The role of electronic word of mouth in social media influencer marketing and purchase intention in the tourism industry

Purpose There is an area of neglect in the extant literature on the role of electronic word of mouth in the relationship between social media marketing and purchase intention. This study aims to investigate how social media influencer marketing impacts consumer purchase intention, focussing on key variables of social media influencer marketing, such as influencers' experience, trustworthiness, attractiveness and content usefulness, in the tourism industry. Additionally, this paper proposes investigating the moderating role of electronic word-of-mouth communication on the relationship between social media influencer (SMI) marketing and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach A moderated model was analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) by using a sample of 385 tourists. Findings Results revealed that SMI's experience, trustworthiness and content usefulness have a significant and positive effect, while SMI's attractiveness did not show any significant impact on consumers' intention to purchase tourism products. Practical implications This paper demonstrates implications for SMI marketing in the tourism sector through better-designed SMI marketing strategies. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence for the moderating role of electronic word of mouth in using social media influencers' trustworthiness in improving purchase intention, specifically in the tourism context.