletion the final sample size was 120. A six – part questionnaire was designed to
gather data from including basic demographic data, types of product categories
followed, and level of influencers preferred for each type of category, subjective norms,
attitude, perceived behaviour control, inspiration along with consumer acceptance. The
demographic data included nominal and ordinal scales. The question on product
category and product-influencer fitment was a nominal scale.

Data was collected from respondents who followed influencers at-least three times a
week. The sampling methodology used was purposive sampling. Initially respondents
were contacted through known references and post their feedback they were asked to
recommend other respondents who they knew were active followers.

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IV. Brief Findings

In total there were 120 people who took part in the research. From all of them 56%
were male and 44% were female respondents, so the gender distribution was a quite
even. The research was focused on millennials hence the participants belonged to the
age group of 18-30 years 54% of the respondents belonged to the age group of 26-30
years while the remaining respondents were below the age of 26.

Two open ended questions on perceptions on influencers and categories followed were
asked. Below is the summary of the open-ended responses.

A. Open Ended Findings

• People follow Instagram profiles (bloggers), blogs, forums and official websites for
authentic information
• Common genres are travel, fashion, lifestyle, photography and beauty
• People follow Influencers to-be-updated and know latest trends, have information about
market, technology and latest styles, have quick access to information, become ‘Subject
Matter Experts’, for genuine and trustworthy information, for its easy presentation of
content, for inspiration and appreciation and to be like them.
• People perceive forums and blogs as unbiased especially for education and gadgets
• People follow influencers for the things that they are passionate about, which results
in purchasing, recommendation and positive brand image
• Influencers give specific information, to the point
• Instagram is the most preferred channel
• Good looks attract followers, but if the content is not engaging or authentic, people
lose interest and unfollow the influencers
• Risk of misleading content is there but one can always follow
• Most people said that celebrities endorse a product/brand solely for promotion
purposes, but don’t use it in their real life
• Macro/Micro Influencers and brand advocate use the products and basis the result,
promote them
• There is a growing audience of people who prefer Macro/Micro influencers and brand
advocates over celebrities

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 B. Categories followed
• Respondents were provided with a list of categories (derived from in-depth interviews)
and asked to indicate which categories did they follow. Based on frequency count we
bucketed the categories into three – high level of following, medium level of following
and low level of following. This segregation was done on the basis of frequency count.
• The highly followed category were Lifestyle, Beauty, Fitness, and offbeat categories like
Do It Yourself (DIY), Comics, Investment and Social Media Apps had a medium
following. Categories like toys, parenting, auto, jewellery had relatively low following.
• Social media celebrities and bloggers were followed for more number of categories than
even celebrities. Celebrities were preferred for fitness, fashion and entertainment while
bloggers were preferred for lifestyle, travel, Do It Yourself, investment etc. Thought leaders
were preferred for gadgets and technology while brand advocates were preferred for books.

C. Quantitative Findings

Meaning of Influencer:

Respondents were asked to define what an influencer meant to them. Summarized in Tables
1 and 2 are the key findings. On being presented with an exhaustive list of words (derived
from in-depth interviews) it was interesting to note that respondents associated adjectives
like credible, trustworthy, subject matter experts etc. rather than nouns like celebrity or a
fashion blogger. (Table 1 and 2)

In other words, the role of an influencer is more important rather than who the person is.

Top 3 Influencers:

Interestingly the responses here were highly varied ranging from sports athletes, food
bloggers, fitness enthusiasts, celebrities etc. This again indicated that respondents did not
follow an influencer for who he was rather they focussed on what role he played in
imparting them with knowledge.

Categories followed:

Respondents were provided with a list of categories (derived from in-depth interviews)
and asked to indicate which categories did they follow. Based on frequency count we

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 bucketed the categories into three – high level of following, medium level of following
and low level of following. This segregation was done on the basis of frequency count.
Details are provided in Table 3. The highly followed category were Lifestyle, Beauty,
Fitness, and offbeat categories like Do It Yourself (DIY), Comics, Investment and Social
Media Apps had a medium following. Categories like toys, parenting, auto, jewellery had
relatively low following.

For each of the categories listed, the respondents were then asked who their preferred
influencer was. The type of influencers were Celebrities, Social Media Celebrities/
professional blogger (100K - 500K Followers), Thought Leaders / Independent Voices
(100K - 500K Followers), Everyday influencer / Micro Influencers (1K - 100K
Followers) and Brand Advocates (Friends, Family). Details are provided in table. Social
media celebrities and bloggers were followed for more number of categories than even
celebrities. Celebrities were preferred for fitness, fashion and entertainment while
bloggers were preferred for lifestyle, travel, Do It Yourself, investment etc. Thought
leaders were preferred for gadgets and technology while brand advocates were preferred
for books. (See Table 4)

