Influencer marketing: brand control, commercial orientation and post credibility

Leveraging social media influencers allows companies to provide information on their products in a more social and interactive way. Yet, scholarly research on the implications of the effect of influencers on consumer trust, their interest and the purchase decision process is still in its infancy. This study proposes a theoretical model to explain how perceived brand control over an influencer’s post and the perceived commercial orientation of such a post affects consumer trust in influencers. Results show that trust of the influencer is reduced more by the post’s perceived commercial orientation than perceived brand control of the influencer’s post. Although perceived brand control also reduces the willingness to search for more information. The results also show that trust of the influencer is salient in predicting post credibility, which in turn predicts interest and willingness to search for more information.