Factors affecting YouTube influencer marketing credibility: a heuristic-systematic model

TLDR

YouTube’s rise as a platform for influencer marketing is driven by consumers’ perception of information credibility, which many scholars view as key to the success of such campaigns. The study applies a heuristic‑systematic model to examine how informational cues shape consumers’ credibility evaluations of content posted by YouTube influencers. An online survey followed by a two‑step structural equation modeling analysis was used to assess the relationships among the identified variables. Trustworthiness, social influence, argument quality, and information involvement were found to significantly influence perceived credibility, which in turn was strongly positively correlated with brand and video attitudes.

Abstract

The rise of influencer marketing makes YouTube an ideal media platform to implement such marketing strategies. Many scholars consider the success of YouTube influencer marketing as a result of high consumer perception of information credibility. This study employs heuristic-systematic model to investigate how informational cues influence credibility evaluations of information posted by YouTube influencers. An online survey was conducted to investigate the factors, and a two-step, structural equation modelling data analysis approach was utilised to explore the correlation between variables. The results reveal that trustworthiness, social influence, argument quality, and information involvement are influential factors affecting consumer perceived information credibility on YouTube. The analytic results also reveal a strong and positive correlation between perceived information credibility and brand/video attitudes.