CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 12Digital Marketing and Social MediaConsumer Perception and Purchasing BehaviorEnvironmental Sustainability in Business

How do social media influencers’ credibility and brand trust drive purchase intentions for green cosmetics? Insights from SOBC approach

Open access
Khurana, Tripta, Pannu, Sonia, Dalal, Garima, Vyas, Pooja, Rani, Priya·2025·NMIMS Management Review
DOI 10.1177/09711023251352318
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Social media influencers significantly impact consumer behaviour, particularly in the realm of green cosmetics. This research uses the stimuli–organism–behaviour–consequence model to examine how social media influencers’ credibility dimensions affect brand trust, how brand trust influences consumers’ purchase intentions for green cosmetics and how these purchase intentions impact their willingness to pay a premium price. The stimuli–organism–behaviour–consequence model is unique in the milieu of green cosmetics. It was applied to examine 208 responses obtained through a structured questionnaire. The analysis was conducted using the covariance-based structural equation modelling method. The study found a positive association, as hypothesized, among the constructs considered, which include stimuli (source credibility dimensions), organism (brand trust), behaviour (purchase intention) and consequence (willingness to pay a premium price). The results of this study have the potential to aid stakeholders in the cosmetics sector by improving their strategies for promoting and selling green cosmetics with environmentally friendly attributes.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/09711023251352318

Cites

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Social media influencers are central conduits for sustainability messaging, yet the processes by which their content converts attention into green consumer action remain insufficiently specified.

    “Social media influencers are central conduits for sustainability messaging, yet the processes by which their content converts attention into green consumer action remain insufficiently specified (Khurana et al., 2025;Kılıç and Gürlek, 2024;Wang and Walker, 2023).”

    From Cross-national evidence on influencer-driven green choice: a moderated-mediation model of authenticity, parasocial ties, and greenwashing exposure (2026) · cites this paper as Khurana et al., 2025

    The Conclusions (page not provided) say influencers educate followers about the environmental advantages of green cosmetics and encourage adoption. The Introduction (page not provided) identifies a gap in understanding how influencer credibility, brand trust, and purchase intentions relate in that market. The paper does not examine a transition from attention to actual green consumer action, and its stated research gap is specific to green cosmetics rather than sustainability messaging generally. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet

