influence of social media influencers on genzs purchase intention on food and beverage products in ho chi minh city

ĐẠI HỌC QU C GIA THÀNH PHỐ H CHÍ MINH Ố ỒTRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH TẾ - LUẬT BÀI TIỂU LUẬN MÔN PHƯƠNG PHÁP NGHIÊN CỨU KHOA HỌC INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS ON GENZ''''S PURCHASE INTENT

ĐẠI HỌ C QU C GIA THÀNH PHỐ H CHÍ MINH Ố Ồ

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH TẾ - LUẬT

BÀI TIỂU LUẬN MÔN PHƯƠNG PHÁP NGHIÊN CỨU KHOA HỌC

INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

INFLUENCERS ON GENZ'S PURCHASE INTENTION

ON FOOD AND BEVERAGE PRODUCTS IN

HO CHI MINH CITY

Lớp học ph n: ầ 221PP1402 Giảng viên hướng dẫn: Phùng Thanh Bình

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Table of contents

ABSTRACT 3

I INTRODUCTION 3

1.1 T HE REASON FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC 3

1.2 O VERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH SITUATION 4

1.3 R ESEARCH OBJECTIVES 4

1.3.1 General and Specific objectives 4

1.3.2 Research questions 5

1.4 S COPE OF RESEARCH 5

1.5 R ESEARCH M ETHODOLOGY 5

1.6 M EANINGS OF THE RESEARCH 6

1.7 S TRUCTURE OF THE STUDY 6

II LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 I NFLUENCER MARKETING 7

2.1.1 Influencer 7

2.1.2 Influencer marketing 7

2.1.3 Vietnam's F&B industry: 9

2.2 C ONCEPTUAL MODEL AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT 9

III METHODOLOGY 12

3.1 M EASURES 12

3.2 Q UANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN 14

IV CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 16

ABSTRACT

In today's media landscape, the young generation, especially Genz prefer using social media channels (social networks) like Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok over traditional communication channels, such as television stations, newspapers to exchange information and build relationships (Hair, Clark and Shapiro, 2010) According to a survey the research team conducted, the impact of Influencer Marketing on GenZ in Ho Chi Minh City on the FnB industry has reached 65% Several studies have also demonstrated how easily social media influencers can affect people's eating decisions, especially young people and adolescents This paper aims to analyse the factors of influencers that affect Gen Z consumers' decision to purchase food and beverage products in Ho Chi Minh City Then, apply and offer some recommendations for firms

in the F&B sector in Vietnam to increase the efficiency of brand-promotion efforts utilizing social media influencers

1.1 The reason for choosing the topic

Vietnam is making economic strides and has accomplished certain goals As people's living circumstances rise, eating well and wearing beautiful clothes has progressively replaced eating well and wearing warm clothes for quite a period of years With a population of more than 97 million people, the majority of whom are young, this is a very promising market for the food and beverage (FnB) industry to quickly establish itself FnB refers to the food and beverage sector As a result, we may conclude that the FnB service industry is the business of food, beverage, and food goods, as well as the business of the dividends that comprise the brand

In the past few years, social media influencers have had a significant and overwhelming impact on the marketing of products, services, and corporate brands, especially in the FnB industry Brands and their relationships with customers changed because of this major impact Since every business, regardless of size, specialty, or category, finds

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social media to be a valuable medium for reaching out to clients and potential customers with the least number of problems, the influence will not fade within the next year

1.2 Overview of the research situation

In today's world, traditional marketing channels become less important because of social media presence in more ways than one While all traditional media and advertising options are expensive and usually out of reach for small businesses, social media has emerged as a potential low-cost and highly successful option for them FnB businesses, which are now one of market leaders, may significantly reduce their advertising and marketing expenditures by utilizing social networking platforms

According to a Vietnam Briefing, accounting for 35% of monthly spending and 15% of the country's GDP for the majority share of Vietnamese spending expenditure by F&B accounts; this figure is likely to rise in the future years After the Covid-19 epidemic, the F&B business had been rapidly expanding, owing to a confluence of favorable trends such as population expansion, rising household incomes, and changes in consumer behavior, especially Gen Z, through social media influencers

As shown by research examining Gen Z behavior, influencers have the capacity to impact their purchasing patterns According to research by Kantar M.Brown (2020), 44% of GenZ-ers have made a purchasing choice based on the suggestion of an influencer In another Survey Monkey study, more than half of Gen Z (58%) have bought based on a suggestion from a social media influencer or content creator

1.3 Research objectives

1.3.1 General and Specific objectives

Instead of clear sustainability aims, social media has economic interests However, because they are all representatives of the firm, it is in their best interests to maintain its corporate sustainability Several specialist papers investigate, to the best of our knowledge, the possibly diverse roles performed by various influencers in influencing

social network users' participation with marketed items when it comes to ensuring company sustainability The purpose of this research is to satisfy current needs:

(1) Understand and explain the factors of social media influencers that affect GenZ’s

purchase intention on FnB and identify distinguishing characteristics of influencers on social media that may be used to their ranking

(2) Evaluate and compare those factors affecting GenZ’s purchase intention on food

(3) Investigate the potential of social media influencers marketing Propose solutions

and make suggestions for the firms

1.3.2 Research questions

We conduct research on this topic to answer these questions:

(1) What exactly is the relation between Generation Z and Influencers?

(2) What are the factors of social media influencers that influence GenZ’s purchase

intention on food and beverage products?

(3) How are these factors influencing GenZ’s purchase intention on food and beverage

products?

