Processes underlying social comparison with influencers and subsequent impulsive buying: The roles of social anxiety and social media addiction
Abstract
Drawing on social comparison theory, this study investigates the associations between social comparison to influencers on social media and impulsive purchase behavior, through the mediating effect of anxiety and social media addiction. Data from 296 U.S. consumers were collected through an online survey. The findings show that negative social comparison to the image presented by influencers is positively associated with consumers’ impulse buying. Furthermore, anxiety and social media addiction mediated the impact of social comparison on purchase intention. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed.
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Impulse travellers are highly susceptible to immediate travel decisions after seeing influencer content.
“Impulse Travellers (Mundel et al. 2023) These tourists are highly susceptible to immediate travel decisions after seeing influencer content.”
From Influencer Marketing and Tourist Behaviour: A Systematic Literature Review of Attitudes, Intentions and Behaviours in Tourism (2026) · cites this paper as Mundel et al. 2023
Impulse travellers are likely to book trips quickly after engaging with promotions or offers.
“They are likely to book trips quickly after engaging with promotions or offers”
From Influencer Marketing and Tourist Behaviour: A Systematic Literature Review of Attitudes, Intentions and Behaviours in Tourism (2026) · cites this paper as Mundel et al. 2023
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- Authors
- Mundel, J., Wan, A., & Yang, J.
- Affiliations
- Arizona State University (US)
- Kansas State University (US)
- Loyola University Chicago (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mundel, Juan
- Venue
- Journal of Marketing Communications
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2023-02-24
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 834-851
- ISSN
- 1352-7266 (ISSN-L)
- 1466-4445
- OpenAlex
- W4321783284
- Cited by
- 42
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 11.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Marketing Communications (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Retail Behavior Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- social comparison, social media influencers, impulse buying, social anxiety, social media addiction, purchase intention, consumer behavior
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