From Clicks to Carts: The Impact of Social Media Advertising on Consumer Purchase Intention through Brand Trust and Influencer Credibility

Abstract

Social media has made advertising an ongoing, personalized and interactive exchange but it's not known how exposure translates into buying intent. The present study investigates how social media advertising (SMA) influences consumer purchase intention (PI) and tests the effect of two parallel psychological processes: brand trust (BT) and influencer credibility (IC). Adopting the logic of the stimulus–organism–response theory and the source credibility theory, 384 active social media users were surveyed using a quantitative approach and analyzed by reliability test, validity test, regression-based path analysis and bootstrapping with sample size 5,000. SMA was directly predictive of purchase intention and also boosted brand trust and influencer credibility. Both mediators in turn increased purchase intention, with the larger indirect effect coming from the mediator of influencer credibility. Creativity and trust in influencers added another layer of credibility, creating a powerful serial pathway that boosts brand trust. The model accounted for 31% of the variance in purchase intention. It's not just about exposure anymore, it's about trust. Findings provide evidence-based advice for campaign design based on credibility.