Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP.

162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LAW,

GOVERNMENT AND
COMMUNICATION (IJLGC)
www.ijlgc.com

ELECTRONIC WORD-OF-MOUTH (eWOM):

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AFFECT CONSUMERS’
PURCHASE INTENTION

Nurul Hidayah Mohammad Zurin1, Nursafwah Tugiman2*

1
Department of Leadership & Competency Solutions, PETRONAS New Leadership Centre, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]
2
School of Multimedia Technology & Communication, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]
*
Corresponding Author

Article Info: Abstract:

Article history: With the growth of social media nowadays, a new type of celebrity known as
Received date: 16.10.2022 social media influencers has arisen. Social media influencers are more
Revised date: 07.11.2022 prominent than typical celebrities in that they developed their online character
Accepted date: 22.12.2022 and renown through the creation of content on social networking platforms.
Published date: 29.12.2022 Through their credibility, trustworthiness, and attractiveness, social media
influencers could influence their audience to purchase products or services
To cite this document:
they recommended through eWOM virality. However, some social media
Zurin, N. H. M., & Tugiman, N. influencers promote criminal scams among their followers, have fake
(2022). Electronic Word-of-Mouth followers/fake likes, low saturation rate, and non-disclosure of sponsorships
(eWOM): How Social Media which have caused the concerns. Therefore, this study intended to measure
Influencers Affect Consumers’ the effect of social media influencers (credibility, trustworthiness,
Purchase Intention. International attractiveness) on consumers' purchase Intention with eWOM virality as
Journal of Law, Government and moderator. The researcher developed an online questionnaire through Google
Communication, 7 (30), 162-181. Form to collect the data from 200 respondents of young adults between 18 to
30 years old with convenience sampling. By using SPSS, the researcher
DOI: 10.35631/IJLGC.730013. performed descriptive analysis, regression analysis (linear regression and
multiple regression), and T- Test on the collected data. Consequently, the
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 result findings demonstrate that all the variables were statistically significant
towards this research objective, and hypothesis, and successfully answered
this research question. These findings may be used as a reference for business
and marketing specialists to properly manage and execute their
communication strategy.

Keywords:

Consumer, eWOM, Purchase Intention, Social Media Influencer

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

1
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013

Introduction
The emergence of the Internet these days has created new types of communication channels
that allow people to produce and share user-generated content on a variety of social media
platforms. (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Social media platforms have grown in popularity as
one of the most popular marketing channels in which advertisements on the internet are
significantly more powerful than those on cable TV, and niche, since social media influencers
may influence more product sales than celebrities (Monella, 2021). In line with Media Kix
(2022), 80% of businesses find social media influencers as an effective marketing technique
because they help businesses achieve their goals. According to a survey from Inmar
Intelligence (2021) in Table 1 below, there were about 84% of consumers have purchased on
a recommendation of an influencer. The survey found that 61% of consumers believe in the
product/category experience of influencers, 52% of consumers said social media influencers
provide honest feedback even if they don't like the product, 47% of consumers said they can
connect with social media influencers, and 41% of consumers said they trust social media
influencers because they are genuine. Thus, approximately 49% of consumers have sought
help from social media influencers before making a purchase decision, indicating that
consumers are more likely to buy when they have received advice from individuals who they
believe (Clootrack, 2021).

Table 1: Key Findings from Inmar Intelligence (2021)

No. Key Findings Percentage
1 Consumers have purchased on a recommendation of an influencer 84%
2 Consumers believe in the product/category experience of influencers 61%
3 Consumers said social media influencers provide honest feedback even 52%
if they don't like the product
4 Consumers said they can connect with social media influencers 47%
5 Consumers said they trust social media influencers because they are 41%
genuine

With the growth of social media these days, a new form of celebrity has emerged known as
social media influencers. As expressed by Weismueller et al. (2020), Social media
influencers are more important than typical celebrities because they have developed their
character and online fame by creating content on social media platforms. Moreover, social
media influencers are different from traditional celebrities, who have established their fame
through traditional methods and use social media sites as an additional way to communicate
with their followers. Hence, social media influencers are the new growing trend in marketing
to communicate with consumers on social media (Wielki, 2020). They have revolutionized
the behaviour of the whole business and have become for many of them an essential element
of success.

The term “electronic word-of-mouth” (eWOM) was popularised in the mid-1990s when the
Internet began altering the way people connected (Chu, 2021). eWOM is commonly
characterised as consumers sharing and exchanging information about a product or company
through the Internet, social media, and mobile communication. Since it is effortless for
consumers to start discussions online, eWOM has been shown to increase retransmission
intentions that enable information to be sent widely and swiftly. As digital media and new
technology advance each day, eWOM has emerged as a vital part of advertising,
communication, and marketing research. Because eWOM spread by friends and family is
Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights
2
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
seen

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

3
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
as more trustworthy and credible than marketing ads, establishing good eWOM
communications has been identified as a significant promotional tactic. Consequently, social
media adds a new aspect to eWOM by making the experience more convenient for users to
share their ideas, whether it’s positive or negative (Sharma et al., 2011). As stated by Bilal et
al. (2021), consumers seem to easily read other users' opinions and feedback about their
eWOM experience. These opinions influence the customer's purchasing decision.
Consequently, it is very important to understand the key components that can significantly
influence the relationship between eWOM and consumer purchasing intentions of social
networking sites.

People almost probably had a predisposition in believing what other people said which is why
the marketing techniques using social media influencers had become such a powerful and
effective marketing approach (Thant, 2019). As outbound marketing became less popular and
inbound marketing became more prevalent, it had become one of the most effective ways for
obtaining consumers since the consumers nowadays are not the same as consumers in the
past. They did not pay attention to anything they heard on the radio or television. They also
did not pay attention to billboards and did not take most public information to the heart.
Indeed, some of them did, however, take attention to what others had to say. Therefore, the
research focuses on social media influencers who can be of great help for an inbound
marketing effort that affects consumer purchase intent in this study. With eWOM virality that
drives social media influencers in advertising products or services through their social media,
it possibly affects the consumers’ purchase intention either consciously or unconsciously.

Problem Statement
Some social media influencers promote criminal scams among their followers. Based on an
article from Okpattah (2021), he discovered how simple it was to strike deals with the
influencers since they published a post on the social media platforms that enticed individuals
to purchase some "fullz" which is a free sample of a method to stole information. Everyone
can purchase "fullz", an opening the dark web to everyone, from a social media influencer
and then use them to steal money from victims, deceive banks, sign up for internet
subscriptions, and perform a variety of other frauds (Panda Security, 2021). This confidential
information ends up in circulation in the first place because they are frequently obtained
through phishing schemes. Tricking people into disclosing sensitive information by
considering suspicious emails or SMS messages that appear to be genuine sources. Because
technology is so easy to access and use, many people become involved in digital crime,
harming individuals and organisations, and significantly increasing the risk of prosecution.

