The Mediating Role of Brand Trust between Influencer Credibility and Purchase Intention of Mother Consumers: A Path Analysis

In the rapidly evolving dynamics of the digital age, social media platforms have a profound and decisive influence on consumer behavior. Accordingly, the main objective of the study is to understand the factors affecting the purchasing decisions of mothers. In this context, we focus on the mediating role of brand trust in the relationship between influencer credibility and purchase intention. Based on a theoretical framework, the study seeks to answer the question, "Does brand trust play a mediating role in the relationship between influencer credibility and purchase intention?" Within the scope of the research, data were collected by the questionnaire method, and the research group was determined by criterion sampling method and consisted of 453 female consumers aged 24-45 with certain criteria in the 0-3 age range. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the data and path analysis of structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses. The findings showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between influencer credibility and brand trust. It has been determined that each point increase has a significant relationship between the increase in influencer credibility and brand trust with a 95% confidence interval of 0.596 (p=0.05). In addition to being related to brand trust, influencer credibility was also found to have a significant relationship with consumers' purchase intention at a 99% confidence interval of 0.171 (p=0.01). The results reveal that mothers' trust in influencers and trust in the brands promoted by influencers are important when purchasing baby and children's products. In addition, it has been observed that women's trust in influencers increases product purchase intention through trust in the brand.