References 107 · Cited by 12

Research works printed but not linked: 86

  1. Acquisti A., & Spiekermann S. (2011). Do interruptions pay off? Effects of interruptive ads on consumers’ willingness to pay. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 25(4), 226–240.
  2. Ali A., Xiaoling G., Sherwani M., & Ali A. (2018). Antecedents of consumers’ Halal brand purchase intention: An integrated approach. Management Decision, 56(4), 715–735.
  3. Al Mamun A., Naznen F., Yang Q., Ali M. H., & Hashim N. M. H. N. (2023). Modelling the significance of celebrity endorsement and consumer interest on attitude, purchase intention, and willingness to pay a premium price for green skincare products. Heliyon, 9(6), e16765. a [...] their moral and environmental principles b [...] composition follows the existing literature
  4. Argyris Y. A., Muqaddam A., & Miller S. (2021). The effects of the visual presentation of an influencer’s extroversion on perceived credibility and purchase intentions—Moderated by personality matching with the audience. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 59, 102347.
  5. Astrachan C. B., Patel V. K., & Wanzenried G. (2014). A comparative study of CB-SEM and PLS-SEM for theory development in family firm research. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 5(1), 116–128.
  6. Bakker D. (2018). Conceptualising influencer marketing. Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management, 1(1), 79–87.
  7. Bandura A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191.
  8. Barber N., Kuo P. J., Bishop M., & Goodman Jr R. (2012). Measuring psychographics to assess purchase intention and willingness to pay. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 29(4), 280–292.
  9. Bergkvist L., & Zhou K. Q. (2016). Celebrity endorsements: A literature review and research agenda. International Journal of Advertising, 35(4), 642–663.
  10. Chae H., Kim S., Lee J., & Park K. (2020). Impact of product characteristics of limited edition shoes on perceived value, brand trust, and purchase intention; focused on the scarcity message frequency. Journal of Business Research, 120, 398–406.
  11. Chaudhuri A., & Holbrook M. B. (2001). The chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance: The role of brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing, 65(2), 81–93. a [...] customers may have regarding a brand b [...] brand loyalty and purchase commitment c [...] scale developed by Chaudhuri and Holbrook d [...] Chaudhuri & Holbrook
  12. Cheah I., & Phau I. (2011). Attitudes towards environmentally friendly products: The influence of ecoliteracy, interpersonal influence and value orientation. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 29(5), 452–472.
  13. Cheung C. M., Lee M. K., & Rabjohn N. (2008). The impact of electronic word-of-mouth: The adoption of online opinions in online customer communities. Internet Research, 18(3), 229–247.
  14. Chin P. N., Isa S. M., & Alodin Y. (2020). The impact of endorser and brand credibility on consumers’ purchase intention: The mediating effect of attitude towards brand and brand credibility. Journal of Marketing Communications, 26(8), 896–912.
  15. Dam T. C. (2020). Influence of brand trust, perceived value on brand preference and purchase intention. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business (JAFEB), 7(10), 939–947.
  16. Davis T. R., & Luthans F. (1980). A social learning approach to organizational behavior. Academy of Management Review, 5(2), 281–290. a [...] behaviour is modified by the outcomes b [...] Initially introduced by Davis and Luthans c [...] punishing effects of a behavioural pattern d [...] Davis and Luthans
  17. Dhir A., Talwar S., Sadiq M., Sakashita M., & Kaur P. (2021). Green apparel buying behaviour: A stimulus–organism–behaviour–consequence (SOBC) perspective on sustainability-oriented consumption in Japan. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(8), 3589–3605.
  18. Dodds W. B., Monroe K. B., & Grewal D. (1991). Effects of price, brand, and store information on buyers’ product evaluations. Journal of Marketing Research, 28(3), 307–319.
  19. Doney P. M., & Cannon J. P. (1997). An examination of the nature of trust in buyer–seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 61(2), 35–51.
  20. Duong C. D. (2024). Using a unified model of TPB, NAM and SOBC to understand students’ energy-saving behaviors: Moderation role of group-level factors and media publicity. International Journal of Energy Sector Management, 18(1), 71–93.
  21. Dwivedi A., & Johnson L. W. (2013). Trust–commitment as a mediator of the celebrity endorser–brand equity relationship in a service context. Australasian Marketing Journal, 21(1), 36–42.
  22. Dwivedi A., Johnson L. W., & McDonald R. (2016). Celebrity endorsements, self-brand connection and relationship quality. International Journal of Advertising, 35(3), 486–503.