Influencer marketing has gained popularity over the years due to its ability to increase sales,
create quality content, and inspire trust with third parties. However, as the market grew,
several problems arose.

Tobin (2019) claimed that several concerns have surfaced as the market has evolved, and
three of the biggest factors are fake followers/fake likes, saturation rate, and non-disclosure of
sponsorships, which have been caused, at least to some extent according to how businesses do
by dealing with influencers. Businesses discovered that when the number of real or fake
followers increases, thus, engagement rates will be decreased. The authors also discussed
saturation rate, which is defined as the percentage of total influencer content sponsored.
People follow influencers for inspiration, discovery, and keeping up with the latest trends. He

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

4
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
claimed

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

5
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
that influencer engagement levels decline faster than reach when other businesses pay for all
content.

Besides, one of the most typical violations of marketing rules regarding social media
influencers is a lack of complete disclosure based on research from Nawi and Faizol (2019).
Indeed, the issue of lack of complete disclosure in influencer marketing activities has become
one of the most widespread infractions of marketing rules that have received a lot of
attention. Based on the article, the problems of social media influencers’ credibility and lack
of disclosure in their endorsement methods on their social media profiles are now rampant. In
Malaysia, no rule mandates influencers to disclose their sponsored/material relationship with
any business on social media. As there is no rule requiring full disclosure in influencer
marketing in Malaysia, social media influencers are not necessarily bound by such an
obligation. Moreover, Audrezet and Charry (2019) found that companies asked 28% of
influencers not to disclose their associations with their brands. Because they fear that such
disclosure will undermine the credibility of the content. What's interesting about this claim is
that the same article points out that consumers are now equally likely to purchase, whether
publicly available or not. Some statutory advertising notices indicate that the influencer they
choose is trustworthy as they know enough about the business associated with their brand.

For eWOM virality, the internet has developed both obstacles and possibilities. Jalilvand et
al. (2011) stated that eWOM enables customers to obtain information about products and
services not only from a small number of people they know but also from widely
geographically dispersed groups of individuals who have used similar products or services. A
survey from Nielsen (2015) reported that the majority of consumers believe that their online
search is as reliable as the company's official website. These studies show how powerful
eWOM is in influencing customer decisions. eWOM provides consumers with an alternative
source of information while limiting the ability of businesses to influence these consumers
through traditional marketing and advertising methods.

Research Question
Based on the previous discussion, this research is motivated to answer:

1) Does eWOM virality moderates the influencers’ credibility, trustworthiness, and

attractiveness toward consumers’ purchase intention?

Hypothesis Development
In an article on eWOM virality, Tong and Chang (2016) mentioned the product and temporal
effects of eWOM in viral marketing. Their findings give the following insights to assist
businesses to build communication efforts in the United States. Businesses should launch an
eWOM campaign as soon as feasible to get an early mover advantage despite representing a
small portion of the target consumer population, communicative, buzz-generating, and
trustworthy opinion leaders promote sales through propagating eWOM. On the other hand,
businesses should not organize for all opinion leaders to write reviews at the start of the
product acceptance process. Instead, businesses should collect eWOM from opinion leaders
over time and the eWOM intensity must be high.

Moreover, El-Baz et al. (2018) reported that consumers must accept the information provided
by the source and that for a source to be considered a reliable signal of quality or product

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

6
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
location, a source can and will consistently deliver what it promises and will be willing to
deliver. With such a powerful presence, eWOM has become a great force that can both
positively and negatively affect the reliability of a source. According to the study, eWOM
acts as an indicator of source reputation that provides information capable of affecting
consumers’ perceptions about a business. Therefore, the availability of more reliable sources
of information such as eWOM can be problematic if it contradicts the information provided
by the company itself. eWOM is a force that can harm or weaken a business, increase its
reputation, or help.

As specified by López and Sicilia (2014), the study found that perceived source
trustworthiness had a significant effect on the influence of eWOM on decision making. When
consumers view a source as very trustworthy, eWOM has a greater impact on decision
making than when consumers view it as less trustworthy. This report confirms previous
research that trusted sources are more convincing than less trusted sources. It also emphasizes
the importance of the perceived credibility of the source in the communication process when
the communicators are mostly anonymous. The receiver of eWOM’s opinion-seeking and
opinion-giving activities help to increase the amount of trustworthiness assessed from the
source.

Moreover, Lou and Yuan (2019) indicated that an influencer of social media physically
appealing to attracting and directing adepts in terms of recognition and acknowledgment from
the sponsored brand. Furthermore, the splendour of an influencer proven in snapshots on
social media systems which include Instagram is pretty essential for humans while finding
out whether or not to comply with new accounts. Consequently, a social media influencer’s
attractiveness has a useful impact on his or her power of influence (Djafarova & Rushworth,
2017). Bergkvist and Zhou (2016) stated that the attractiveness of a social media influencer
will increase persuasion, and so it is miles an extensive thing in endorsement effectiveness.
Based on the above dialogue and arguments, this takes a look at evolving the subsequent
hypothesis:

H1: eWOM virality will act as an interactive role with influencers (credibility,
trustworthiness, attractiveness) and consumers’ purchase intention. Specifically, the higher
(vs lower) eWOM virality, the stronger (vs lower) the social media influencers’ effect on
consumers’ purchase intention.

Literature Review

Consumers’ Purchase Intention

Keller (2001) suggests that a consumer preference to accumulate a product or service is
referred to as purchase intention. In other words, purchase intention involves a consumer's
decision to purchase a product or service after evaluating it. Many factors influence consumer
intentions when buying a product, and the final choice depends on consumer intention
combined with numerous internal or external influences. Dodds et al. (1991) explains that
consumers’ purchase intentions occur when they pretend to buy the product, or when they are
likely to buy the product, or when they are willing to buy the product. Purchase intention can
be studied in offline or online setting, such as retail shopping and ecommerce shopping. In
this study, we measure consumers’ purchase intention based on how social media influencers
influence consumer purchase intention (Abdullah, 2019). An analysis of the impacts of social

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

7
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
media micro-celebrities' advertising on consumers between the ages of 18 and 31 revealed
that the influence of followers had a favourable impact on consumers' opinions of suggested
products

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

8
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
and their intentions to acquire such items (Jiménez-Castillo & Sánchez-Fernández, 2019;
Masuda et al., 2022). Therefore, young consumers may be more influenced by social media
influencers in terms of purchase intentions.

