The role of social media followers’ agency in influencer marketing: a study based on the heuristic–systematic model of information processing

An increasing number of social media influencers have incorporated product recommendations into the online curation of their daily lifestyles through intimate self-disclosures (ISDs). While greater attention has been paid to the marketing potential of influencers, how social media followers respond to influencers' ISDs remains understudied. This study examines the psychosocial mechanisms underlying the effect of influencers' ISDs on followers' purchase intentions by integrating the relational communication perspective and the heuristic–systematic model of information processing. Data were collected through an online survey service in China, and hypotheses were tested through structural equation modelling and conditional process analysis. The statistical results indicated that the effect of influencers' ISDs on followers' purchase intentions is sequentially mediated by perceived altruistic motives behind influencers' products recommendation and followers' attitudes toward recommended products. Further, this serial mediation effect is moderated by followers' message involvement and product knowledge. The managerial and theoretical implications of the above findings are discussed.