Consumer's Attitude Towards Sponsored Content and the Impact of Influencer's Credibility, Brand Credibility, and Influencer's Motive

Abstract

Purpose: Sponsored content in the form of covert messages is deceptive on consumers' behalf. When a consumer is aware of the sponsored content, they infer influencer motives and starts to resist such content hurting engagement. Sponsored content also adds to consumers hence the rationale of this research study is to explore the impact of influencer credibility, sponsorship disclosure, and brand credibility on consumer's attitudes toward sponsored content. The mediating role of consumer inferences of influencer motives is the highlight of the study. The framework is assessed in the light of attribution theory. Research Design: The research has a cause-to-effect design. It elaborates on the relationship among the constructs with an underpinning theory. Data from the sample of 218 participants were analyzed and comprehended using PLS-SEM. Findings:  The outcome of the study has identified that influencer credibility had a significant impact on consumer's attitudes toward sponsored content whereas, brand credibility and sponsorship disclosure showed a non-significant impact. Moreover, sponsorship disclosure moderated the impact between brand credibility and consumer resistance towards sponsored content. Lastly, consumer inference of influencer motives has a mediation effect between BC and CRSC. Practical Implications: The relative importance of influencer motives and sponsorship disclosure is established for the first time in the current research study. The new findings are a substantial contribution to the body of knowledge and the theory. The practical implications of the study are focused on the industry.