Social Media Influencers

Based on a study by Senft (2008) that focused on micro-influencers, the author noted that an
influencer does not necessarily have to be a celebrity, journalist, or blogger. They might be an
ordinary person who has the ideal connections and social pull, rather than a superstar,
although these celebrities are the first to come to mind when it comes to social influence. She
also claimed that ordinary people who interact with their friends or social circle can be called
influencers, as well as journalists, professionals, and public figures with varying degrees of
notoriety.

In line with Lim et al. (2017), social media influencers are, to begin with, studied withinside
the subject of marketing and marketing to create publicity, especially in more youthful
markets, and boom the social media attain of companies. The influences of supply credibility,
supply attractiveness, product match-up, and which means transmission on consumers’
attitude and buy goal had been investigated in this study. They observed that social media
influencers have a fine effect on consumers` buy goals. That the respondents who have an
amazing mindset towards social media influencers are much more likely to buy the
influencers` promoted product.

In the report by Tamara et al. (2021), the attractiveness and trustworthiness of influencers
were found to have a beneficial effect on purchase intention. They claimed that the higher the
number of followers, the lower the relationship between attractiveness with purchase
intention and trust. In addition, the results of this study showed that the number of followers
has a direct effect on purchase intention. The number of subscribers is affected by certain
information, allowing consumers to accept and identify available and reliable information.
So, it starts with consumers who believe that buying a sellable product can lead to the
realization that influencers are more attractive and trustworthy. Hence, in this study can be
concluded that the influencer is measured in three dimensions which are credibility,
trustworthiness, and attractiveness of the influencers.

Social Media Influencers’ Credibility and Consumers’ Purchase Intention

Baker and Churchill (1977) pointed out that the credibility of the influencers has a major
impact on consumers’ purchase intentions and has positive evaluations. An influencer’s
credibility may be more important to message acceptance if the influencer in advertising is a
spokesperson for the product. The influencer in the advertisement in the study was merely a
model with no "personal attachment" to the advertisement. In terms of perception, attribution,
and reinforcement, a model should enhance the credibility of the message. However, if the
model has a direct connection to the message, such as in an advertisement with a testimonial
or personal endorsement, the effect may be enhanced. In this case, the message can be
evaluated more directly in terms of influencer credibility.

On the other hand, Petty and Andrews (2008) reported that consumers consider influencers
who receive cash payments to be less trustworthy than those who receive free samples or
coupons as a reward. Brands that pay influencers a direct monetary reward for their referral

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

9
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
contribution are generally perceived as “buying” a product, and influencers are perceived as
“selling” consumer trust in their company.

Social Media Influencers’ Trustworthiness and Consumers’ Purchase Intention

In the opinion of Wiedmann and von Mettenheim (2020), social media managers who want to
undertake influencer marketing should focus first on the trustworthiness of the influencers.
This research clarified brand managers to acquire a greater understanding of the precise
consequences of the criteria. The greatest and most important influence on brand image,
brand trust, and brand satisfaction is trustworthiness. Influencers should advocate a product
because they are persuaded of its worth, not solely because they will be paid. As a result,
transparency is another factor that influences trustworthiness in influencer marketing which is
accomplished through providing complete product information, creating views, and forming
relationships.

Zogaj et al. (2021) suggest that creating perceived trustworthiness with actual self-
congruence could benefit from matching consumers’ personalities. Zogaj and colleagues
(2021) work has notably contribute to the self-congruence literature by demonstrating how
real and the ideal self-congruence impact perceived trustworthiness and perceived
competence separately. As their first approach, they present a novel model that considers both
the primary elements of credibility as well as both dimensions of self-congruence. This
allows us to investigate the impact of real and ideal self-congruence on perceived
trustworthiness and competence. Previous research, on the other hand, has only looked at the
role of trustworthiness or competence, or equivalent characteristics like utilitarian value,
functional value, and expertise, or it has viewed credibility as a one-dimensional construct. It
can outline the reason underlying the impacts of actual and ideal self-congruence and show
significant distinctions in genuine and aspirational marketing methods for establishing the
sense of trustworthiness and competence through social media influencers.

Social Media Influencers’ Attractiveness and Consumers’ Purchase Intention

A study by Joseph (1982) reported that advertisers have conventionally chosen influencers
based on their physical attractiveness to influence consumer attitudes. The analysis of seven
experiments on opinion change and four experiments on advertising suggests that attractive
influencers contribute in a limited but important way to increasing the effectiveness of
communication. Specifically, this study has shown that people evaluate both the
advertisement and the advertised product more positively when attractive influencers are used
in advertising. This is because attractive influencers are consistently more popular, perceived
more positively, and have a greater positive impact on related products than unattractive
influencers. It turns out that attractive influencers tend to have more influence on consumers
than less attractive ones.

Besides, Chaiken (1979) revealed that male and female influencers who were physically
attractive or unattractive delivered a compelling message to consumers of each gender.
According to the results, attractive influencers elicited much stronger persuasion compared to
unattractive influencers on a verbal and behavioural measure of consumers agree. Data
collected from the consumers in this study revealed that physically attractive and unattractive
influencers differed in different communication skills and other attributes relevant to
communicator persuasions, such as cumulative grade point average, school aptitude test
results, and various self-assessment measures. These results imply that attractive influencers

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

10
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
may be more persuasive than unattractive influencers since they possess characteristics or
skills that make them particularly effective communicators to influence consumers.

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

11
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) Virality
One of the earliest and prominent work is from Hennig-Thurau et al. (2004) who define
eWOM communications as positive or negative statements about products or companies
made by potential, current or former customers and made available via the Internet to various
individuals and organisations. Using an online sample of around 2000 respondents,
information on the structure and significance of consumers' online expressions is acquired.
Hennig-Thurau et al. (2004) findings show that the most important factors influencing
eWOM behavior are consumers' desire for social interaction, their desire for economic
incentives, interest in other users, and their ability to increase self-esteem. eWOM providers
can also be classified according to their motives for action. This means that companies may
need to develop different methods to encourage eWOM behavior among different users.
Additionally, consumers’ reviews and social media influencers’ recommendations are
examples of eWOM since they represent consumers who share their product or service
experiences and assessments with other potential customers (Tseng et al., 2020; Wasiat &
Bertuah, 2022). Peer evaluations have been shown to assist potential consumers in making
purchasing decisions (Zhang et al., 2019). The lower perceived risk while increasing trust in
and attitude toward the items, the purchase intention would be higher (Qalati et al., 2021).

