Social Media Influencers, Brand Personality Traits, Brand Engagement and Brand Loyalty in the Retail Industry

Abstract

The growing use of social media influencers (SMIs) within the retail industry has
transformed the way consumers interact with brands and make purchasing decisions.
Despite the increasing importance of influencer marketing, there remains limited
empirical understanding of how SMI attributes and SMI brand personality traits jointly influence brand loyalty within the United Kingdom retail sector. In addition, the mediating roles of brand trust and self-congruence within these relationships remain underexplored. This study therefore investigated the influence of social media influencer attributes and SMI brand personality traits on brand loyalty, while examining the mediating effects of brand trust and self-congruence among consumers in the UK retail industry. The study adopted a quantitative research design based on positivist philosophy and deductive reasoning. Data were collected through a structured online questionnaire administered to social media users within the United Kingdom aged 16
years and above who actively follow influencers and engage with retail brands online.
A total of 394 valid responses were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics and
SmartPLS. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was
employed to evaluate both the measurement and structural models.
The findings revealed that source credibility and source attractiveness did not exert significant direct effects on brand loyalty. However, SMI identification and SMI attachment significantly influenced both brand trust and brand loyalty. The results further demonstrated that brand trust fully mediated the relationships between source credibility, source attractiveness, and brand loyalty, while partially mediating the relationships involving SMI identification and attachment. Regarding SMI brand personality traits, excitement and competence were found to have showed significant positive influence on brand loyalty, whereas sincerity, and ruggedness, significantly influenced self-congruence. Nevertheless, self-congruence did not significantly mediate the relationships between SMI brand personality traits and brand loyalty.
The study contributes to existing literature by extending understanding of influencer marketing and consumer-brand relationships within the retail industry. The findings emphasise the importance of emotional attachment, consumer trust, brand identification, excitement and competence in driving brand loyalty in digital marketing environments. The study also provides practical insights for retail organisations seeking to develop effective influencer marketing strategies capable of fostering stronger consumer relationships and sustainable brand loyalty.

Date of Award	30 Jun 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Portsmouth
Supervisor	Yuksel Ekinci (Supervisor) & Selcuk Can (Supervisor)