Impact of Social Media Influencer Marketing on Youth Purchase Intentions in UAE Radwan Ahmed Farouk1*, Mousa Sheren Ali2, Mohamed Mervat Medhat3, Youssef Enaam Youssef Mohammed3 1University of Sharjah, UAE 2Helwan University, Egypt 3Ajman University, UAE *Correspondence to: Ahmed Farouk Radwan, College of Communication, University of Sharjah, University City Road, Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, UAE.
Online published on 19 October, 2021. Abstract The study analyses how youth perceive social media Influencers and whether they affect their purchasing intentions and buying decisions. It also measures influencers’ attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness while communicating with consumers. In addition, the study explores the types of digital interaction with influencers, measures the impact of their online marketing activities on purchasing intentions, and finds differences between youth demographic segments. A total of 350 youth participants in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) completed an online survey evaluating influencers’ characteristics, promotional videos, types of youth interaction with their content, and their impacts on purchasing intentions. The findings show that youth in UAE consider that influencers have positive personal appeals, traits, and information support to attract their followers and encourage them to purchase. Furthermore, the results reveal that influencers push youth to search for more information about the products and visit marketers’ websites. Influencers’ social media activities also affect youth’s interests, desires, and purchase intentions by helping them assess the products. Top Keywords Influencers, Social media, Online marketing, Purchase intentions, Youth, UAE. Top |