According to Buckley et al. (2012), the interest in word-of-mouth (WOM) and viral
marketing have substantially multiplied with the appearance of social media. The studies of
virality in this report employ a multi-method approach. Buckley and colleagues (2012) record
the traits of viral content material even as highlighting what drives social transmission via
way of means of combining a complete evaluation of virality in exercise with a sequence of
managed laboratory experiments. Buckley et al. (2012) findings make numerous
contributions to the prevailing literature addressing the continuing debate approximately
whether individuals generally tend to proportion advantageous or poor beliefs. Additionally,
Buckley and colleagues (2012) propose that advantageous information spreads extra even as
the famous assumption is that poor information is much more likely to be shared than
advantageous information. They locate that advantageous content material is much more
likely to be shared, even if they bear in mind the frequency of its occurrence. Therefore, it's
miles apparent that purchasers often proportion online content material, and that social
transmission impacts product adoption and sales.

As Alghizzawi (2019) confirmed, viral marketing and eWOM through social media platforms
influence consumer behavior and choices. The findings of this study and prior research in this
field underscore the importance of policymakers, marketers, and organisations paying special
attention to social communication platforms and opinions shared by consumers to recognize
all opinions. It also highlights the effectiveness of marketing through social media platforms,
especially with regard to consumer information or advertising. He reported that modern
technology has created new channels for communication between customers and marketers
with the emergence of social media platforms. Businesses should always have a way to
connect with consumers through the world's first social communication platform in terms of
dissemination and communication of information. Therefore, the importance of social
communication platforms has increased due to the impact on customers through eWOM and
viral marketing.

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

12
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Conceptual Framework

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of the Study

Methodology
In this research, quantitative research will be performed to answer the research objectives of
the study. This is a type of educational research in which the researcher decides what to
study, collects measurable data from participants through thorough and narrow questions,
then statistically evaluates these numbers and conducts the research fairly and objectively.
Therefore, quantitative research is suitable to utilise in this study since the insight derived
from concrete numerical data and analysis that designated to make judgments directly tied to
the study objectives.

This research applied convenience sampling as the research sampling method. As specified
by Lavrakas (2008), convenience sampling is a subset of non-probability sampling from
which people are chosen because they provide researchers with a convenient source of
accessibility data. Respondents were chosen because they were most readily available for
study, and the researchers did not consider selecting people typical of the general population.
It would be ideal in all methods of study to examine the whole population since the
population is just too enormous to include every individual in most circumstances. For an
online survey, 200 respondents per country is enough for the statistical analysis for a study
(Akter et al., 2021; Kasuma et al., 2020; Seninde, & Chambers, 2020). Therefore, a sample of
200 social media users of young adults from 18 to 30 years old in Malaysia is targeted and
provide sufficient data of convenience sampling in this study. A link to the online
questionnaire developed in Google Form was sent to the targeted respondents via group
WhatsApp or via direct message on social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter.
The respondents are a group of readily available respondents or self-selection of those
wanting to participate and volunteers in this study. Since this is a convenience sampling, the
results of the study could not be generalised to the social media user’s population in
Malaysia.

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

13
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Research Instruments and Questionnaire Development
Four items were adapted for the study for Section 1, which is the consumers' purchase
intention. Furthermore, Section 2 contains a total of 9 items. This section was divided into
three parts in social media influencers: Section 2(a): Social media influencers credibility,
Section 2(b): Social media influencers trustworthiness, and Section 2(c): Social media
influencers attractiveness. The questionnaire has three items in each of the divided parts.
Besides, in Section 3, there are five items applied for moderator, which is eWOM virality.
Furthermore, Section 4 will include nine question items on the respondent's basic
information, such as demographic profile.

Thus, the Likert scale would be a suitable outline in devising Section 1, Section 2, and
Section 3 of this questionnaire. Based on Joshi et al. (2015), the Likert scale is designed to
quantify “relationships” in a scientifically accepted and tested way. The questionnaire will be
developed to create the level of the consent of respondents to the choice of statements on five
scales: (1) Strongly disagree; (2) Disagree; (3) Neutral; (4) Agree; (5) Strongly agree.

The questionnaire is developed based past research. Particularly, section 1 measures

Consumers' purchase intention (Cronbach’s α = .716) (i. Social media influencers help me
make decisions better before purchasing prodcuts or services, ii. Social media influencers
increase my interest in purchasing products or services, iii. If I find out that the utility of a
product or service is larger than personal devotions in terms of money, time, and energy. I
will consider buying this product and service, iv. I am very likely to buy products or services
recommended by the influencers on social media platforms) (Abdullah, 2019).

Section 2 measures social media influencers (a) credibility (Cronbach’s α = .808) (i. I think
the social media influencers' characteristic is relevant for me to purchase their product or
service recommendation, ii. I think the social media influencers' characteristic is valuable for
me to purchase their product or service recommendation, iii. I think the social media
influencers' characteristic is mean a lot for me to purchase their product or service
recommendation) (b) trustworthiness (Cronbach’s α = .768) (i. I think the social media
influencers are reliable that interest me to purchase their product or service
recommendation, ii. I think the social media influencers are ethical that encourage me to
purchase their product or service recommendation, iii. I think the social media influencers
are knowledgeable about the products/services they endorse) and (c) attractiveness
(Cronbach’s α = .801) (i. I think the handsome/beautiful social media influencers attract me
to purchase their product or service recommendation, ii. I think the physically attractive
social media influencers captivate me to purchase their product or service recommendation,
iii. I think the glamourous social media influencers appeal to me to purchase their product or
service recommendation) (Gadalla, 2019).

Section 3 concluded the hypotheses of this study that proposed eWOM virality is the
moderator that impacted the relationship between independent variable towards dependent
variable, which is (H4) eWOM virality will act as an interactive role with influencers
(credibility, trustworthiness, attractiveness) and consumers’ purchase intention. Specifically,
the higher (vs lower) eWOM virality, the stronger (vs lower) the influencers’ effect on
consumers’ purchase intention. The questions taken from past studies by Abdullah (2019)
focused on how the eWOM impacted the social media influencers which may affect the
consumers’ decision- making to purchase the products or services. Section 3 measures

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

14
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
eWOM virality (Cronbach’s

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

15
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
α = .852) (i. When I buy products or services, I generally purchase those that I think others
will approve of, ii. I like to know what products or services make good impressions on others,
iii. If I want to be like someone, I often try to buy the same products or services that they buy,
iv. I achieve a sense of belonging by purchasing the same products or services that social
media influencers have purchased, v. I achieve a sense of belonging by purchasing the same
products or services that social media influencers have purchased) (Abdullah, 2019).

