Impact of Social Media Influencer Marketing on Purchase Intention: Special Reference to Skin Care Brands

Abstract

Social Media Influencer marketing has been an ever-featured strategy by marketers since early 2000’s. With the rising cut-throat competition, social media influencers have been a common technique of promoting brands in the Sri Lankan context. Due to this condition marketer do not hesitate to spend large chunks of cash on recruiting these social media influencers to endorse their brands through various social media platforms. In Sri Lanka social media influencers varying from celebrities to macro, micro and nano influencers used to endorse brands to influence consumer buying behavior. Even though social media influencer marketing is being used across different industries, skin care is one of the most sensitive and cautious segments marketers have to focus on. Therefore, this study focuses on identifying the impact of social media influencer marketing on consumer purchase intention when it comes to skin care products as face creams and body lotions. Through the study it also identifies the key attributes of a social media influencer which drives the effectiveness of endorsed brands. The study mainly focuses on achieving its set objectives and six key hypotheses. A survey was conducted selecting 705 respondents around 8 provinces in Sri Lanka and the findings were generated followed by inferential statistical tools.