The effect of social media influencers on followers as a source and channel in advertising: An examination in the context of persuasion knowledge

Today, due to the advancements of communication technologies and digitalization, a variety of changes occur in almost every field. Because of these changes, brands start to collaborate with social media influencers that allow them to reach consumers in more effective, fast, and affordable ways. The influencers are a bridge between brands and their consumers in an ecosystem where consumers are exposed to excessive amount of persuasive messages and often choose to skip the ads. In this persuasive process, the fact that the influencers advertise brands via sponsored content reveals the importance of persuasion knowledge of their followers. As a matter of fact, persuasion knowledge may reduce the positive attitudes of consumers and positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention towards the brands in sponsored content when it is active. In this study conducted in the context of Instagram, the effect of influencer credibility and advertising content value on followers' persuasion knowledge and eWOM intention was examined. In the research, one of the mixed method designs, the explanatory sequential design was used. In the quantitative phase of the study, the research model was tested through structural equation modeling with the data of 551 followers. In the qualitative phase of the study, certain findings obtained from the quantitative phase were examined in detail via semi-structured interviews with 36 followers. Consequently, the quantitative findings indicated that advertising content value and influencer credibility had an effect on followers' persuasion knowledge and positive eWOM intention, while the persuasion knowledge had no effect on positive eWOM intention. However, the qualitative findings showed that followers' persuasion knowledge had a role in positive eWOM intention, and that the role could be valid under certain conditions.