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Influencers’ vlogs have the potential to impact consumer behaviors through vlog-embedded corporate sponsorship and brand collaborations. However, even without brand involvement, vlogs can also “unintentionally” benefit influencers as a relationship-building tool. This study is designed to investigate the relationship between vlog-viewing and audiences’ purchase behaviors of influencer-recommended products through the impacts of influencer–follower interactions, perceived influencer credibility and parasocial relationships.

An influencer-disseminated online survey was conducted in collaboration with a YouTube celebrity among N = 948 of her 72.6 K subscribers. Statistical analysis was performed through structural equation modeling (SEM) on SPSS Amos.

SEM results indicated that the extent to which participants liked the vlogs had both a direct impact on their purchase behaviors and secondary impact through social media engagement, parasocial relationships and perceived influencer credibility.

The study expands current research and understanding of influencer marketing. Brands and social media content creators are advised to rethink vlogs as a creative genre for long-term brand–influencer collaborations and implicit social media endorsements.

Social media influencers (SMIs) have become vital components of interactive marketing to promote beauty-endorsed products. However, there are three major research gaps in the literature on influencer marketing. This research aimed to fill these gaps by integrating the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model with theories of source credibility and parasocial interaction (PSI).

A qualitative method was used to gain a deep understanding of the Korean beauty field in YouTube influencer marketing.

The data showed that YouTube influencer marketing is an ongoing PSI process that conforms to the extended SOR model. This model was based on four concepts: stimulus, which was the SMIs’ source credibility; organism, which was the followers’ perceptions of homophily/relevance to the SMIs in PSIs; response, which was the desire to imitate and engage in impulse buying behavior, and management, which was the parasocial trust friendship and/or relationship.

This study expands the new concept into the existing SOR model and releases an insight into ongoing PSIs in YouTube influencer marketing.

Conceptual and empirical research over the past 20 years has moved the social media (SM) literature beyond the embryotic stage to a well-developed academic discipline. As the lead article in the special issue in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing on Cutting-Edge Research in Social Media and Interactive Marketing, this review and agenda article has two key goals: (1) to review key SM and interactive marketing research over the past three years and (2) to identify the next wave of high priority challenges and research opportunities.

Given the “cutting-edge” research focus of the special issue, this review and research agenda paper focused on articles published in 25 key marketing journals between January 2021 and March 2024. Initially, the search request was for articles with “social media, social selling, social commerce” located in the article title, author-selected key words and journal-selected keywords. Later, we conducted searches based on terminology from articles presented in the final review. In total, over 1,000 articles were reviewed across the 25 journals, plus additional ones that were cited in those journals that were not on the initial list.

Our review uncovered eight key content areas: (1) data sources, methodology and scale development; (2) emergent SM technologies; (3) artificial intelligence; (4) virtual reality; (5) sales and sales management; (6) consumer welfare; (7) influencer marketing; and (8) social commerce. Table I provides a summer of key articles and research findings for each of the content areas.

As a literature review and research agenda article, this paper is one of the most extensive to date on SM marketing, and particularly with regard to emergent research over the past three years. Recommendations for future research are integrated through the paper and summarized in Figure 2.

Consumer welfare is one of the eight emergent content areas uncovered in the literature review. Specific focus is on SM privacy, misinformation, mental health and misbehavior.

This study aims to reveal the knowledge structure of social media influencer marketing literature by performing science mapping analysis through a state-of-the-art bibliometric approach to determine the current and future trends. Social media influencer marketing is one of the most effective approaches to presenting a brand and offering value to consumers via social media.

This study evaluates the knowledge structure to uncover the emerging trends and future predictions in social media influencer marketing through bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis. In total, 917 journal publications were retrieved from the Web of Science database and analyzed using VOSviewer software.

The central theme in social media influencer marketing reflects digital engagement between influencers and followers and communication between influencers and followers. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

This study unleashes the knowledge structure according to the fundamental literature of social media influencer marketing and the underlying themes related to the phenomenon.

This study adopts the elaboration likelihood model and configuration perspectives to explore the internal mechanisms underlying the influence of live streaming on consumer trust building and purchase intention.

This study invited 757 experienced live streaming e-commerce users from Chinese platforms such as TikTok and RED, who participated in survey by filling questionnaires collected online. The research employed a mixed-method approach using SEM and fsQCA. SEM was utilized to analyze quantitative data to determine the direct and mediated relationships within product trust, while fsQCA served as a complement to identify the combinations of conditions that enhance product trust.

The findings reveal three important insights. Firstly, in the context of live streaming e-commerce, both product characteristics and streamer characteristics significantly influence consumers' trust in products. The para-social interaction plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between streamer characteristics and product trust. Secondly, four distinct paths are identified that contribute to enhancing product trust in live streaming e-commerce. Thirdly, PSI emerging as a core condition across all four paths, underscores the importance for merchants to foster positive social interactions with consumers beyond the live streaming environment.

This study enhances understanding of the dynamic live streaming e-commerce industry, offering insights into consumer behavior and practical guidance for merchants seeking to build engaged, trustworthy customer relationships.

Source factors have long been a key construct in studies of word-of-mouth influence, but particularly for the digital context of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), source trustworthiness and parasocial relationships are worth a considerable focus. This study pays close attention to not only the effects source trustworthiness and parasocial relationships exert on eWOM influence but also the antecedents driving them. This study additionally considers the moderating role of brand credibility in the relationships between the two key constructs and eWOM influence. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess the reliability and validity of the constructs.