The last section, which is Section 4, will focus on the respondent’s basic information such as
demographic data. As stated by Salkind (2010), demographic information provides
information about study participants and is necessary to determine whether an individual in
each study is a representative sample of the target population for generalization purposes. It
applies to socioeconomic information that reflects different geographic locations, such as
population, race, income, education, and employment, and is often time limited. There are
nine questions for this section, such as gender, age, race, marital status, employment status,
social media usage (yes/no), social media that often use by respondents, asked respondents
whether they follow any influencers on social media and have they ever bought
product/service that is recommended by the social media influencers.

Data Collection
A Google form-based online questionnaire was created for the study's data collection. By
using convenience sampling method, a link to the online questionnaire was posted to the
researchers' WhatsApp group and through direct messaging on social media sites such as
Instagram and Twitter, which often feature social media influencers. 200 individuals between
the ages of 18 and 30 who use social media participated in this survey. The same questions
were asked to all respondents in the same sequence since the questions were standardised.
This implies that a questionnaire may be simply reproduced to test its reliability. The validity
of each item is determined by the topic's relevancy in the context of the respondents'
comprehension and is appraised in the questionnaire. If the questions are relevant to the
respondents' perspective and situation, then the addition of more options may improve the
scale's content and construct validity. Providing alternatives that are closer to the respondent's
initial point of view reduces the pressure of ambiguity in the replies.

Data Analysis and Results

Data
There were 64 (32%) male and 136 (68%) female respondents that were from the youth
group aged from 18 to 30 years old. The data were collected from 181 (90.5%) Malay, 8 (4%)
Indian, 7 (3.5%) Chinese, and 4 (2%) Others race respondents. Regarding the marital status
of the respondents indicates that 177 (88.5%) were single, 10 (5%) had engaged, and 13
(6.5%) had married. The employment status of the respondents shows that 37 (18.5%) are
employed, 7 (3.5%) are unemployed, 1 (0.5%) are self-employed, and 155 (77.5%) are
students.

All respondents reported to utilized social media which lead to TikTok as the most often used
social media app that chosen by 147 respondents (73.5%), followed by Instagram with 73
respondents (73%), Facebook with 115 respondents (59.5%), Twitter with 69 respondents
(34.5%), WeChat with 2 respondents (1%), WhatsApp with 2 respondents (1%), and Telegram
with 1 respondent (0.5%). There were 195 respondents (97.5%) did follow any influencer,

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

16
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
celebrity, or any other popular accounts on social media, meanwhile, there were 5
respondents

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

17
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
(2.5%) who claimed that they do not follow any influencer, celebrity, or any other popular
accounts on their social media. Majority of the respondents which was 174 respondents or
84% bought product or service that are recommended by the influencer in social media, while
the 44 remaining which was 26 respondents (13%) did not ever buy a product or service that
are recommended by the influencer in social media beforehand.

Multiple Regression with Dummy Variable Analysis

Reid and Allum (2019) reported that multiple regression can describe a dependent variable as
a linear function of two or more independent variables. In line with Rosenthal (2017),
multiple regression models and controls for the impact of additional independent variables
can involve interaction effects. Thus, multiple regressions were conducted to clarify the
research question “does eWOM virality moderates the influencers’ credibility,
trustworthiness, and attractiveness toward consumers’ purchase intention?” and answer
hypothesis “eWOM virality will act as an interactive role with influencers (credibility,
trustworthiness, attractiveness) and consumers’ purchase intention. Specifically, the higher
(vs lower) eWOM virality, the stronger (vs lower) the social media influencers’ effect on
consumers’ purchase intention”.

Therefore, the researcher applied dummy variable of eWOM virality into this multiple
regression using SPSS. This is because the dummy variable of eWOM virality is used to
predict the social media influencers affect on consumers’ purchase intention based on two
levels of eWOM virality which are low eWOM virality and high eWOM virality.

Dummy Variable Coding

As stated by Garavaglia et al. (1998), dummy variables are variables that can only have a
value of 0 or 1. A dummy variable is a numerical representation of a qualitative fact or
logical assertion. Thus, a dummy variable with a value of 0 in a regression model causes its
coefficient to disappear from the equation. Because of the identical feature of multiplication
by 1, a value of 1 leads the coefficient to operate as a supplemental intercept. In a linear
regression model, this form of specification helps define subgroups of observations with
various intercepts and/or slopes without creating separate models. Encoding all the
independent factors and moderators as dummy variables in logistic regression models enables
for easier interpretation and computation of odds ratios and increases.

Therefore, the researcher recoded all independent variables which are social media
influencers’ credibility, trustworthiness, and attractiveness, as well as the moderator which is
eWOM virality into different variables using SPSS. Dummy variables coding was performed
to categorize or group of independent variables and a moderator which represent the variables
into a higher level of measurement that focuses on the low and high to meet the research
hypothesis. Through this, the independent variables and moderator can reassign the values of
existing variables into new values such as 0 and 1 for a new variable. Hence, the researcher
will place a value of 0 as low to a value that is less than the median value, as well as a value
of 1 as high to a value that is more than the median value. Once dummy variables have been
recoded, the researcher will be used dummy variables to carry out regression analysis in this
study to answer research question.

Results
As presented in Table 2, the model summary has four predictors which is a moderator:

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

18
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
eWOM virality, and three independent variables: (i) social media influencers’ credibility,
(ii) social

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

19
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
media influencers’ trustworthiness, and (iii) social media influencers’ attractiveness. The
value of (R = .789) in this table indicates a good level of prediction. Thus, the value of R
square of (R2 = .622) could be interpreted that 62.2% of the variability variance of dependent
variables which is consumers’ purchase intention is explained by the independent variables
and moderator. It also demonstrates that the value of the adjusted R square is (=.614),
implying that 61.4% of the variation in the outcome variable is explained by the predictors
retained in the model.

Table 2: Model Summary Results

Model R Adjusted F df1 df2 Sig. F
R Square R change Change
Square
.789 .622 .614 80.245 4 195 .000

According to Table 3, the F value in the ANOVA tests whether the overall regression model
is a good fit for the data. The table shows that the independent variables and moderator
statistically significantly predict the dependent variable, (F = 80.245; p = .00). As a result, the
regression model provides a strong influence on consumers’ purchase intention.

