Influencer effect on brand loyalty: The example of the fashion industry

In today's world, where the use of social media is becoming more and more widespread, consumers have started to gain the habit of following brands through social media. Consumers follow brands through influencers on social media and can even influence other potential customers by producing content. Brands that are aware of these developments use social media as a means of interacting with their current and potential consumers. In this context, the aim of the study is to determine the effect of the promotional activities carried out by the textile brands in the fashion sector through Influencers on creating brand loyalty. The basic assumption of the study is that Influencars have effects on creating brand loyalty. The main mass of the study is Instagram users between the ages of 18-38. Study data will be obtained using the survey method. The sample size of the study was calculated as 266 people using the sampling method by proportions. SPSS 26.0 program was used to analyze the data. In the analysis of the study data, percentage and frequency methods from descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used to determine the Influencer effect on brand loyalty. In addition, the differences between the levels of brand loyalty according to the demographic characteristics of the Influencer follower consumers were analyzed with the ANOVA method. According to the findings of the study, it was determined that the effects on the brand loyalty levels of the surveyed Influencer followers depend on the factors of purchase intention, Influencer identity, emotional commitment, behavioral commitment and cognitive commitment, respectively. In addition, the surveyed Influencer follower consumers have a high attitudinal commitment to the frequency of repeat purchases with the influence of Influencers. Therefore, there are secret loyalties to the brand among the consumers who participated in the survey. Influencers' use of their skills in interaction and awareness-raising in persuading the consumer to buy again and developing new strategies will increase the influence of influencers' brand loyalty.