A new study published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications identifies three critical factors contributing to consumer trust in social media influencer content.

Researchers from Mohammad Ali Jinnah University analyzed responses from 481 social media users to understand how influencer credibility, message content, and media platform characteristics affect consumer trust and purchasing behavior.

The study finds that influencer marketing effectiveness relies on a combination of source credibility, message quality, and platform attributes. These three elements explain approximately 40% of the variance in consumer trust in influencer posts.

“When trust is developed, mental processing becomes simple, requiring little effort and fewer deliberations,” the researchers note in their findings, pointing to evidence that trusted content can lead to increased impulse purchasing behavior.

The research identifies specific components that build trust:

Influencer Credibility:

• Expertise in their field
• Trustworthiness of their recommendations
• Similarity to their followers

Message Quality:

• Informational value of the content
• Vicarious expressions that connect with audiences
• Consistency in messaging

Platform Characteristics:

• Transparency of the media channel
• Interactive features that enable engagement
• Ease of information sharing

The study reveals that consumers with lower levels of marketing knowledge, which researchers term “persuasion knowledge,” are more likely to make impulse purchases based on trusted influencer content. This relationship explains 33% of the variance in impulse buying behavior among study participants.

Source: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

The research focused on the fashion industry specifically, where influencers play a particularly significant role in consumer decision-making. The study notes that fashion consumers show increased sensitivity to trends, which affects their purchasing patterns.

The researchers employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to validate their findings, with all key relationships showing statistical significance at p < 0.001. The model achieved strong fit indices (CFI = 0.961, SRMR = 0.060, RMSEA = 0.066), indicating reliable results.

The study was conducted in Pakistan, where influencer advertising spending was projected to reach $12 million in 2023, according to Statista data cited in the research. The researchers note that this represented a growing market for influencer marketing in developing economies.

The study’s limitations include its focus on Facebook users in Pakistan. The authors suggest that future research should examine these relationships across different social media platforms and cultural contexts.

The researchers collected data through online questionnaires distributed via Facebook, focusing on followers of fashion influencers to ensure relevant sampling.

The full research is available here.