Building trust and engagement: a comprehensive framework for analysing influencer credibility in social media

Purpose – The popularity of financial influencers among social media consumers is increasing. However, influencers' financial advice may be risky due to insufficient verified data and appropriate experience. This highlights the need to evaluate various credibility dimensions of financial influencers and how the absence of these may lead to an unwillingness to follow such influencers. The study uses source credibility theory (SCT) to identify consumers' viewpoints on the relevance and assessment of various credibility aspects of financial influencers influencing consumer behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed qualitative data analysis techniques, utilizing open-ended survey-based questions to collect data from 31 consumers regarding the credibility of financial influencers and the factors affecting credibility, as well as consumer attitudes towards such influencers. Data were analysed using thematic coding analysis to explore various codes and observe the linkage between codes within the dataset. Findings – The findings indicated the role of various factors in improving and reducing consumers' trust, the negative impact of influencers' biased approach, manipulative actions, lack of transparency and consistency and many more on consumers' behaviour and reluctance to follow influencers. Originality/value – The study contributes to the existing SCT or influencer marketing literature by identifying a few under-discussed credibility traits and exploring multidimensional aspects of source credibility relevant to the context of financial influencers. Future studies may explore the antecedents and consequences of these drivers, particularly in the finance domain.