The Effects of Social Network Relationships and Social Media Influencer Characteristics on Consumer Purchase Intention in The Chinese Online Community

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the mediating effects of consumer attachment and perceived value on the relationship among social network relationships, social media influencer characteristics, and consumer purchase intention in the Chinese online community. Furthermore, this research was to examine whether consumer attachment and perceived value plays a mediating role in the relationship between social network relationships, social media influencer characteristics, and consumer purchase intention. The population consisted of consumers in the Chinese online community who buy cosmetics products marketed on a social network platform. The samples were 600 respondents to a survey collected by an online questionnaire. The statistics used to analyze data were descriptive and structural equation model analysis. The study results revealed that social network relationships positively influence consumer purchasing intentions through consumer attachment and perceived value. This indicates that consumer attachment plays a mediating role in the influence of social network relationships on consumers' purchase intentions. However, the social media influencer characteristics has no significant impact on perceived value. Therefore, perceived value also plays no mediating role in the effect of social media influencer characteristics on consumer purchase intentions. Furthermore, it was found that consumer attachment and perceived value have a chain mediating role between social network relationships and consumer purchase intentions. The research findings indicate that social media influencer marketing plays a significant role within social networks. They also provide a chain mediation model that reveals the complex connection between consumer attachment, perceived value in the relationship between social network relationships, and consumer purchase intentions. This model enriches the existing theoretical framework of consumer behaviour by understanding the multidimensional impacts of consumer behaviour in the context of social networks. Moreover, it can also offer novel concepts for marketing managers to build online marketing strategies for the Chinese cosmetics sector.