For Generation Z, smartphones have become essential in contemporary society. They are connected to and influenced by the various online social platforms, which affect their purchasing patterns. They frequently rely on these platforms while making decision related to purchase because these platforms are typically where they get their information. (Barta et al., 2023) Social media is being used by consumers more and more, especially to obtain information for making purchase decisions. They attempt to imitate the trends set by their influencers, which leads them to buy the products that their role model is endorsing or utilising. (Tabellion & Esch, 2019) Influential individuals endorsing products or services on social media, whether voluntarily or in collaboration with businesses, is known as influencer marketing.  (Shan et al., 2020) Influencer endorsements have grown into a strategy through which marketers utilise social media to increase brand exposure. (Lou et al., 2023) The growth of social media has led to an upsurge in influencer marketing. Companies collaborate with influential people to increase product acquisition and awareness of their goods and services. (Van Reijmersdal & Van Dam, 2020) Influencers are paid by brands to mention or feature the brand in their content through videos, posts or blogs. (Dhanesh & Duthler, 2019) An individual who constructs and nurtures links with followers via social media is known as SMI. Throughout this approach, they can illuminate, divert attention, and ultimately impact the viewpoints, & actions.

(Hani et al., 2018) Customers' opinions towards various products and their plans to purchase are linked with both its features and the person who will be endorsing it. (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017) Customers are greatly impacted by those who have a significant following on social media, as they view these persons as more trustworthy and attractive. (Ohanian, 1990) Choosing the right ambassador for a service or product is a crucial yet challenging decision. An endorser represents the brand, values, goods and even service being offered by the brand, (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017; Freberg et al., 2011) finding an effective and trustworthy endorser, someone who is attractive, dependable, or expertise of the product or service they are promoting is essential to the campaign's effectiveness. (Martínez-López et al., 2020) eWOM in influencer marketing is sourced from influencers whose status as experts has placed them in a position of influence. (Jamil et al., 2022) Social media platforms allow users with similar interests to collaborate and communicate virtually.

Gen Z is so dependent on these platforms that they look up to particular role models there, and they are influenced by the content these creators create, including reels, shorts, TikTok videos, live videos, and static posts. As a result, influencer marketing has discovered an oasis in this rapidly developing and changing technology landscape. (Venciute et al., 2023) Influencers these days have the power the ability to convert a potential client into a paying one. (Kim & Kim, 2021) Large followings and expertise in their respective fields are attributes of social media influencers, The number of followers an influencer has, outlines how much influential they are. Influencers' value and ability to influence others are based on their popularity. The more followers an influencer has, the more valuable they are to the good or service they endorse. (Freberg et al., 2011) Social media influencers' ability to persuade, tools have been created to locate and follow those who are influential in a product or service that they endorse. (Gross & von Wangenheim, 2022) Producing and sharing content helps influencers establish themselves and increase their marketing worth.

(Ladhari et al., 2020) Brands are increasingly interested in leveraging famous individuals as brand ambassadors on online advertising platforms. (S. S. Kim et al., 2014) Influencers' impact and appeal to the brand, product, or service they promote are aligned with the marketplaces of endorsement. Numerous studies analysed the role of these social media influencers who endorse goods and services. The increased use of such platforms and digitisation has drawn attention to this topic. This study will examine the consistent relationship between information, entertainment, irritation, and credibility of an influencer, to overcomes this research gap by offering a theoretical examination of consumers’ attraction towards influencers they follow and their advertisement value.

Theoretical Background & Hypothesis Formulation

Information

(Venciute et al., 2023) Identifying what content an influencer creates can be interpreted as an indication of their dependability and value to customers who are seeking information from a trustworthy source. (Ladhari et al., 2020) The perceived appeal and reliability of a brand endorser determine how effective a piece of information is. (Gangadharbatla & Daugherty, 2013) Advertising is frequently made with the goal of quickly and accurately providing relevant product information. (Dao et al., 2014) Consumers view social media as an instructional resource for availing information for the products they are looking to purchase. (Gross & von Wangenheim, 2022) Information about items and businesses that right away assist viewers can be found in posts sponsored with informative pleas. (Barta et al., 2023) Social media usage is increasing, especially when acquiring information for making judgments. As per the literature, the following hypothesis are put forth –

H1: The information provided by influencers is positively associated with Gen Z’s intention to purchase.

H2: The information provided by influencers is positively associated with Gen Z’s intention to follow advice.

Entertainment

Customers acknowledge the anticipated advantages of social media. (Hoffman & Novak, 1996) as it builds an emotional connection with them and creates entertainment, relaxation, and enjoyment among them (Dao et al., 2014) Consequently, followers gradually begin to give attention to these endorsements. (Disastra et al., 2019) Entertainment denotes viewers' favourable perception of the amusement they experience after viewing the commercial. As per the literature, the following hypothesis are put forth –

H3: Entertainment from the content uploaded by influencers is positively associated with Gen Z’s intention to purchase.

