تأثیر همراستایی بین اینفلوئنسرها و مخاطبانشان بر قصد خرید با نقش میانجی رفتار شهروندی مشتری و رفتار مشارکت مشتری (مقاله علمی وزارت علوم)
درجه علمی: نشریه علمی (وزارت علوم)
آرشیو
چکیده
امروزه بازاریابان و برندها با نفوذ رسانه های اجتماعی از اینفلوئنسرها به عنوان استراتژی بازاریایی برای معرفی محصولات استفاده می کنند. بر این اساس، هدف از پژوهش حاضر بررسی تأثیر همراستایی بین اینفلوئنسرها و مخاطبانشان بر قصد خرید با نقش میانجی رفتار شهروندی مشتری و رفتار مشارکت مشتری است. این پژوهش از نظر هدف، کاربردی و از لحاظ روش جمع آوری داده ها توصیفی-همبستگی است. جامعه آماری شامل کاربران شبکه اجتماعی اینستاگرام است. حجم نمونه براساس جدول کرجسی و مورگان 384 نفر به روش نمونه گیری در دسترس انتخاب شد. در این مطالعه برای جمع آوری داده ها از ابزار پرسشنامه استفاده شد که روایی و پایایی آن نیز تأیید شد. داده های پژوهش با استفاده از روش مدل سازی معادلات ساختاری با رویکرد حداقل مربعات جزئی تجزیه و تحلیل شد. نرم افزارهای استفاده شده SPSS.22 و Smart PLS 4.0 است. نتایج نشان داد که همراستایی بین اینفلوئنسرها و مخاطبانشان بر رفتار مشارکت مشتری و رفتار شهروندی مشتری تأثیر مثبت و معنادار دارد. همچنین، تأثیر معنادار رفتار مشارکت مشتری و رفتار شهروندی مشتری بر قصد خرید تأیید شد. در نهایت، مشخص شد که رفتار مشارکت مشتری و رفتار شهروندی در ارتباط با همراستایی بین اینفلوئنسرها و مخاطبانشان و قصد خرید نقش میانجی دارد. نتایج پژوهش حاضر می تواند برای توجه به قدرت اینفلوئنسرها در افزایش میزان خرید در استراتژی بازاریابی کسب و کارها استفاده شود.Effect of Influencer-Audience Alignment on Purchase Intentions: The Mediating Role of Customer Citizenship and Engagement Behaviors
In today's marketing landscape, brands increasingly leverage influencers as a strategy to introduce products. This study explored the impact of alignment between influencers and their audience on purchase intention, examining the mediating roles of customer citizenship behavior and customer participation behavior. By employing a descriptive-correlational research design, the data were collected from users of the Instagram social network. The sample consisted of 384 individuals determined by using the Krejcie and Morgan Table and selected through convenience sampling. A validated and reliable questionnaire was utilized for data collection. The research data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach, utilizing SPSS 22 and Smart PLS 4.0 software. The findings indicated that alignment between influencers and their audience positively and significantly affected customer participation behavior and customer citizenship behavior. Additionally, both customer participation behavior and citizenship behavior significantly influenced purchase intention. Finally, these behaviors served as mediators in the relationship between influencers and their audience regarding purchase intention. The results underscored the influential role of marketers in enhancing purchase rates through effective influencer strategies. IntroductionInfluencer marketing is experiencing exponential growth (Lou & Yuan, 2019). Influencers are individuals active on social media platforms, who can easily engage with their followers (Nyström & Mickelsson, 2019). These influencers play a crucial role in enhancing brand awareness and shaping user perceptions that align with the values of brands and retailers (Chang & Wu, 2024). Today, companies leverage social media to foster direct communication with customers and stakeholders for product promotion (Zadeh et al., 2019). Customer interaction can drive value co-creation by integrating diverse sources, positioning customers as valuable partners in the process. In this context, customer co-creation value behavior describes positive customer actions, encompassing both customer engagement behavior and customer citizenship behavior. Historically, various variables have been examined to understand purchase intentions, such as brand authority, brand equity, communication quality, trust, and efficiency. However, the influence of characteristics associated with influencers has not received adequate attention in the study of purchase intentions. This research aimed to fill this gap by exploring the innovative role of influencers. It is grounded in the principle that individuals are more likely to make informed decisions when receiving recommendations from trusted sources. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of alignment between influencers and their audience on purchase intention, while considering the mediating roles of customer citizenship behavior and cooperative behavior.Materials & MethodsThis research was operational in purpose and descriptive-correlational in nature. The statistical population consisted of individuals with Instagram accounts, who followed one or more influencers. