The effect of non-celebrity influencers’ perceived authenticity on social media advertising outcomes

This study proposes a conceptual framework to understand the effect of the perceived authenticity of non-celebrity social media influencers (SMIs) on followers’ attitudinal and behavioral intentions. This model explores the role of three antecedents of SMIs’ perceived authenticity (i.e. expertise, post objectivity, brand-influencer congruence) and examines their effect on the latter, which impacts advertising effectiveness. This study reveals trustworthiness as an important factor that explains the relationship between SMIs’ perceived authenticity and advertising outcomes. A SEM analysis of survey data from 310 Instagram users in the U.S. supports the proposed model. The results show that SMI’s expertise, post objectivity, and brand-influencer congruence are positively associated with perceived authenticity. This perceived authenticity is positively associated with followers’ perception of SMI’s trustworthiness, affecting followers’ responses, including their attitude toward the post and purchase intention of the endorsed brand. This framework establishes the role of perceived authenticity as a key driver of effective advertising content.