H4: Entertainment from the content uploaded by influencers is positively associated with Gen Z’s intention to follow advice.

Credibility

Credibility refers to the degree to which prospective social media users view a source as reliable and informed. (Ohanian, 1990) Credibility is the term used to describe how customers view a source of info, considering factors such as appeal, reliability, and product expertise. (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017) The term "source credibility" describes how consumers judge a source of info via its appeal and specific knowledge of a suggested commodity. (Hani et al., 2018) Customers' buying intentions are positively impacted by endorser credibility; their popularity and status encourage them to acquire the endorsed good or service. For eg, Influencers with a history of weight challenges will be more credible when recommending goods and services linked to weight loss or gain. (Martínez-López et al., 2020) Electronic word-of-mouth is sourced from influencers who hold a position of credibility due to their popularity as specialists. (Goldsmith et al., 2000) The credibility of the endorser affects how customers see advertisements as well as their attraction to make a purchase. (Mucundorfeanu et al., 2024) highlighted how influencer credibility positively affects the brand's results. As per the literature, the following hypothesis are put forth –

H5: Credibility of influencers is positively associated with Gen Z’s intention to purchase.

H6: Credibility of influencers is positively associated with Gen Z’s intention to follow advice.

A well-designed questionnaire was adopted to gather data from 260 respondents using convenience sampling, and 253 were judged suitable for further approach, in which 46.64% of the sample's members were male and 53.36% were female. The distributions of age and gender generally include those of Gen Z social media users. (Slepian et al., 2023) Gen Z comprises people who have reached 27 years old or younger and were born between 1997 and 2012. The sample includes 22.63% of 16-19 years, 47.43% of 20-23 years and 29.94% of 24-27 years. A conceptual structure that takes factors such as information, entertainment, credibility, and the intention to follow an influencer's account and advice is put forth in this study, which draws on theoretical background on influencer marketing and different social media platforms. The model consists of three exogenous variables: Information (INFO), Entertainment (ENT), and Credibility (CRED), and two endogenous variables: Intention to Purchase (IP) & Intention to Follow Advice (IFA). The dependent variables are IP and IFA, while the independent variables are INFO, ENT, and CRED classified in Table 1.1 below.

Table 1.1 List of Constructs

Source: Compilation by Researcher.

To examine the relationship between Information, Credibility, and Entertainment on purchase intention and intention to follow advice, this study employs a descriptive research design, for which online responses were collected from 260 respondents, of which 253 responses found fit for the study.

Table 1.2 outlines the KMO value of .871, which represents an adequate sampling adequacy.  (Cerny & Kaiser, 1977) KMO values > 0.8 are considered good in relation to factor analysis. Table 1.2 also outlines the .915 value of Cronbach’s Alpha. (Cronbach, 1951) values of all items exceeding the recommended threshold limit of > 0.70, outlines satisfactory reliability.

Table 1.2: KMO, Bartlett's Test and Cronbach’s Alpha

Source: Author’s Calculation

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

Before implementing the measurement model, an EFA was conducted to ascertain the fundamental constructs influencing purchase intention and the intention to follow the advice among the Gen Zs. Principal Component Analysis with varimax rotation is employed to identify indicators, with  > 0.5 value EFA extracted 17 indicators, which are subsequently incorporated in additional analysis for a structured model. Item INFO3 had a higher communality extraction of 0.919, whereas IFA3 demonstrated a lower extraction value of 0.763. The Bartlett's test of sphericity yielded χ² = 3938.051, df = 136, Sig = .000, indicating that the variables exhibit sufficient correlation for further analysis. Using Harman's single-factor test to examine the variables' extraction towards a single factor. (Harman, 1967) A total variance below 50 is considered as data is free from common method bias (CMB). The finding outlines 42.653% of total variance accounts for a single factor, which is below < 50% threshold, indicating that there is no CMB in the data.

Reliability & Validity

Table 1.3 delineates the reliability and validity of constructs based on the results of all observable variables.  INFO1 - INFO4, CRED1 - CRED3, ENT1 - ENT3, IP1 - IP4, and IFA1 – IFA3 had significant factor loadings, varying from 0.809 to 0.918. (Hair et al., 2010) Values > 0.70 threshold limit is deemed excellent. The indicators sufficiently represent Information (INFO), Credibility (CRED), Entertainment (ENT), Intention to Purchase (IP), and Intention to Follow Advice (IFA).  CR readings fluctuate between 0.881 and 0.949, considerably beyond (Hair et al., 2011) The acceptable threshold of > 0.7.  This signifies robust construct reliability across all dimensions of Intention to purchase & follow advice.  AVE values span from 0.712 to 0.824, so fulfilling the criterion for (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) convergent validity, since AVE values for all six constructs are > 0.50

