How YouTube Influencers Impact Customers’ Purchase Intention: An Empirical Study of Cosmetic Brands in Vietnam

This study investigates the impact of heuristic factors on customers' perception of information credibility of influencers on YouTube channels, and the association between customers' perception of information credibility and brand attitude, brand credibility, and purchase intention of cosmetic products in Vietnam. A quantitative approach is employed, with a survey of 270 females who are frequent viewers of beauty content on YouTube channels. The data reliability and validity go through various statistical tests including exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Also, structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to test the hypotheses. The results reveal that there is a positive association between heuristic factors and the perception of information credibility. This perception of information credibility also influences positively on customers' attitudes toward the brand and brand credibility. Purchase intention is also found to be positively associated with the two latter variables. The study's main findings not only offer advice to practitioners on how to choose the right product endorsers and advertising platforms, but they also offer novel insight from the Vietnamese context that could help to extend the heuristic-systematic model and customers' buy intention behavior.