Characteristics of Social Media Influencers Affecting Smartphone Purchase Decision of Consumers in Bangkok Metropolitan Region

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study the characteristics of social media influencers affecting the smartphone purchase decision of consumers in Bangkok metropolitan region. The data were collected using questionnaires. The simple random sampling method was used with 400 males and females who were 18 years old or over, lived in Bangkok and had received information from influencers through social media. The multiple linear regression statistics was tested. Considering each aspect of the characteristics of the social media influencers revealed through the opinions of the sample group, it was found that the expertise was ranked first, followed by the attractiveness and the similarity with the target group, respectively. Considering each aspect of the smartphone purchase decision after receiving news from the influencers through social media, it was found that the alternative evaluation was ranked first, followed by the purchasing decision and problem perception, respectively.

The hypothesis testing results revealed that the characteristics of social media in terms of the similarity of the target audience had the most influence on the purchase decision to buy a smartphone, followed by the respect and the attractiveness, respectively, with the statistical significance at the 0.05 level.