Influencer endorsement posts and their effects on advertising attitudes and purchase intentions

This study examines the effects of influencer posts on Instagram users. Based on uses and gratifications theory, this experiment-based investigation analyses the effect of three different levels of product exposure (strong, mild and low) within an influencer ad post on users' attitudes toward the ad, and their purchase intentions. Based on a sample of 602 Instagram users from Generations Y and Z, the empirical findings show that users who attribute infotainment and credibility to an influencer ad post perceive it to have greater ad value, which improves their attitude toward the ad and, consequently, positively affects their purchase intentions. However, the results do not find support for the negative effect of irritation on ad value. The contributions of this study highlight that once users have freely decided to follow influencers on Instagram, they assume that their posts are going to be ad-related and this does not cause them to reject posts; consequently, endorsement exerts a similar effect on the value attributed to an ad post regardless of the level of salience of the product in the post.

Automated summary

This study examines the effects of influencer posts on Instagram users and finds that users who attribute infotainment and credibility to an influencer ad post perceive it to have greater ad value, which improves their attitude toward the ad and positively affects their purchase intentions.