Abstract:

Along with the increase in the number of consumers interacting with social media platforms, the successful interaction of influencers, which are expressed as social media influencers, with their followers has been widely used in marketing activities. In this study, the effect of physical attractiveness, social attractiveness and attitudinal homophily of influencers on the reliability of influencers and the effect of trust on consumers' behavioral intentions were examined. The quantitative research method was used in the study. A questionnaire was used as a data collection tool in the study. In the online survey, 318 valid data were obtained. LISREL8.5 package program was used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the research, it has been seen that the physical attractiveness, social attractiveness and attitude homophily of the influencers positively affect the reliability of the influencer. In addition, it has been concluded that the reliability of the influencer positively affects the consumers' recommendation intention and purchase intention. In this study, the proposed model contributes to the marketing literature theoretically. Practically speaking, it has been attempted to provide practitioners interested in influencer marketing with information on influencer characteristics that can influence credibility, which has a significant impact on consumers' behavioral intentions. Practitioners will be more effective on the behavioral intentions of consumers with the selection of highly reliable influencers.

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