The rise of new age social media influencers and their impact on the consumers' reaction and purchase intention

The internet revolution and digitisation have created innovative platforms and spokespersons for brands beyond traditional media. The marketing landscape for brands and customers is evolving towards a more personal and authentic approach; adopting various social media platforms and influencers creates more brand engagement. Influencers are the new third-party endorsers, catering to and recommending products to their loyal community of followers. The influencer and their fans/followers are a brand's new storytellers. However, selecting the right influencer for a brand's promotional strategy requires careful consideration of several factors. This paper aims to study the impact/effect of these variables, namely, endorser's credibility and corporate credibility, on consumers' attitudes towards the brand and its impact on purchase intention, with respect to the millennial era. In the present study, 14 Likert-based questions were designed, asking the respondents to rank their choice of agreement on a scale of 1 to 5. The results were obtained through statistical analysis, including measuring the relationship between variables using confirmatory factor analysis and regression techniques. And the study found that corporate credibility has a significantly higher impact (approximately 90%) than individual endorsements (including those by celebrities) in enhancing customers' brand perception.