Author

Jie SunFollow

Award Date

8-1-2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Hospitality Management

First Committee Member

Billy Bai

Second Committee Member

Choongbeom Choi

Third Committee Member

Hyelin Kim

Fourth Committee Member

Xi Yu Leung

Fifth Committee Member

Michael Mejza

Number of Pages

159

Abstract

In today’s digital world, marketing practitioners have increasingly started to reach out to their audiences by integrating social media influencer (SMI) into their marketing plans. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the factors influencing SMI endorsement effectiveness in the context of event. Based on relevant theories (congruity theory, match-up hypothesis model, self-congruity theory, and vicarious self-perception) and a thorough review of existing literature in the SMI endorsement, the present study developed an integrative research model which included follower’s prior attitude toward SMI, attitude toward the event, pass-on behavior intention, event participation intention, SMI-event congruence, event-follower congruence, and SMI-followers congruence.

A total of 335 usable online survey was collected. The results showed that follower’s attitude toward SMI had both direct and indirect effects on attitude toward the event, which in turn affected follower’s pass-on behavioral intention and event participation intention. Besides, the direct effect of attitude toward SMI on attitude toward the event was moderated by all congruence effects, including SMI-event congruence, event-follower congruence, and SMI-followers congruence. This study improves congruity theory by including the congruence effects and extending it to the context of SMI endorsement. In addition, this study extends SMI endorsement research to the event industry. Practically, this study provides event marketers with implications for selecting an appropriate SMI and strategies to achieve a more effective outcome of SMI endorsement.

Keywords

congruence; endorsement; events; social media influencer

Disciplines

Marketing

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/


Included in

Marketing Commons

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