Four action statements were evaluated by the respondents on 5-point scale. The mean
importance of each of the statement is given in Table 5 (1 = Strongly Agree and 5 = Strongly
Disagree). The various statements ranged from a mean score of 2.29 to 2.56. Statements
with strongly agree were “I have positive image about the brand/product recommended by
my influencer”, “I will continue to follow influencers in the future as well”. (Table 5)

Consumers were divided on the basis of high acceptance of influencers and low acceptance
of influencers. High acceptance had significantly higher scores on intention to purchase
products recommended by influencers, positive image of brand recommended by
influencers and willingness to know about category being followed. Hence hypothesis 5 is
supported. (Table 6)

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 V. Implications

The authors believe that the outcome of the study will help marketers understand the
motivation and drivers of young millennial in order to distribute better content by getting
associated with the right kind of influencer to meet specific objectives. The findings would
give direction on whether the content should focus on inspiration, trust, relevance, specific
attitude or peer influence. This research will also add to existing literature by identifying
what is the impact of influencers on actual behavior - do millennial actually purchase the
product, speak positively among their peer group, become opinion leaders themselves or
recommend the product.
For the managers, they can get a better understanding of how they can leverage the viral
power of influencers & social media platforms. The studies also give information about the
categories followed and the type of influencers preferred according to the categories
followed by millennial, this leads to marketers adequately targeting the fragment interest
groups and micro-clusters of consumers in today’s market scenario. From the studies we
infer that Influencers are truly looked upon as experts whose opinions are valued by the
consumers and for brands, they can act as facilitators for building empathy, relationships
and connect with the consumers. Identifying the right type of influencer for a particular
category will let the brands focus their marketing efforts, take quick strategic and tactical
decisions & manage budgets effectively. The study also brought up a new factor:
Inspiration, which is very important for the millennial and has a crucial contribution to the
success of influencer’s performance and further brand’s performance. Thus, it is beneficial
for marketers to research if the influencer is already talking about the product organically,
working with such an influencer, to become a part of their content and audience messaging
will be looked as authentic and genuine to the audience. This will further boost the brand’s
credibility and thus sales.

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VI. Table And Figures

A. Table 1
Word Percentage
Credible 71.9
Trustworthy 61.4
Creative professional 50.9
Subject matter expert 45.6
Trend setter 45.6
Blogger 33.3
Powerful 31.6
Large no. of followers 29.8
Quick source of information 28.9
My Idol 25.1

B. Table 2
Word Percentage
Celebrity 24.6
Reviewer 24.6
Sports star 22.8
Brand endorser 21.1
Social activist 15.8
Fashionista 15.8
Movie star 14
Politician 10.5
Comedian 8.8

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 C. Table 3 - Level of Following for Product Categories

Category High Medium Low

Beauty ***
Lifestyle ***
Healthcare **
Fitness ***
Travel ***
Food & Beverages ***
Jewellery *
Electronic Gadgets / Technology ***
Education **
Auto (Cars & Bikes) *
Parenting *
DIY **
Fashion ***
Social Media/Apps **
Entertainment - Movies, Songs ***
Advertising *
Music **
Gaming *
Dancing *
Comics **
Toys *
Books **
Investment **
Mountaineering *
Photography **

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 D. Table 4- Preferred influencer per category
Social
Everyday
Media Thought
influence
Celebrities Leaders / Brand
r / Micro
/ Independe Advocat
Celebriti Influence
Level Category profession nt Voices es
es rs (1K -
al blogger (100K - (Friends,
100K
(100K - 500K Family)
Followers
500K Followers)
)
Followers)
Beauty
Lifestyle
Fitness
Travel
Food &
Beverages
High
Electronic
Gadgets /
Technology
Fashion
Entertainmen
t - Movies,
Songs
Healthcare
Education
DIY
Social
Media/Apps
Mediu
m Music
Comics
Books
Investment
Photography
Low Jewellery

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 Auto (Cars &
Bikes)
Parenting
Advertising
Gaming
Dancing
Toys
Mountaineeri
ng

E. Table 5: Mean chart – Dependent variables

Descriptive Statistics
Statements Mean
I have positive image about the brand/product recommended by my influencer 2.29
I will continue to follow influencers in the future as well 2.32
I tend to recommend brand/product used by influencer to my family and friends 2.49
I intend to purchase products recommended by the influencers 2.56

F. Table 6: Consumer Acceptance – High vs Low acceptance consumers

N Mean Sig

I intend to purchase High 61 2.23 0.00

products recommended by
the influencers Low 59 2.98

I have positive image about

High 61 2.07 0.00
the brand/product
recommended by my
Low 59 2.57 0.00
influencer
I try to know about the
High 61 2.03 0.00
category and be an opinion
leader by propagating the
Low 59 2.61
information to my circle

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 G. References

“Ahmad, Nawaz & Vveinhardt, Jolita & Ahmed, Rizwan. (2014). Impact of Word of
Mouth on Consumer Buying Decision. European Journal of Business and
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