Impact of the Number of Followers and Social Interaction in Social Media Influencer Marketing Success

Social media influencers play a crucial role in shaping consumer decisions. This research explores an influencer's perceived characteristics and persuasiveness based on their number of followers and the level of social interaction between the influencer and the followers. The results of an online experiment show that when the level of social interaction is low between an influencer and the followers, macro-influencers (i.e., influencers with a higher number of followers) are perceived more positively and generate greater influence on their followers compared to micro-influencers (i.e., influencers with a lower number of followers). However, when the level of social interaction is high between an influencer and the followers, the differences regarding perceived characteristics and persuasiveness of the influencer disappear between micro and macro-influencers. Managerial implications of the findings and future research avenues are discussed.