Millennial behavioural intention in Islamic banks: The role of social media influencers

Purpose: This study aims to examine the role of social media influencers (SMI) in millennial behavioural intentions towards Islamic banks, from the perspective of both bank clients and non-clients. Design/methodology/approach: Of the 484 Indonesian millennials in the sample, 278 were clients and 206 non-clients of Islamic banks. Factor analysis was used to examine the SMI dimension in the Islamic banking context. This study then used the partial least square to evaluate the proposed model and test the relationships between SMI, bank image, trust and behavioural intention. Findings: Three SMI dimensions were confirmed, i.e. expertise, celebrity and similarity. For bank clients, the findings show that SMI has a significant influence on behavioural intention and reinforces bank image and trust. For non-clients, SMI does not have a significant impact on behavioural intentions but significantly strengthens bank image and trust. Practical implications: Islamic bank managers can take benefit of this study findings by learning to foster the behavioural intentions of their millennial clients and non-clients using SMIs. Further, choosing the right SMIs for their Islamic bank is an important activity, and if they want to make a positive impact on existing and potential millennial clients, they need to choose popular millennials who are knowledgeable about the Islamic value compliance of Islamic banking services. Originality/value: This study is an early study to explore SMI’s role in influencing the behavioural intentions of millennials towards Islamic banks