| Abstract [eng] |
This thesis tackles a pivotal point within social commerce, the social commerce employment of influencers versus the social commerce employment of employee-ambassadors, and the social commerce lack of clarity regarding the influence of source type and message quality on consumers' intention to purchase. A primary aim of this thesis was to operationalise a proposed integrated SCT–ELM–TPB–S-O-R model, where the stimuli of message credibility and the quality of arguments influence (a) brand trust, (b) attitude toward the message, and (c) perceived authenticity, which, in turn, predict purchase intention. For this purpose, this study (1) organised the most recent body of work on social media persuasion and the interrelated concepts of the credibility of social media, argumentation, trust, and social media authenticity, (2) developed, and formulated, hypotheses and a multi-group model, and (3) empirically assessed the model within two source conditions. A scenario-based online survey experiment was executed (N = 312), in which participants were randomly assigned to either an influencer post group or an employee-ambassador post group, and subsequently completed validated measures on a 7-point scale. Data were examined employing CFA, and SEM, with bootstrapped indirect effects and multi-group analysis. The results confirmed the proposed mediation model: the credibility of the message and the quality of the arguments positively influenced brand trust and attitude, and these organismic variables, particularly brand trust, were the most powerful predictors of purchase intention. Perceived authenticity affected purchase intention, while in both groups, the quality of the arguments did not significantly predict authenticity. Source type mattered: employee-ambassador posts were perceived as more authentic, and the credibility-trust relation was significantly stronger in the employee-ambassador condition. The results suggest that brands should focus on building trust and authenticity that positively affect purchase intentions by using employee-ambassadors to convey credible and richly informative messages. |
