Size does Matter: How do Micro-influencers Impact Follower Purchase Intention on Social Media?

Social media influencers have become a significant source of information for customers and a prevalent marketing tool for brands. It is crucial to explore factors that affect the follower’s purchase intention of the products endorsed by social media influencers. Recently, micro-influencers have gained recognition for their authenticity and relatability when compared with their established counterparts, such as macro- or mega-influencers. Increasing organizations also see the value micro-influencers can bring to their brands via more interaction with their target customers. Based on the parasocial interaction theory, we propose that the perceived credibility and transparency of micro-influencers enhance followers’ purchase intention through the mediation of parasocial interaction. Parasocial interaction is a kind of psychological relationship in which followers consider influencers as their friends, regardless of their limited interactions with those influencers. Our findings indicate that parasocial interaction between micro-influencers and their followers positively impacts purchase intentions of recommended products. It is also found that perceived micro-influencer credibility and transparency positively affect followers’ parasocial interaction with micro-influencers. Implications of our findings are discussed.