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Cited by 11Digital Marketing and Social MediaConsumer Behavior and Marketing InfluenceConsumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification

Influencer credibility, parasocial relationships, and product involvement in purchase intentions

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Tripopsakul, Suchart, Hoonsopon, Danupol·2025·Emerging Science Journal
DOI 10.28991/esj-2025-09-04-021
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Abstract

The increasing influence of social media influencers (SMIs) on consumer purchase intentions has become a crucial topic in marketing research, particularly in understanding the mechanisms that drive this effect. This study examines how SMI credibility—defined by trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness—affects consumer purchase intentions through the mediating role of parasocial relationships (PSRs) and the moderating role of product involvement. A survey of 205 Thai social media users was conducted, and data were analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that SMI credibility positively impacts purchase intentions and strengthens PSRs, which partially mediate this relationship. Moreover, the moderating role of product involvement uncovers a conditional mediation effect: PSRs have a stronger influence on purchase intentions for low-involvement products, where emotional appeals are more effective than rational evaluations. In contrast, for high-involvement products, consumers prioritize cognitive processing and influencer expertise, weakening the impact of PSRs. This research enhances influencer marketing literature by incorporating emotional and cognitive pathways within a mediated-moderated framework. Practically, it highlights the importance of aligning influencer strategies with product involvement, recommending emotionally engaging influencers for low-involvement products and credibility-driven influencers for high-involvement products to maximize marketing effectiveness.

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  • This sequence reflects a progression from cognitive appraisal to affective engagement to dispositional trust to behavioral intent, consistent with recent empirical findings.

    “This sequence reflects a progression from cognitive appraisal to affective engagement to dispositional trust to behavioral intent, consistent with recent empirical findings from Sharkasi and Rezakhah (2023) and Tripopsakul and Hoonsopon (2025).”

    From Understanding consumer purchase intention in social media influencer marketing: the mediating role of parasocial relationship and trust in the Moroccan context (2026) · cites this paper as Tripopsakul and Hoonsopon, 2025

    The Structural Model Assessment reports a significant path from influencer credibility through parasocial relationships to purchase intention, supporting a progression from credibility to emotional engagement to behavioral intent. It does not test dispositional trust as a separate stage after emotional engagement; trustworthiness is instead a component of the initial credibility measure (Assessment of the Lower-Order Constructs). (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Tripopsakul and Hoonsopon (2025) confirm that credibility and parasocial relationships jointly predict purchase intentions through both emotional and cognitive pathways.

    “Tripopsakul and Hoonsopon (2025) confirm that credibility and parasocial relationships jointly predict purchase intentions through both emotional and cognitive pathways, while Masuda et al. (2022) identify characterizations as key mediating mechanisms.”

    From Understanding consumer purchase intention in social media influencer marketing: the mediating role of parasocial relationship and trust in the Moroccan context (2026) · cites this paper as Tripopsakul and Hoonsopon, 2025

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Research works printed but not linked: 39

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Tripopsakul, S., & Hoonsopon, D.
Affiliations
  • Bangkok University (TH)
  • Chulalongkorn University (TH)
ORCID
Venue
Emerging Science Journal
Publisher
Ital Publication
Published
2025-08-01
Volume
9
Issue
4
Pages
2132-2144
ISSN
2610-9182 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.28991/esj-2025-09-04-021
OpenAlex
W4413856648
Cited by
11
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 1
FWCI
12.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Emerging Science Journal (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior and Marketing Influence
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Keywords
social media influencers, influencer credibility, parasocial relationships, product involvement, purchase intention, moderated mediation, emotional appeal, cognitive processes, trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, influencer marketing

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