Table 3: ANOVA
Sum of
Model Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 43.378 4 10.844 80.245 .000b
Residual 26.352 195 .135
Total 69.730 199
a. Dependent Variable: Consumers’ Purchase Intention
b. Predictors: (Constant), eWOM Virality (Dummy), Social Media Influencers’
Trustworthiness, Social Media Influencers’ Attractiveness, Social Media
Influencers’ Credibility

As indicated in Table 4, all the variables are presented have less value than (p = < .05) which
means they are statistically significant to the prediction. Both social media influencers’
attractiveness and social media influencers’ trustworthiness have the same significant value
with (p = .00), meanwhile social media influencers’ credibility with (p =.020), and eWOM
virality with (p = .011). Hence, the highest contributing predictor in coefficient β is social
media influencers’ attractiveness with (β = .263), followed by social media influencers’
trustworthiness with (β = .232), and social media influencers’ credibility with (β = .120). This
demonstrates the moderator, eWOM virality, has remarkably interacted with the dependent
variable, which is consumers’ purchase intention, as well as its independent variables, which
are social media influencers’ credibility, social media influencers’ trustworthiness, and social
media influencers’ attractiveness.

Consequently, the coefficient β value of eWOM virality shows that it is positive with (β =
.159). Therefore, the researcher has interpreted the effects of eWOM virality in the findings
as a positive effect on independent variables toward dependent variable. Multiple regression
was also run to predict the consumers’ purchase intention from social media influencers’
credibility, social media influencers’ trustworthiness, and social media influencers’
attractiveness which eWOM virality (dummy variable) act as an interactive role.

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

20
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Consequently, the model

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

21
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
statistically significantly has justified the hypothesis of this research which is eWOM virality
will act as an interactive role with influencers (credibility, trustworthiness, attractiveness) and
consumers’ purchase intention. Specifically, the higher (vs lower) eWOM virality, the
stronger (vs lower) the social media influencers’ effect on consumers’ purchase intention.

Table 4: Multiple Regression Analysis Result

Unstandardise Standardised Collinearity
d Coefficients Coefficients Correlations Statistics
Zero
-
Std. orde
Model B Error Beta t Sig. r Partial Part Tolerance VIF
1 (Constant) 1.50
.174 8.652 .000
7
Social Media
Influencers’ .120 .051 .147 2.340 .020 .597 .165 .103 .494 2.024
Credibility
Social Media
Influencers .232 .053 .277 4.409 .000 .659 .301 .194 .489 2.044
Trustworthiness
Social Media
Influencers’ .263 .035 .411 7.459 .000 .694 .471 .328 .637 1.569
Attractiveness
eWOMVirality
(Dummy) .159 .062 .134 2.556 .011 .496 .180 .113 .706 1.416
a. Dependent Variable: PurchaseIntention

Conclusion, Research Limitations and Further Suggestions

Conclusion
eWOM virality is a moderator that is embodied as crucial part which could impact the social
media influencers (credibility, trustworthiness, and attractiveness) on consumers’ purchase
intention in this study. This is because eWOM virality will influence the relationship between
the independent variable and dependent variable. This study demonstrated that there are
statistically significant in eWOM virality acting as a moderator between social media
influencers’ (credibility, trustworthiness, and attractiveness) on consumers’ purchase
intention. It has been clearly demonstrated that the fourth hypothesis, (H4) eWOM virality
will act as an interactive role with influencers (credibility, trustworthiness, attractiveness) and
consumers’ purchase intention. Specifically, the higher (vs lower) eWOM virality, the
stronger (vs lower) the social media influencers’ effect on consumers’ purchase intention.

eWOM virality is seen to influence the social media influencers (credibility, trustworthiness,
and attractiveness) toward consumers’ purchase intention among the social media users of
young adults between 18 to 30 years old in Malaysia since the T-Test and multiple regression
analysis revealed that the moderator has positively influenced the relationship between the
independent variables and dependent variable which is significant. The positive relationship
demonstrated that the eWOM virality is responding the social media influencers (credibility,
trustworthiness, and attractiveness) toward consumers’ purchase intention among social
media users of young adults in Malaysia.

This result has brought a new finding that shows the importance of eWOM virality influencing
social media influencers toward consumers’ purchase intention since there were limited data
Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights
22
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
of eWOM virality as a moderator. However, the researcher can relate this result with previous
studies from Zhou et al. (2021) have discovered social media influencers is a key stakeholder
who is increasingly working with businesses to improve the marketing initiatives of eWOM
communications. This shows that social media influencers are creating eWOMs to offer and
promote their products and services to consumers. In line with, eWOM communication using
social networks is immensely effective at influencing product or service purchases. When a
consumer is pleased with a purchase, they might influence others in their social circle to buy
from the same brand. When they were dissatisfied, they would discourage their social circle
from purchasing a thing that did not fulfil their wants and expectations. Therefore, based on
the result findings, the researcher concluded that the higher eWOM virality, the stronger the
social media influencers’ (credibility, trustworthiness, and attractiveness) effect on
consumers’ purchase intention.

Research Limitations
This study produced a substantial amount of updated data that has benefited both
theoretically and practically with the consumers' purchase intention, social media influencer
(credibility, trustworthiness, and attractiveness), and eWOM virality topics. Although this
research has certain limitations, several issues are addressed here for prospective future
research on the topic.

First and foremost, this study applied the convenience sampling method to speed up the data
collection process and be cost-effective. Convenience sampling is a subset of non-probability
sampling that makes non-random selections based on convenience sampling or other
considerations, allowing data to be retrieved more efficiently (McCombes, 2019). Hence, the
questionnaire was circulated to instantly available respondents from the researchers’ personal
networks via messaging applications and social media accounts. Since the researchers used
non-probability to collect the sample of the data, it should be noted that the acquired data is
skewed to some extent and may not fully represent the total research population even though
statistical generalizations about the whole research population were drawn from a sample of
200 respondents online. The results of this study are almost certainly influenced by certain
characteristics of certain social groups and may not apply to all young people in Malaysia.
Therefore, researchers have no way of determining how close the sample values are to the
values of the population, which increases the risk of bias.

Besides, another limitation concern was the lack of previous research that constitutes eWOM
virality as a moderator to social media influencers on consumers’ purchase intention. The
researchers have encountered difficulties referencing needed information in this study since
there was inadequate data towards eWOM virality. Nevertheless, the researchers have
explored, examined, and studied similar research under the eWOM communications topic to
undergo this study.

Further Suggestions
Researchers would like to emphasise various points of view to enhance improvement in
future studies. To begin with, the researcher suggests conducting the same sort of study using
probability sampling rather than non-probability sampling since it was a limitation for this
study. According to Laerd Dissertations (2012), probability sampling refers to a set of
sampling strategies that enable researchers to choose units at random from a population to
investigate using probabilistic approaches. It may be fair for further studies to use probability

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

23
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
sampling to

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

24
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
generalize the results. This helps to avoid potential sampling bias, which would limit the
capacity of future studies to generalize from the sample to the population. To reduce
sampling bias, probabilistic approaches are utilised, in which units from the population are
chosen at random, to give each unit an equal chance of being chosen. To accomplish this, a
population list must be obtained, and the sample frame must be the same as or similar to the
population being investigated. Unbiased random selection of respondents is important for
accurately representing the entire population and has the virtue of becoming convenient to
employ.

