The role of social media influencers in purchase intentions of social media users

: A study of purchases from influencers' virtual boutiques in Qatar

Abstract

The emergence of social media influencers has significantly altered the marketing landscape in terms of tactics and the environment for the promotion of goods and services. This research explores the novel phenomenon, "Influencers Virtual Boutiques", which appeared in the Gulf Cooperation Council area in the past few years, as an example of social commerce. The unique environment of Qatar provides the context for the study and data collection in this research. One of the study's main objectives was to thoroughly explore and analyse the influencers' virtual boutiques, a new phenomenon in the Middle East. The study also aimed to pinpoint the primary variables that drive business owners’ choices of influencers to launch virtual boutiques on their platforms. Through the qualitative methods, in-depth interviews were conducted with the two business owners who own virtual boutique platforms. Furthermore, this study quantitively examined the notions of trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, and authenticity concerning customers' purchase intentions from those virtual boutiques.

Given the research objectives, the study utilised mixed-method research, i.e., qualitative and quantitative. Concerning the qualitative analysis, four platforms host influencers to have virtual boutiques: Rafeeq, Boutiqaat, Tajer and Mercati, and we managed to interview two well-known owners of Rafeeq and Tajer to get their insights. While for the quantitative part, a survey was conducted, leading to 119 attempts to respond. However, only 64 qualifying respondents satisfied
specific requirements, such as having previously purchased from one of the platforms (from an influencer virtual boutique) and living in Qatar.

The results of the qualitative part were analysed thematically, and that matched quantitive findings such as attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness were less crucial to business owners than factors of influencer. In terms of the quantitative component, version 27.0 SPSS software was used. The regression analysis was performed. Notably, only one of the four hypotheses proposed in the study—that authenticity influences purchase intent—was accepted. Thus, a novel finding has been reached that being authentic, honest, and trustworthy to oneself as an influencer is as important as the personality and character of the influencer to be able to sell products.

Additionally, except for gender, no statistically significant differences were found among respondents based on demographic criteria (such as Qataris vs. non-Qataris, age groups, and employment status). The qualitative data supplemented the quantitative findings, offering insightful information and novel research insights. Influencers' characteristics and personality traits are one area that merits more investigation because they may present chances to deepen our
comprehension of this developing area of influencer marketing in the context of online boutiques. The study provided implications for theory and practice.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Aberystwyth University
Supervisor	Nigel Copner (Supervisor) & Shafiul Azam (Supervisor)