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Empathy with influencers? The impact of the sensory advertising experience on user behavioral responses

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  • Li, Bin
  • Chen, Shuang
  • Zhou, Qi

Abstract

Short-form video influencer advertising offers new opportunities for user sensory experience to promote advertising effectiveness and induce positive user responses. This unique means of influencer-generated advertising via short-form videos has not yet been investigated. This study builds on the reciprocity norm of social exchange theory to investigate relationships among ad sensory stimuli (i.e., the sensory advertising experience), the efficacy of influencer advertising (i.e., empathy and altruistic motive), and user behavioral responses (i.e., ad avoidance intention, ad engagement, and purchase intention). It also seeks to shed light on the critical role of perceived influencer effort in these relationships. An empirical study using data from TikTok (Douyin) users and results indicate that sensory advertising experience positively affects user behavioral responses through the serial mediation of empathy and altruistic motive. Additionally, perceived influencer effort is found to be a crucial moderator of the effect of sensory advertising experience on user empathy, which further influences user behavioral responses. The findings provide insight into the persuasion effect and mechanism of short-form video influencer advertising and offer suggestions for advertising campaign designers.

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  • Li, Bin & Chen, Shuang & Zhou, Qi, 2023. "Empathy with influencers? The impact of the sensory advertising experience on user behavioral responses," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:72:y:2023:i:c:s0969698923000334
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103286
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    Cited by:

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    3. Nadroo, Zeeshan Majeed & Lim, Weng Marc & Naqshbandi, Mohd Asif, 2024. "Domino effect of parasocial interaction: Of vicarious expression, electronic word-of-mouth, and bandwagon effect in online shopping," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Li, Huajun & Lei, Yueqiu & Zhou, Qi & Yuan, Hong, 2023. "Can you sense without being human? Comparing virtual and human influencers endorsement effectiveness," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Yang, Defeng & Zhang, Jiaen & Sun, Yu & Huang, Zan, 2024. "Showing usage behavior or not? The effect of virtual influencers’ product usage behavior on consumers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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