Additionally, it would be noteworthy if future studies were to incorporate a broader range of

consumers, as well as perhaps other generation groups especially older generations to provide
a more reliable set of findings. It would be a fantastic opportunity since younger and older
adults may have different perspectives at any given time. Generational groups make it
possible for further studies to determine how today's older generations felt about a particular
subject when they were younger, as well as define how the trajectory of views may differ
across generations. Welchlin (2022) stated that each generation experienced significant
occurrences throughout their initial years. These occurrences and trends have influenced how
each generation perceives the world. Therefore, the older generation has had first-hand
experience with being change agents and thinks that individuals can make a difference.
Hence, with older generations as a new sample and population in further studies, it may bring
new insightful findings in consumers’ purchase intention, social media influencer, and
eWOM virality.

Moreover, further studies may carry out a replication of this study in qualitative research to
see if the outcomes are the same with this study. Qualitative research is intended to interpret
all the videos by quantifying and analysing variables to get results. According to Palmer and
Bolderston (2006), qualitative research is an interpretive approach that seeks to gain insight
into specific meanings and behaviours experienced in specific social phenomena through the
subjective experiences of participants. Qualitative research is usually used to explore new
phenomena and capture thoughts, feelings, or interpretations of people's meanings and
processes. Qualitative studies, therefore, allow eWOM to act as a mediator in the collection
of qualitative data, making further studies of the impact of social media influencers on
consumer purchasing intentions much more exploratory. It enables data collection to be
triggered by further studies' intuition on where valuable information might be discovered
more in-depth.

References
Abdullah, L. (2019). The Effect of eWOM on Consumer Trust and Purchasing Intention
Online.
Akter, S., Ashrafi, T., & Waligo, V. (2021). Changes in consumer purchasing behavior due to
COVID-19 pandemic. Changes, 77, 33-46.
Alghizzawi, M. (2019). A Survey of the Role of Social Media Platforms in Viral Marketing:
The Influence of eWOM. In International Journal of Information Technology and
Language Studies (IJITLS) (Vol. 3, Issue 2). http://journals.sfu.ca/ijitls
Audrezet, A., & Charry, K. (2019, August 29). Do Influencers Need to Tell Audiences
They’re Getting Paid? Havard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/08/do-
influencers-need- to-tell-audiences-theyre-getting-paid
Baker, M., & Churchill, G. A. (1977). The Impact of Physically Attractive Models on

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

25
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Advertising EvaIuations. Journal Marketing Research, 14(4), 538–555.

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

26
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Bergkvist, L., & Zhou, K. Q. (2016). Celebrity Endorsements: A Literature Review and
Research Agenda. International Journal of Advertising, 35(4), 642–663.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2015.1137537
Bilal, M., Jianqiu, Z., Dukhaykh, S., Fan, M., & Trunk, A. (2021). Understanding the Effects
of eWOM Antecedents on Online Purchase Intention in China. Information, 12(5),
192. https://doi.org/10.3390/info12050192
Chaiken, S. (1979). Communicator Physical Attractiveness and Persuasion. In Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 37, Issue 8).
Chu, S.-C. (2021). Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM). In Communication. Oxford
University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0267
Clootrack. (2021). How does Social Media Influence Consumer Behavior? Clootrack.
https://clootrack.com/knowledge_base/how-does-social-media-influence-consumer-
behavior/
Djafarova, E., & Rushworth, C. (2017). Exploring the Credibility of Online Celebrities’
Instagram Profiles in Influencing the Purchase Decisions of Young Female Users.
Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.009
Dodds, W. B., Monroe, K. B., & Grewal, D. (1991). Effects of Price, Brand, and Store
Information on Buyers’ Product Evaluations. Journal of Marketing Research, 28(3),
307. https://doi.org/10.2307/3172866
El-Baz, B. E.-S., Elseidi, R. I., & El-Maniaway, A. M. (2018). Influence of Electronic Word
of Mouth (e-WOM) on Brand Credibility and Egyptian Consumers’ Purchase
Intentions. International Journal of Online Marketing, 8(4), 1–14.
https://doi.org/10.4018/IJOM.2018100101
Gadalla, E. (2019). Persuasive or not? The Effect of Social Media Influencer’s Credibility on
Consumer Processing and Purchase Intention.
Garavaglia, S. B., Dun, A. S., & Hill, B. M. (1998). A Smart Guide to Dummy Variables:
Four Applications and a Macro.
Hennig-Thurau, T., Gwinner, K. P., Walsh, G., & Gremler, D. D. (2004). Electronic Word-
of- Mouth via Consumer-Opinion Platforms: What Motivates Consumers to Articulate
Themselves on the Internet? Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18(1), 38–52.
https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.10073
Inmar Intelligence. (2021, June). Inmar Intelligence Survey Finds 84 Percents of Shoppers
have made a Purchase Based on an Influencer’s Recommendation. Inmar Intelligence.
https://www.inmar.com/blog/press/inmar-intelligence-survey-finds-84-percent-
shoppers-have-made-purchase-based- influencers#:~:text=The%20survey%20found
%20that%2084,to%20connect%20with
%20their%20audiences.
Jalilvand, M. R., Esfahani, S. S., & Samiei, N. (2011). Electronic Word-of-Mouth:
Challenges and Opportunities. Procedia Computer Science, 3, 42–46.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2010.12.008
Jiménez-Castillo, D., & Sánchez-Fernández, R. (2019). The role of digital influencers in
brand recommendation: Examining their impact on engagement, expected value and
purchase intention. International Journal of Information Management, 49, 366–376.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.07.009
Joseph, W.B. (1982), “The Credibility of Physically Attractive Communications: A Review”,
Journal of Advertising, 11(3), 15-24.

