Exploring the roles of vlogger characteristics and video attributes on followers’ value perceptions and behavioral intention

YouTube has emerged as an effective social media platform for brands to reach consumers through YouTube vloggers. However, little is known about how vlogger characteristics and video attributes affect consumers' perceived value and behavioral intention. Drawing on the stimulus‒organism‒response (SOR) framework, this research examines how video attributes (i.e., content quality and visual aesthetics) and vlogger characteristics (i.e., authenticity, interactivity, physical attractiveness, and expertise) influence followers' utilitarian and hedonic values, which consequently lead to continuance intention and purchase intention. The survey data collected from 1014 followers of the vloggers (i.e., beauty and technology) were analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results show that visual aesthetics, authenticity, and physical attractiveness positively affect followers' utilitarian and hedonic value, whereas content quality, interactivity, and expertise positively influence followers' utilitarian values but not hedonic value. Utilitarian value positively impacts followers' purchase intention and continuance intention, whereas hedonic value positively affects followers' continuance intention but not purchase intention. Multigroup analysis reveals that these determinants generally have a greater impact on hedonic values for beauty vloggers, whereas they mostly have greater influences on utilitarian values for technology vloggers. The fsQCA results supplement the SEM findings and indicate six configurations for beauty vloggers and five configurations for technology vloggers that lead to high purchase intention or continuance intention. The findings provide a better understanding of vloggers' influence on followers’ perceived value and behavioral intention from vlogger characteristics and video attributes.