The matching effect of influencer style and product type on purchase: the mediating role of processing fluency
摘要
Live streaming has rapidly emerged as a crucial marketing tool for E-commerce enterprises. However, the previous research on influencer styles that have a significant impact on consumer behavior is controversial. Broadly, influencer style can be categorized into entertainment-oriented and professional-oriented based on their content output form. Given the impact variability of influencer styles across products, this paper classifies products into search goods and experience goods, according to how consumers acquire product information. Based on the elaboration likelihood model, this research investigates the interactive effect of influencer style and product type on consumer purchase intention, along with the underlying mechanisms. Utilizing secondary data and laboratory research, it was found that an entertainment-oriented influencer enhances the purchase intention for experience goods by improving consumers’ processing fluency. And a professional-oriented influencer increases purchase intention for search goods through processing fluency. This study contributes to the literature on E-commerce influencer and offers theoretical guidance for enterprises.