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

27
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and
Opportunities of Social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003
Kasuma, J., Kanyan, A., Khairol, M., Sa'ait, N., & Panit, G. (2020). Factors influencing
customers intention for online shopping. International Journal of Modern Trends in
Business Research, 3(11), 31-41.
Keller, K. L. (2001). Building Customer-Based Brand Equity: A Blueprint for Creating
Strong Brands.
Kumari, K., & Yadav, S. (2018). Linear Regression Analysis Study. Journal of the Practice of
Cardiovascular Sciences, 4(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.4103/jpcs.jpcs_8_18
Laerd Dissertations. (2012). Probability Sampling. Laerd Dissertations.
https://dissertation.laerd.com/probability-sampling.php
Lavrakas, P. J. (2008). Convenience Sampling. In Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods.
Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412963947.n105
Lim, X. J., Mohd Radzol, A. R. bt, Cheah, J.-H. (Jacky), & Wong, M. W. (2017). The Impact
of Social Media Influencers on Purchase Intention and the Mediation Effect of
Customer Attitude. Asian Journal of Business Research, 7(2).
https://doi.org/10.14707/ajbr.170035
López, M., & Sicilia, M. (2014). eWOM as Source of Influence: The Impact of Participation
in eWOM and Perceived Source Trustworthiness on Decision Making. Journal of
Interactive Advertising, 14(2), 86–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2014.944288
Lou, C., & Yuan, S. (2019). Influencer Marketing: How Message Value and Credibility
Affect Consumer Trust of Branded Content on Social Media. Journal of Interactive
Advertising, 19(1), 58–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2018.1533501
Masuda, H., Han, S. H., & Lee, J. (2022). Impacts of influencer attributes on purchase
intentions in social media influencer marketing: Mediating roles of characterizations.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 174, 121246.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121246
McCombes, S. (2019, September 19). Sampling Methods | Types and Techniques Explained.
Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/sampling-methods/
Media Kix. (2022). Influencer Marketing Effectiveness: Key Survey Finds, Facts & Figures
[Infographics]. Media Kix. https://mediakix.com/blog/influencer-marketing-
effectiveness/
Monella. (2021, February). Are Social Media Influencers Still Relevant? Celeb Mix.
https://celebmix.com/are-social-media-influencers-still-relevant/
Nawi, N. F., & Faizol, A. (2019). Influencer Marketing: The Case for Regulation in
Malaysia. https://www.heepsy.com/ranking/top-
Nielsen. (2015). Global Trust in Advertising: Winning Strategies for an Envolving Media
Landscape.
Okpattah, K. (2021, August 16). Social Media Fraud: The Influencers Promoting Criminal
Scams. BBC Panorama. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58223499
Palmer, C., & Bolderston, A. (2006). A Brief Introduction to Qualitative Research. Canadian
Journal of Medical Radiation Technology, 37(1), 16–19.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0820-5930(09)60112-2
Panda Security. (2021, September). Social Media Fraud: Are Influencers Trying to Scam
You? Panda Security. https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/social-
media/influencers-scam-you/

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

28
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Petty, R. D., & Andrews, J. C. (2008). Covert Marketing Unmasked: A Legal and Regulatory
Guide for Practices That Mask Marketing Messages. American Marketing
Association, 27(1), 1547–7207.
Reid, A.-K., & Allum, N. (2019). Learn About Multiple Regression With Dummy Variables
in Stata With Data From the General Social Survey (2012). SAGE Publications, Ltd.
https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526471802
Rosenthal, S. (2017). Regression Analysis, Linear. In The International Encyclopedia of
Communication Research Methods (pp. 1–15). Wiley.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118901731.iecrm0208
Salkind, N. J. (2010). Demographics. In Encyclopedia of Research Design. SAGE
Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412961288.n108
Seninde, D. R., & Chambers, E. (2020). Comparing Four Question Formats in Five
Languages for On-Line Consumer Surveys. Methods and Protocols, 3(3), 49.
https://doi.org/10.3390/mps3030049
Senft, T. M. (2008). Camgirls: Celebrity and Community in the Age of Social Networks.
Lang. Sharma, R. S., Morales-Arroyo, M., & Pandey, T. (2011). The Emergence of
Electronic Word- of-Mouth as a Marketing Channel for the Digital Marketplace. Journal of
Information, Information Technology, and Organisations (Years
1-3), 6, 41–61.
https://doi.org/10.28945/1695
Tamara, D., Rafly, R., & Mersi, A. (2021). Attractiveness, Trustworthiness and Purchase
Intention in Social Media Instagram: The Moderating Role of The Number of
Followers. Syntax Idea, 3(8), 1824. https://doi.org/10.36418/syntax-idea.v3i8.1453
Thant, P. S. (2019). Impact of Influencer Marketing and its eWOM in Digital Marketing.
Tobin, J. (2019, October 14). Three Influencer Marketing Problems That Brands Themselves
Have Created. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2019/10/14/three-influencer-
marketing-problems-that-brands-themselves-have-created/?sh=3e8c583f6a3e
Tong, T. B., & Chang, T. S. (2016). The Product and Timing Effects of eWOM in Viral
Marketing. International Journal of Business, 21(2), 99–111.
Tseng, T. H., Chang, S. H., Wang, Y. M., Wang, Y. S., & Lin, S. J. (2020). An Empirical
Investigation of the Longitudinal Effect of Online Consumer Reviews on Hotel
Accommodation Performance. Sustainability, 13(1), 193.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010193
Wasiat, F. A. I., & Bertuah, E. (2022). Pengaruh Digital Marketing, Social Media Influencer
Terhadap Niat Beli Produk Fashion Pada Generasi Milenial Melalui Customer Online
Review di Instagram. SINOMIKA Journal: Publikasi Ilmiah Bidang Ekonomi dan
Akuntansi, 1(3), 513-532.
Weismueller, J., Harrigan, P., Wang, S., & Soutar, G. N. (2020). Influencer Endorsements:
How Advertising Disclosure and Source Credibility Affect Consumer Purchase
Intention on Social Media. Australasian Marketing Journal, 28(4), 160–170.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2020.03.002
Welchlin, K. (2022). Why are the Generations so Different? Midwest Speakers Bureau.
https://www.speakernow.com/why-are-the-generations-so-different-by-kit-welchlin/#
Wiedmann, K. P., & von Mettenheim, W. (2020). Attractiveness, Trustworthiness and
Expertise – Social Influencers’ Winning Formula? Journal of Product and Brand
Management, 30(5), 707–725. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2019-2442
Wielki, J. (2020). Analysis of the Role of Digital Influencers and Their impact on the

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

29
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Functioning of the Contemporary Online Promotional System and Its Sustainable

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

30
 Volume 7 Issue 30 (December 2022) PP. 162-181
DOI 10.35631/IJLGC.730013
Development. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(17).
https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177138
Zhang, Z., Liang, S., Li, H., & Zhang, Z. (2019). Booking now or later: Do online peer
reviews matter? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 77, 147–158.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.06.024
Zogaj, A., Tscheulin, D. K., & Olk, S. (2021). Benefits of Matching Consumers’ Personality:
Creating Perceived Trustworthiness via Actual Self-Congruence and Perceived
Competence via Ideal Self-Congruence. Psychology and Marketing, 38(3), 416–430.
https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21439

Copyright © GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (M) SDN BHD - All rights

31