How Influencers’ Facial Expression Affects Customer Behavioral Intentions

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing IntelligenceThis thesis examines when and how the intensity of facial expressions of social media influencers convey warmth and affects consumers' engagement. In particular, the findings reveal that influencers’ broader (vs. slighter) smiles increase customer engagement, and this effect mediated by perceived authenticity. That is, influencers’ broader (vs. slighter) smiles express higher perceived warmth, thus boosting customer engagement. We further refine our theory by demonstrating that perceived warmth critically depends on the endorsement type informative (vs. entertaining). That is, influencers' broader (vs. slighter) smiles increase customer engagement when the endorsement focuses on the entertainment aspect (i.e., “hedonic fun related attributes”), compared to utilitarian performance related. Taken together, the current research contributes to emerging studies on the role of endorser's facial expressions, authenticity, and engagement