UNDERSTANDING CONSUMERS’ INTENTION TO ACT ON SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS’ COSMETIC SURGERY RECOMMENDATIONS
(Under the direction of Dr. Jared Hansen)
A growing concern is how social media is redefining how consumers view themselves and their choices to reshape their physical bodies. There is a stream of research that indicates that attractiveness is important to people. Some studies focus on the perceived benefits of attractiveness in their authenticity. A different stream has started to look at coolness. Other studies have focused on attractiveness and envy. This research combines all of these different reasons together, comparing how they work in tandem, with a new lens of focus: consumers’ views of the attractiveness, authenticity, and coolness of the social media influencer, and how those elements in tandem, in combination with envy, impact consumers' behavioral intention to do the things (e.g., cosmetic procedures or surgeries) recommended by the influencers. Additionally, it examines if potential envy antecedents of (a) attractiveness to improve job opportunities versus (b) attractiveness to ‘fit in' vary depending on the consumer life stage. I elaborate on implications for future research related to marketing and society, marketing managerial practice, and consumer well-being.
Keywords: Instagram; social media influencer; technology acceptance model (TAM); structural equation modeling; attractiveness; authenticity; coolness; envy; fitting in; career opportunities; cosmetic surgery