The Influence of Social Media Influencer on Consumer Repurchase Intention through the Mechanism of Trust: Evidence from Chinese Social Commerce
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Abstract
This study aimed to examine the relationship between influencer authenticity and trust, the relationship between trust and post-purchase satisfaction, and the relationship between post-purchase satisfaction and repurchase intention, It also aimed to investigate the mediating role of trust in the relationship between influencer authenticity and post-purchase satisfaction in the context of Chinese social commerce. The sample comprised 637 Chinese social media users with experience purchasing products recommended by influencers. Data were collected using an online questionnaire and analyzed in AMOS using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and bootstrap mediation analysis with 5,000 resamples. The research findings revealed that: 1) influencer authenticity was significantly and positively associated with trust; 2) trust was significantly and positively associated with post-purchase satisfaction, while post-purchase satisfaction was significantly and positively associated with repurchase intention; and 3) trust significantly mediated the positive association between influencer authenticity and post-purchase satisfaction. These findings highlight authenticity-based trust as an important psychological mechanism in consumers’ post-purchase evaluations and underscore the association between satisfaction and repurchase intention.
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