Influencer Marketing Factors Affecting Brand Awareness and Brand Image of Start-up Businesses

Influencer Marketing has become a trend recently. Influencers have loyal fan bases who trust their taste in products and support them through their endorsements. With the rising number of start-up businesses in the country, this study was conducted to discover whether or not Influencer Marketing affects the brand awareness and reputation of start-up businesses and the consumer's purchasing behavior. The study focused on five Influencer Marketing factors: influencer's online presence, influencer's expertise, content attractiveness, consumer's desire to mimic, and consumer's preferred platform. Using a quantitative research method, the study revealed that all five factors are essential to consumers and have a low to moderate positive relationship with one another. However, only three have a significant impact on increasing the brand awareness and reputation of start-up businesses: Influencer's Online Presence, Consumer's Desire to mimic, and Consumer's Preferred Platform.