Influencer Authenticity Cues, Connectedness, and Purchase Decisions

Practice and Policy-Oriented Abstract Social media has accelerated the growth of influencer marketing, for which authenticity signals are central to shaping consumer purchase behavior, yet empirical evidence on their effects remains limited. Through a partnership with an influencer-affiliated e-commerce platform, we analyze influencer endorsement posts and develop a methodological framework to extract transparency cues from content, providing a practical tool for measuring and evaluating authenticity at scale. We show that these cues have distinct effects on consumer purchase decisions: unedited content and objectivity increase purchase likelihood, whereas openness about brand affiliations can reduce it, especially when consumers feel strongly connected to influencers. In contrast, consumers who engage with a broader set of influencers rely more heavily on these cues when making decisions. These findings offer actionable guidance for influencers and brands in designing content and partnership strategies that align with audience relationships and expectations. From a policy perspective, the results highlight the need for more nuanced disclosure guidelines as uniform transparency requirements may produce unintended effects across different relationship contexts, underscoring the importance of evidence-based regulation in digital advertising environments.