Table 1.3: Factor Loading, CR, AVE & MSV

Source: Author’s Calculation

The Measurement Model

After application of EFA, this study extracts 5 constructs – CRED, INFO, ENT, IP & IFA with an eigenvalue >1 with a total of 17 items exceeding a value of 0.5. Table 1.4 outlines the indices used for validating model fit, as per the results: CMIN/DF = 1.746, CFI = .979, AGFI = .890, GFI = .922, TLI = .974, NFI = .953, RMSEA = .054, and RMR = .036. According to the results, the model fit indices exceed the threshold limit of 0.9 for CFI, GFI, TLI & NFI; however, the AGFI indices value is 0.890, which is close to 0.90. (Hair et al., 2019; Kline, 2016; Tucker & Lewis, 1973) CMIN/DF below 3 and CFI, GFI, TLI, AGFI & NFI above 0.9 represent a better model fit. Additionally, RMSEA = 0.54 and RMR =.036 are inside the permissible threshold range of < 0.08 & < 0.05 respectively. (Klem, 2000; McDonald & Ho, 2002) RMSEA < 0.08 & RMR < 0.05 denotes a model fit for the proposed measurement model.

Table 1.4: Model Fit Indices

Source: Author’s Calculation

Path Analysis Results

Figure 1.1 outlines the proposed conceptual model to check the influence of Information, Credibility and Entertainment from social media content uploaded by influencers on their audience's purchase intention and intention to follow advice.

Table 1.5 outlines the result of path analysis to analyse the impact of Information, Entertainment & Credibility of influencers on intention to purchase & intention to follow advice among Gen Zs.

Figure 1.1 – Proposed Model

Source: Compilation by Authors

The results demonstrate acceptance of H1, H2, H3, H5 & H6 hypothesis based on P-value < 0.05. However, H4 was rejected with a P-value of 0.121, as P-value is > 0.05 threshold. The results also confirmed that influence towards purchase of product is favourably and strongly aligns to information provided by influencers, their credibility and entertainment prospects from the content they upload. In this credibility, of influencers with β=0.281 & p <0.001 identified as most significant predictor of intention to follow advice, followed by information provided by influencers and entertainment. Further, intention to follow advice is favourably and strongly aligns to information provided by influencers and their credibility, in which the credibility of influencers with β=0.288 & p <0.001 identified as most significant predictor of intention to follow advice, followed by information provided by influencers.

Table 1.5: Standardized Regression weights and P-values

Source: Author’s Calculation

Figure 1.2: Structural Model

Source: Calculated by Authors

This study analyses the influence of credibility of influencers and content creators, information provided by them and content such as videos, photos, blogs they upload on their users' purchase intention and these factors impacts their follower’s advice in purchase decisions. The analysis outlines that consumer purchase decision is positively linked to aspects of influencers —including information, entertainment and their credibility. (Goldsmith et al., 2000) Purchase intent is influenced by both business credibility and endorsers. (Cao et al., 2025) highlighted that informativeness and entertainment influence purchase decisions. (Sari et al., 2024) The credibility of influencers positively impacts the customers' buying preferences. The findings align with our proposed hypothesis, confirming that information provided by influencers through their content, their credibility and quality of content is a significant predictor of purchase intention.

As for intention to follow advice, the results also align with previous studies confirming that information provided by the influencers is considered by their followers while making purchases. Also, the credibility of influencers is an important factor, with upsurge in demand for paid influencer activities, the reliability of this factor is increasing. (Lou & Yuan, 2019) When people have confidence in an endorsement, they are likely to give thought and acquire the advertised goods. (Wang et al., 2025) Numerous platforms like  Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube provide businesses with personal interaction with consumers, creating more dynamic and tailored approaches to target the potential consumers. This study confirms that consumers rely more on genuine influencers instead of those who make paid promotions for the product they use before deciding to purchase a product.

This study outlines the insights into the perceived value of social media influencers in deciding their followers' purchase decisions, and also to rely on advice shared by their trend setter among Gen Zs. With the rapid advancement and upsurge in internet users, notably more in Gen Zs, the users on various platforms have reached new heights, substantially opening the doors for a new era of marketing, i.e. influencer marketing. Gen Zs rely on these influencers as trend setters and follow their lifestyle, what they use, and what they try, which ultimately impacts their decisions while making purchases. This study confirms that information provided by influencers is significantly considered while making purchase decisions by their followers it also influences their behaviour, whether to purchase a product or not. Further, credibility of influencers is also linked as the strongest predictor in making purchase decisions, as if consumers trust their trend setter, they will rely on their endorsements. Moreover, technically dependent Gen Zs are aligned with the information, credibility and content uploaded by the influencers they follow in their purchase decision. According to this study, companies may target potential customers or increase sales by depending more on social media influencers than on traditional practices.

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