  23. Ebrahim R. S. (2020). The role of trust in understanding the impact of social media marketing on brand equity and brand loyalty. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 19(4), 287–308.
  24. Farzin M., Bagheri Abbassalikosh A., Sadeghi M., & Makvandi R. (2023). The effect of sensory brand experience and brand equity on WTP a price premium in Iranian fast food restaurants: Mediating role of eWOM. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 26(3), 528–548.
  25. Fornell C., & Larcker D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.
  26. Garg M., & Bakshi A. (2024). Exploring the impact of beauty vloggers’ credible attributes, parasocial interaction, and trust on consumer purchase intention in influencer marketing. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1–14.
  27. Guerreiro J., & Pacheco M. (2021). How green trust, consumer brand engagement and green word-of-mouth mediate purchasing intentions. Sustainability, 13(14), 7877.
  28. Ha H. Y. (2004). Factors influencing consumer perceptions of brand trust online. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 13(5), 329–342.
  29. Habibi M. R., Laroche M., & Richard M. O. (2011). The roles of brand community and community engagement in building brand trust on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 37, 152–161. https://doi.org.10.1016/j.chb.2014.04.016 · DOI
  30. Hafez M. (2021). The impact of social media marketing activities on brand equity in the banking sector in Bangladesh: The mediating role of brand love and brand trust. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 39(7), 1353–1376.
  31. Hair J. F., Black W. C., Babin B. J., & Anderson R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Pearson. a [...] ratio recommended by Hair et al. b [...] interactions among multiple latent factors
  32. Hair J. F., Ringle C. M., & Sarstedt M. (2013). Partial least squares structural equation modeling: Rigorous applications, better results and higher acceptance. Long Range Planning, 46(1–2), 1–12.
  33. Hajli N., Shanmugam M., Papagiannidis S., Zahay D., & Richard M. O. (2017). Branding co-creation with members of online brand communities. Journal of Business Research, 70, 136–144.
  34. Hanaysha J. R. (2022). Impact of social media marketing features on consumer’s purchase decision in the fast-food industry: Brand trust as a mediator. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 2(2), 100102.
  35. Han H., Hsu L. T. J., & Lee J. S. (2009). Empirical investigation of the roles of attitudes toward green behaviors, overall image, gender, and age in hotel customers’ eco-friendly decision-making process. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(4), 519–528.
  36. Hayes R. A., & Carr C. T. (2015). Does being social matter? Effects of enabled commenting on credibility and brand attitude in social media. Journal of Promotion Management, 21(3), 371–390.
  37. Henseler J., Ringle C. M., & Sarstedt M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 115–135.
  38. Hovland C. I., Janis I. L., & Kelley H. H. (1953). Communication and persuasion. Springer.
  39. Hudson S., Huang L., Roth M. S., & Madden T. J. (2016). The influence of social media interactions on consumer–brand relationships: A three-country study of brand perceptions and marketing behaviors. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 33(1), 27–41.
  40. Husted B. W., Russo M. V., Meza C. E. B., & Tilleman S. G. (2014). An exploratory study of environmental attitudes and the willingness to pay for environmental certification in Mexico. Journal of Business Research, 67(5), 891–899.
  41. Kai S. B., Chen O. B., Chuan C. S., Seong L. C., & Kevin L. L. T. (2013). Determinants of willingness to pay of organic products. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 14(9), 1171–1179. a [...] the scale from the study of Kai et al.
  42. Kang S., & Hur W. M. (2012). Investigating the antecedents of green brand equity: A sustainable development perspective. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 19(5), 306–316.
  43. Kanwar A., & Huang Y. C. (2022). Indian females’ inclination towards cosmetic brands purchase intention influenced by celebrity endorsement through perceived quality and brand trust. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 11(3), 61–80.
  44. Khan S., & Salim A. (2021). Saudi females’ buying behavior of green cosmetics: A pertinent motivational aspect. Journal of Marketing Communications, 27(6), 594–606.
  45. Khurana T., Pannu S., & Dalal G. (2024). Social media influencer marketing: Building a deeper understanding through bibliometric analysis. Vision. https://doi.org/10.1177/09722629231225567 · DOI
  46. Ki C. W. C., Cuevas L. M., Chong S. M., & Lim H. (2020). Influencer marketing: Social media influencers as human brands attaching to followers and yielding positive marketing results by fulfilling needs. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 55, 102133.
