A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AND THEIR CONSTRUCTS ON ONLINE PURCHASE INTENTIONS OF THE CUSTOMERS

Social media is providing possible opportunities to users and marketers to communicate to customers in large numbers. The concept of social media marketing has led to an emergence of social media influencer marketing and individuals may have different reasons to engage on various social media platforms. Influencer marketing has allowed the brands to communicate with customers by developing association of customers with social media influencers. The paper aims to identify the constructs of social media influencers that drive customers to online buying. Primary and secondary data is studied. An online questionnaire was designed and responses from 168 participants were collected for the research purpose. The results indicate that for 67.9% of the total population buying online after going through the reviews provided by the influencers they follow on social media depends on certain factors.67.9% of the respondents have agreed that social media influencers help them in deciding whether to buy products or not online. Further, the limitations of the study are concluded. This research statistically and theoretically contribute to the present studies in the areas of marketing.