Effects of Social Media Influencers on Consumers’ Purchase Intention: a Cross Country Analysis

Lim, Zheng Hao (2022) Effects of Social Media Influencers on Consumers’ Purchase Intention: a Cross Country Analysis. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Influencer marketing is getting more widespread since people were inclined to shift their businesses online. This paper investigates the effects of social media influencers on consumers’ purchase intention in various countries by looking at how the factors such as social media advertising expenditure, internet access, social media users, gross domestic product, and human capital index influence the e-commerce sales revenue. Panel data has been applied in this study which includes 100 observations in total, consisting of 25 countries ranging from 2017 to 2020, analysed using R programming language and relevant packages. Several tests such as F-test, Breusch-Pagan Lagrange Multiplier (LM) Test, and Durbin-Wu-Hausman Test are used to examine whether the data suit pooled regression model, fixed effects model, or random effects model better. Also, several appropriate diagnostic tests such as Pesaran CD Test, Breusch-Godfrey Test, and Breusch-Pagan Test are applied in this research to test for cross-sectional dependence, serial correlation, and heteroscedasticity respectively. This study reveals that there is a positive link between internet access and Facebook users per capita with e-commerce sales revenue. In contrast, Instagram users per capita and gross domestic product per capita are found to affect the e-commerce sales revenue negatively. According to the findings, the government should actively disseminate knowledge and information related to e-commerce to individuals and businesses in order to streamline the adoption of e-commerce among the public. Also, e-commerce sellers should utilize the advantages of social media platforms properly to increase their brand awareness