Beauty vlogs and their influence on purchase intentions : a study amongst millennials in Malta

Abstract

Video communication is a rapidly growing medium which gives users the opportunity to disseminate Electronic word of mouth in a more efficient manner. However, even though conversational video blogging has increasingly become more popular and influential, few studies have touched upon the topic (Biel & Gatica-Perez, 2013). Consequently, this research study aims to fill the gap within this regard by examining whether perceived credibility and attitude towards product information in beauty vlogs have an impact on the purchase intention of viewers. In order to achieve this objective, the study adopts a quantitative approach. An analysis of the data collected from the 226 survey participants shows that both perceived credibility towards the vlogs and attitude towards product information provided in vlogs have an effect on the user’s purchase intentions and subsequently both hypotheses posited in the study are accepted. The main findings of this research study correspond with previous findings in the literature that illustrate the importance of perceived credibility (Pornpitakpan, 2004; Iqbal, Farooq & Ahmad, 2014) and attitudes (Ajzen & Fishbein 1980) on the formulation of purchase intentions. Since consumers show more credibility towards other consumers rather than towards manufacturers (Cheong & Morrison 2008) this study suggests that marketers may achieve better results in exposing their products by teaming up with beauty vloggers in order to achieve maximum credibility, translating in an increase of sales and profits.