A quantitative survey was sent to university students in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to collect 766 responses, which were then analyzed using an SEM approach. The sampling strategy was based on convenience and snowball sampling techniques to ensure a diverse representation of the student population. Respondents were asked to rate their perceptions of source trustworthiness, parasocial relationships, brand credibility, and eWOM influence regarding social media influencers they follow. The collected data were then analyzed using an SEM approach, utilizing software such as AMOS to validate the measurement model and test the proposed structural relationships.

The results confirm the strong impact of source trustworthiness and parasocial relationships on eWOM influence and recognize source authenticity to be the most powerful driver behind the two. Additionally, the findings suggest that brand credibility can positively moderate how source trustworthiness affects eWOM influence, with interaction effects examined through multi-group analysis.

Relevant implications for researchers and marketing practitioners are discussed, emphasizing the strategic selection of eWOM sources and the cultivation of brand credibility to enhance consumer engagement.

This study investigates the effects of two types of self-disclosure by influencers (i.e. personal self-disclosure and professional self-disclosure) on followers’ parasocial relationships with them and online engagement with their content, which eventually affect followers’ purchase intentions.

This study collected data based on a cross-sectional survey of 823 social media users. Structural equation modeling analysis was used to test the overall structural model and the mediating roles of parasocial relationships and engagement.

This study reveals that influencers’ personal self-disclosure has a positive impact on followers’ parasocial relationships with them and online engagement with their content. Interestingly, the results indicate an inverted U-shaped relationship between influencers’ professional self-disclosure and followers’ parasocial relationships, as well as online engagement with the influencers’ content. Furthermore, followers’ parasocial relationships and engagement partially mediate the impact of influencers’ personal and professional self-disclosure on followers’ purchase intentions.

This study contributes to the literature by revealing the underlying mechanisms of the differential effects of influencers’ personal and professional self-disclosure on followers’ purchase intentions.

The findings will assist marketers in leveraging influencer-generated content to enhance influencer marketing effectiveness.

This research provides a better understanding of the potential linear and nonlinear effects of influencers’ self-disclosure on followers’ parasocial relationships and engagement in social media marketing.

The purpose of this research is to identify the most important attributes of metaverse influencers and examine their impact on customer engagement and social glue.

Three studies (one qualitative and two quantitative) were conducted to understand the phenomenon better. The qualitative study (Study 1) was conducted to identify the antecedents of the theoretical model, which was tested in Study 2 using the covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) technique. Study 3 then divided the respondents based on the metaverse influencer attribute preferences.

Results of Study 1 revealed the six most influential attributes of metaverse influencers: physical attractiveness, social attractiveness, perceived credibility, metaverse-influencer fit, intimacy and attitude homophily. Further, Study 2 validated that attractiveness and perceived credibility enhance engagement. Also, the results revealed that intimacy, perceived credibility and homophily enhance social glue. Moreover, parasocial relationships mediate the association between intimacy, attitude homophily, perceived credibility and (engagement and social glue). The conditional indirect effect of physical attractiveness, social attractiveness and metaverse–influencer fit on (engagement and social glue) via parasocial relationships at different high and low levels of self-discrepancy was significant. Finally, Study 3 used latent class analysis to reveal different clusters of metaverse users.

This research enriches our understanding of metaverse influencers, contributing to the influencer marketing literature. It offers actionable insights for marketers by elucidating key influencer attributes, aiding in enhancing engagement and social glue.

This study aims to answer the following research questions: (1) How do features of sports and fitness live streaming content influence individuals’ viewing experiences? (2) How do these antecedents interact with each other to influence individuals’ intentions to exercise in the context of sports and fitness live streaming?

We employed both symmetric (PLS-SEM) and asymmetric (fsQCA) analyses using data from 886 participants. A mixed approach addresses the complex nature of the decision-making process among sports and fitness live streaming users.

The findings reveal that individuals’ appraisal of their interactions with sports and fitness streamers (i.e. instant feedback, interactivity) significantly affects their perceptions of telepresence, entertainment, and flow. These, in turn, positively influence their intention to exercise in live sports and fitness streaming sessions. The study also uncovers various combinations of causal conditions leading to exercise intention, a detail overlooked by the PLS-SEM method alone.

This research contributes to the literature on cognitive appraisal theory, particularly in the context of sports and fitness live streaming, by integrating symmetric and asymmetric analyses. Practically, strategic implications are provided for practitioners in sports and fitness industry.

This study explores the profound influence of social and cultural factors on the financial conduct of indigenous tribes and groups. Anchored in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, the analysis delves into the intricate interplay between cultural elements, such as bricolage, and the immediate availability of financial resources, illuminating their collective impact on the tribes' financial behaviour. Typically residing in proximity, these communities exhibit homogeneity by forming groups exclusive to their clans, lacking access to conventional financial services and tangible assets that dissuade banks from extending loans. Crucially, the social capital embedded within the group dynamics, often referred to as the peer mechanism, emerges as a pivotal conduit for members to secure capital and bank credit. The synergy of bricolage, representing the adept use of available social capital, facilitates access to finance and credit. Despite the existence of social capital and financial literacy programmes, a stark reality persists – a significant proportion of indigenous people remain financially excluded. This chapter endeavours to scrutinise the ramifications of these factors on tribal financial behaviour, employing the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) method. Proposing a paradigm shift in financial attitudes, the research underscores the imperative of fostering financial inclusion within indigenous tribes and communities.