We match! Building online brand engagement behaviours through emotional and rational processes

Strong influencers generate attention and engagement for specific brands they endorse and present, but still little is known on how their intrinsic characteristics may contribute to their ability to generate content engagement intentions for any posted content. This study uses the dual-process theory and data collected from 1012 followers of an Instagram micro-influencer to examine how perceived consumer micro-influencers drive behavioural engagement with any shared branded content through emotional and rational processing. The results indicate that follower-influencer similarity exerts a positive and direct influence on all three engagement behaviours, and it indirectly affects content consumption and contribution behaviours through parasocial relationships (emotional route) and credibility (rational route). The findings also reveal that parasocial relationships enhance the influencer's credibility, underscoring the significant mediating role of these relationships. Notably, the indirect effect of similarity on credibility, mediated by parasocial relationships, is proven more substantial than the direct effect.