  47. Kim J., & Lennon S. J. (2013). Effects of reputation and website quality on online consumers’ emotion, perceived risk and purchase intention: Based on the stimulus-organism-response model. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 7(1), 33–56.
  48. Klabi F., & Binzafrah F. (2022). The mechanisms for influencing green purchase intention by environmental concern: The roles of self-green image congruence and green brand trust. South Asian Journal of Management, 16(1), 76–101.
  49. Kline R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.
  50. Kotler P., & Armstrong G. M. (2010). Principles of marketing. Pearson Education. a [...] to make a purchase marks a pivotal step b [...] ). Moreover, Kotler and Armstrong
  51. Lee C., Kim J., & Chan-Olmsted S. M. (2011). Branded product information search on the Web: The role of brand trust and credibility of online information sources. Journal of Marketing Communications, 17(5), 355–374. a [...] consumers’ word-of-mouth activity b [...] more inclined to make subsequent purchases c [...] any uncertainty they may be experiencing
  52. Leite F. P., & Baptista P. D. P. (2022). The effects of social media influencers’ self-disclosure on behavioral intentions: The role of source credibility, parasocial relationships, and brand trust. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 30(3), 295–311.
  53. Limbu Y. B., Pham L., & Nguyen T. T. T. (2022). Predictors of green cosmetics purchase intentions among young female consumers in Vietnam. Sustainability, 14(19), 12599.
  54. Lin Y., Yang S., Hanifah H., & Iqbal Q. (2018). An exploratory study of consumer attitudes toward green cosmetics in the UK market. Administrative Sciences, 8(4), 71.
  55. Lou C., & Yuan S. (2019). Influencer marketing: How message value and credibility affect consumer trust of branded content on social media. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 19(1), 58–73. a [...] sports, food, reviews, education and more b [...] effects and purchase intentions (PIs) c [...] increase trust in their product reviews
  56. Luk S. T., & Yip L. S. (2008). The moderator effect of monetary sales promotion on the relationship between brand trust and purchase behaviour. Journal of Brand Management, 15, 452–464. a [...] it is that they will think favourably of it b [...] idea is further supported by Luk and Yip
  57. Makvandi R., & Farzin M. (2022). Applying qualitative approach to identify the characteristics of effective messages in eWOM communications. Management Matters, 19(1), 1–12.
  58. Marsh H. W., Hau K. T., & Wen Z. (2004). In search of golden rules: Comment on hypothesis-testing approaches to setting cutoff values for fit indexes and dangers in overgeneralizing Hu and Bentler’s (1999) findings. Structural Equation Modeling, 11(3), 320–341. a [...] Marsh et al. b [...] Marsh et al.
  59. Mattson M. (2005). A review of: Perloff, R. M. (2003). ‘The dynamics of persuasion: Communication and attitudes in the 21st century’. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730500228987 · DOI
  60. Mehrabian A., & Russell J. A. (1974). An approach to environmental psychology. The MIT Press.
  61. Minocha S., Singh A., & Banerji R. (2025). Buying behavior of Indian females toward natural personal care products: The moderating role of buying frequency. Jindal Management Journal, 14(1), 116–134.
  62. Moorman C., Zaltman G., & Deshpande R. (1992). Relationships between providers and users of market research: The dynamics of trust within and between organizations. Journal of Marketing Research, 29(3), 314–328.
  63. Morgan R. M., & Hunt S. D. (1994). The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 20–38.
  64. Munnukka J., Uusitalo O., & Toivonen H. (2016). Credibility of a peer endorser and advertising effectiveness. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 33(3), 182–192. a [...] is based on the research of Munnukka et al. b [...] Munnukka et al. c [...] Munnukka et al. d [...] Munnukka et al.
  65. Murwaningtyas F., Harisudin M., & Irianto H. (2020). Effect of celebrity endorser through social media on organic cosmetic purchasing intention mediated with attitude. KnE Social Sciences, 152–165. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v4i3.6393 · DOI
  66. Nagvanshi S., Gupta N., & Popli S. (2023). Social media influencer marketing toward customers’ purchase intention: A case of sustainable cosmetic brands. Dynamic Relationships Management Joswurnal, 12(2). https://doi.org/10.17708/DRMJ.2023.v12n02a06 · DOI
  67. Nuryakin N., Md Saad M. S., & Maulani M. R. (2023). Purchase intention behavior of halal cosmetics. Comparing study between Indonesia and Malaysia millennial generation. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 15(8), 1266–1292.
  68. Ohanian R. (1990). Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers’ perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. Journal of Advertising, 19(3), 39–52. a [...] ). According to Ohanian b [...] attractiveness and expertise