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan table for sample size determination, 384 participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. A link to the online questionnaire was distributed via Instagram direct messages, inviting users to complete the survey. To measure the relevant variables, the study utilized the following questionnaires: the alignment between influencers and their audience (Ladhari et al., 2020) with 5 items; customer involvement behavior (Yi & Gong, 2013) comprising 18 items; customer citizenship behavior (Yi & Gong, 2013) with 10 items; and purchase intention (Jimenez Castillo & Sanchez Fernandez, 2019) featuring 3 items. For validity assessment, content validity, convergent validity, divergent validity, and the HTML criterion were applied. Reliability was determined using Cronbach’s Alpha and composite reliability standards.Research FindingsThe hypotheses were evaluated using a Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results for the direct hypotheses are summarized in Table 7. The analysis of direct hypotheses revealed significant relationships among the variables studied. Firstly, the alignment in influencers positively affected customer engagement behavior evidenced by a path coefficient of 0.732. This relationship was strongly supported by a t-value of 23.615 and a p-value of 0.000, confirming its significance. Similarly, the alignment in influencers was also positively associated with customer citizenship behavior with a path coefficient of 0.634. This association was robust as indicated by a t-value of 17.423 and a p-value of 0.000. Furthermore, customer engagement behavior significantly influenced intention to purchase demonstrated by a path coefficient of 0.296. This relationship had a t-value of 3.412 and a p-value of 0.001, confirming its validity. Additionally, customer citizenship behavior was positively linked to intention to purchase with a path coefficient of 0.221, a t-value of 2.399, and a p-value of 0.017, further validating this connection. In terms of the mediation hypotheses, results indicated that customer engagement behavior served as a significant mediator. This was supported by a z-value of 2.65 with standardized effects (sa) of 0.04 and (sb) of 0.11, yielding an indirect effect of 0.049 calculated as 0.296 × 0.732. This confirmed the mediating role of customer engagement behavior. Similarly, customer citizenship behavior also acted as a mediator with a z-value of 2.38 and standardized effects of 0.06 and 0.09, resulting in an indirect effect of 0.14 calculated as 0.221 × 0.634. This further validated the mediating role of customer citizenship behavior. Overall, both customer engagement behavior and customer citizenship behavior significantly mediated the relationship between influencer alignment and purchase intention. Discussion of Results & ConclusionThe results indicated that alignment between influencers and their audience significantly impacted customer engagement behavior. Specifically, as alignment improved, customer engagement behavior also increased. Furthermore, this alignment positively influenced customer citizenship behavior; enhanced alignment led to greater customer citizenship behavior. Based on the findings related to customer engagement behavior, it was evident that this factor also affected purchase intention. In the context of influencer marketing, both customer engagement and citizenship behaviors—key components of value co-creation—exerted a positive influence on the purchase intentions of followers. Customer engagement behavior—particularly interaction, information sharing, and information seeking—played a crucial role in helping customers become familiar with brands or products endorsed by influencers. As a result, this familiarity could enhance customers' purchase intentions. Additionally, customer citizenship behavior influenced purchase intention; therefore, improving this behavior could also lead to increased purchase intentions among Instagram users. The alignment between influencers and their audience was linked to the mediating role of customer engagement in driving purchase intention. The results indicated that this alignment could directly affect purchase intention and, through the mediating effects of other variables, could indirectly encourage customer consumption. This study demonstrated that customer engagement behavior served as a mediator between influencer alignment and purchase intention. It is recommended that retail managers and marketing professionals create favorable conditions for value co-creation between influencers and customers to enhance perceived brand value and stimulate purchase intentions.
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