The Impact of Authenticity and Credibility Factors on Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Fashion Industry on Weibo--Taking Micro-Influencers and Mega-Influencers as Examples

Min Chen

doi:10.54254/2754-1169/91/20241077

Research Article

Open access

Published on 16 July 2024

Download pdf

Chen,M. (2024). The Impact of Authenticity and Credibility Factors on Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Fashion Industry on Weibo--Taking Micro-Influencers and Mega-Influencers as Examples. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,91,322-328.

Export citation

The Impact of Authenticity and Credibility Factors on Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Fashion Industry on Weibo--Taking Micro-Influencers and Mega-Influencers as Examples

Min Chen *^,1,

¹ Northeastern University

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

https://doi.org/10.54254/2754-1169/91/20241077

Abstract

This study investigates the comparative influence of micro-influencers against mega-influencers on consumer behavior within the sustainable clothing industry on Weibo, and tries to reveal how authenticity and credibility factors shape purchasing decisions. This study utilizes qualitative research through semi-structured interviews with 8 participants (influencers and consumers) to highlight the integral key functions of influencers’ authenticity and marketing strategies in the sustainable fashion sector. It is found that micro-influencers who are believed to be genuine and more trustworthy, affect consumer buying decisions more than macro-influencers who have a wide reach but may not be seen as genuine enough. The study emphasizes the significance of strategic relationships with influencers, highlighting the imperative process of aligning with influencers whose values resonate with the brand and the audience. Nonetheless, the research realizes the limitations, namely, the small sample size and focus on a specific social media platform and proposes other studies to consider a wide population and different social media platforms.

Keywords

Consumer Behavior, Sustainable Fashion Industry, Micro-Influencers, Mega-Influencers

View pdf

References

[1]. Wang, X., Yu, G., & Yu, Y. (2021). Exploring the marketing strategy for the promotion of a new mobile game: love and producer on sina weibo. Social Network Analysis and Mining, 11, 1-17.

[2]. Park, J., Lee, J. M., Xiong, V. Y., Septianto, F., & Seo, Y. (2021). David and Goliath: When and why micro-influencers are more persuasive than mega-influencers. Journal of Advertising, 50(5), 584-602.

[3]. Jacobson, J., & Harrison, B. (2022). Sustainable fashion social media influencers and content creation calibration. International Journal of advertising, 41(1), 150-177.

[4]. Li, W., Zhao, F., Lee, J. M., Park, J., Septianto, F., & Seo, Y. (2024). How micro-(vs. mega-) influencers generate word of mouth in the digital economy age: The moderating role of mindset. Journal of Business Research, 171, 114387.

[5]. Harris, I. (2023). The Effectiveness of Mega Influencers, Macro Influencers, and Micro Influencers in Forming Brand Evangelists. Jurnal Ilmiah Manajemen Ubhara, 5(02), 254-263.

[6]. Conde, R., & Casais, B. (2023). Micro, macro and mega-influencers on instagram: The power of persuasion via the parasocial relationship. Journal of business research, 158, 113708.

[7]. Rathore, B. (2018). Allure of Style: The Impact of Contemporary Fashion Marketing on Consumer Behaviour. International Journal of New Media Studies: International Peer Reviewed Scholarly Indexed Journal, 5(2), 10-21.

[8]. Liu, M. (2022). Determining the role of influencers’ marketing initiatives on fast fashion industry sustainability: The mediating role of purchase intention. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 940649.

[9]. Park, J., Lee, J. M., Xiong, V. Y., Septianto, F., & Seo, Y. (2021). David and Goliath: When and why micro-influencers are more persuasive than mega-influencers. Journal of Advertising, 50(5), 584-602.

[10]. Ge, J. (2024). Influencers Marketing and its Impacts on Sustainable Fashion Consumption Among Generation Z. Journal of Soft Computing and Decision Analytics, 2(1), 118-143.

[11]. Rungruangjit, W., & Charoenpornpanichkul, K. (2022). Building stronger brand evangelism for sustainable marketing through micro-influencer-generated content on Instagram in the fashion industry. Sustainability, 14(23), 15770.

[12]. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for business students. Pearson education.

[13]. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

[14]. Abed, M. G. (2015). A Consideration to Two Main Ethical Issues in Educational Research, and How May These Be Addressed. Journal on Educational Psychology, 8(3), 1-14.

[15]. Gerlich, M. (2023). The Power of Personal Connections in Micro-Influencer Marketing: A Study on Consumer Behaviour and the Impact of Micro-Influencers. Gerlich, M.(2023). The Power of Personal Connections in Micro-Influencer Marketing: A Study on Consumer Behaviour and the Impact of Micro-Influencers, Transnational Marketing Journal, 11(1), 131-152.

[16]. Johnstone, L., & Lindh, C. (2022). Sustainably sustaining (online) fashion consumption: Using influencers to promote sustainable (un) planned behaviour in Europe's millennials. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 64, 102775.

Cite this article

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer/Publisher's Note

The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Management Research and Economic Development

Conference website: https://www.icmred.org/

ISBN：978-1-83558-479-8(Print) / 978-1-83558-480-4(Online)

Conference date: 30 May 2024

Editor：Canh Thien Dang

Series: Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences

Volume number: Vol.91

ISSN：2754-1169(Print) / 2754-1177(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).