Examining the Impact of The Legitimacy of Social Media Influencers on Attitude Towards the Brand and Purchase Intention from A Consumer Perspective

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of legitimacy of social media influencers on consumers towards the brand in terms of attitude and purchase intention. In this context, data was collected from 511 participants between January 15 and February 20, 2021 through convenience sampling in social media platforms via Google forms. SmartPLS package program based on partial least squares method was used to test the research model. According to the research findings, it was concluded that cognitive, pragmatic and moral legitimacy, which are among the legitimacy dimensions of social media influencers, have a significantly impact on the attitude towards the brand advertised by the social media influencer and the attitude towards the brand significantly affect on the intention to buy the brand.