  69. Panda D. K. (2024). A systems approach to examine microentrepreneurship development through stimulus-organism-behavior-consequence (SOBC) theory. International Journal of Social Economics, 51(5), 604–622.
  70. Panopoulos A., Poulis A., Theodoridis P., & Kalampakas A. (2022). Influencing green purchase intention through eco labels and user-generated content. Sustainability, 15(1), 764.
  71. Pickett-Baker J., & Ozaki R. (2008). Pro-environmental products: Marketing influence on consumer purchase decision. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 25(5), 281–293.
  72. Prakash G. (2025). Publication trends and green cosmetics buying behaviour: A comprehensive bibliometric analysis. Heliyon, 11(2), e41513.
  73. Ramshida A. P., & Manikandan K. (2014). Cosmetics usage and its relation to sex, age and marital status. International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research, 3(3), 46–55.
  74. Rani P., Pannu S., Dalal G., Vyas P., & Khurana T. (2024). Predicting behavioural intention towards electric vehicle adoption in India: A unified TAM-SOBC framework. NMIMS Management Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/09711023241308416 · DOI
  75. Rebelo M. F. (2017). How influencers’ credibility on Instagram is perceived by consumers and its impact on purchase intention (Master’s thesis, Universidade Catolica Portuguesa (Portugal)).
  76. Roberts J. A. (1996). Green consumers in the 1990s: Profile and implications for advertising. Journal of Business Research, 36(3), 217–231.
  77. Robinson S. L. (1996). Trust and breach of the psychological contract. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(4), 574–599.
  78. Saima, & Khan M. A. (2020). Effect of social media influencer marketing on consumers’ purchase intention and the mediating role of credibility. Journal of Promotion Management, 27(4), 503–523. a [...] as social media influencer (SMI) marketing b [...] effects and purchase intentions (PIs) c [...] SMIs’ credibility dimensions as stimulus
  79. Shamdasani P., Chon-Lin G. O., & Richmond D. (1993). Exploring green consumers in an oriental culture: Role of personal and marketing mix factors. ACR North American Advances, 20(1), 488–493.
  80. Stewart K. J. (2003). Trust transfer on the world wide web. Organization Science, 14(1), 5–17. a [...] through association or recommendation b [...] organization is extended to another target
  81. Sun Y., & Xing J. (2022). The impact of social media information sharing on the green purchase intention among generation Z. Sustainability, 14(11), 6879.
  82. Talwar S., Jabeen F., Tandon A., Sakashita M., & Dhir A. (2021). What drives willingness to purchase and stated buying behavior toward organic food? A stimulus–organism–behavior–consequence (SOBC) perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 293, 125882. a [...] constructs along with cognitive processes b [...] that causes a particular reaction or action
  83. Tan Z., Sadiq B., Bashir T., Mahmood H., & Rasool Y. (2022). Investigating the impact of green marketing components on purchase intention: The mediating role of brand image and brand trust. Sustainability, 14(10), 5939.
  84. Weismueller J., Harrigan P., Wang S., & Soutar G. N. (2020). Influencer endorsements: How advertising disclosure and source credibility affect consumer purchase intention on social media. Australasian Marketing Journal, 28(4), 160–170.
  85. Ye G., Hudders L., De Jans S., & De Veirman M. (2021). The value of influencer marketing for business: A bibliometric analysis and managerial implications. Journal of Advertising, 50(2), 160–178.
  86. Yılmazdoğan O. C., Doğan R. Ş., & Altıntaş E. (2021). The impact of the source credibility of Instagram influencers on travel intention: The mediating role of parasocial interaction. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 27(3), 299–313.

Authors
Khurana, T., Pannu, S., Dalal, G., Vyas, P., & Rani, P.
Affiliations
  • Maharshi Dayanand University (IN)
  • Department of Management, BPSMV, Sonepat, Haryana, India
Corresponding author
Rani, Priya
ORCID
Venue
NMIMS Management Review
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2025-08-07
Volume
33
Issue
3
Pages
171-185
ISSN
  • 0971-1023 (ISSN-L)
  • 3049-5040
DOI
10.1177/09711023251352318
OpenAlex
W4413121589
Cited by
12
References
107
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 2
FWCI
20.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • NMIMS Management Review (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Perception and Purchasing Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
Keywords
social media influencers, influencer credibility, brand trust, purchase intention, green cosmetics, willingness to pay premium, consumer behavior, sustainable products

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review