1.4 Scope of research

- Research objective: The social media influencers' characteristics affect Gen Z's purchase intention in the Vietnamese FnB market

- Survey objective: GenZ aging 10 to 25, no career limitations

- Graphic area: Ho Chi Minh City

- Time: The research is carried out from October 10, 2021, to November 21, 2022

1.5 Research Methodology

The study combines two methods: qualitative research and quantitative research

a) Qualitative research: Gathering data and customer opinions through customer

surveys and interviews about the effects of online influencers towards their purchase intention through FnB in Ho Chi Minh City

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b) Quantitative research: Collecting, processing information, and analyzing data for

the research through questionnaires that have been designed and built by taking surveys

on social networks using Google Forms, For the variables of the scale, to assess the level

of consumer agreement, the questionnaire is designed with the Likert scale, 5 levels with

1 being “strongly disagree” to 5 being “strongly agree” with 300 questionnaires distributed After collecting the required number of samples, the data is processed by SPSS software to test the scale through Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient and EFA exploratory factor analysis Then the factors extracted from the data set will be put into correlation analysis and regression analysis to evaluate the proposed model and test the hypotheses

1.6 Meanings of the research

This study aims to determine the subjective and objective factors of influencers affecting consumption behavior, specifically the purchase intention of Gen Z consumers in Ho Chi Minh City through the results of evaluation and recognition From there, we propose solutions to promote the positive factors and at the same time overcome the negative effects, suggest ways for Genz customers to effectively purchase FnB products and finally make recommendations to businesses in the FnB industry that have orientations and changes when using Influencer Marketing to boost business efficiency

1.7 Structure of the study

This research has four chapters:

- Chapter 1: Introduction This part will present the reason for choosing the topic,

research objectives, overview of the research situation, research methodology, object, and scope of the research, meaning of the topic, and structure of the study

- Chapter 2: Literature reviews In this chapter, the research team will present the

basic theories used to study the hypothesis to draw the research model

- Chapter 3: Research Methodology This chapter will describe the research process

and methods in detail: quantitative research, qualitative research, primary data, data analysis process, and data analysis methods Thereby assessing the reliability of the research results

- Chapter 4: Conclusions and Implications In this part, the research team will present

in detail and provide specific research results with tables of processed data Then, based on this result to interpret and draw conclusions

2.1 Influencer marketing

2.1.1 Influencer

There appears to be a lack of concurrence about defining an influencer According to Keller & Berry (2003), an influencer is described as a person who has an active mind and creates activities that impact various networks To put it differently, an influencer

is not required to be famous but whoever influences their own communities In the marketer world, the influencer of social media is defined in the definition of Duncan & Hayes (2008) that people mostly agree with: An influencer is a third party who has a considerable impact on a customer's purchase choice These influencers vary in different kinds and influence in different levels

"Influencer marketing" is the practice of leveraging individuals with influence towards potential consumers, orienting marketing campaigns around these people to promote a business message and products to the global market via social networking platforms and partnerships with opinion leaders (Bijen, 2017; Levin, 2019) Thus, influencer marketing is remarkably effective This marketing form works in tandem with the creation of messages delivered by influencers to intensify brand awareness extent toward consumer segmentations in both cognition and emotion

Although celebrities have always been used in marketing efforts to capitalize on their celebrity in order to promote enterprises (Cheah, Ting, Cham, & Memon, 2019), influencers on social media are a distinct and more modern use of this strategy Influencers and celebs are conceptually separate because influencers "natively" create their major activity on social media, whereas celebrities are known for their non-social media undertakings (Dhanesh & Duthler, 2019) (like sports, music, etc) 2021 (Tafesse and Wood) (Schouten et al., 2019)

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The reputation of influencers is thus solely based on the content they give and their social media involvement, which is often done in collaboration with their fans (Hu et al., 2020, Schouten et al., 2019) As a type of virtual friend, they typically target a more narrow audience with whom they have like interests Because they appear to be more in touch with their potential audiences, influencers frequently appear more trustworthy or reputable than traditional superstars (Lou & Yuan, 2019; Sokolova & Kefi, 2019) The fact that social media influencers become thought leaders or authority among their followers in their specialized domains reveals their importance and potential consequences (Rahman, Saleem, Akhtar, Ali, & Khan, 2014) As a result, when making purchasing decisions, followers commonly seek out or depend on their advise (Casaló

et al., 2020; Schaefer, 2012)

According to some past research (Choi and Rifon, 2012; Casaló et al., 2020), the resemblance between an influencer's appearance and followers' interests is a potential motivator De Veirman, Cauberghe, and Hudders (2017), Erz, Marder, and Osadchaya (2018), as well as other influencer studies have shown impacts related to their followers, hashtags usage, or activity metrics (Arora, Bansal, Kandpal, Aswani, & Dwivedi, 2019) Another area of research investigates the consequences of certain communication characteristics, such as how influencers expose the commercial origin of advice (Boerman, 2020, De Veirman and Hudders, 2020, Jin and Muqaddam, 2019, Sokolova and Kefi, 2019) Control the product-influencer fit and indicate that a great match leads

to buyers having more positive feelings about the product and lowers their perceptions that the promo is advertisement (Kim and Kim, 2020)

Instead of recommendations from the brand or company itself, customers are more likely to believe those from third sources This is especially true if you consider it in a personal context: it's difficult to trust someone you don't know at a coffee shop to start

a conversation and then talk about themselves entice you to join their social network But if you and the person who shared those things were friends, you would be more likely to trust it Influencers, who connect companies with their target audience, are buddies with similar interests

Influencers provide their followers resources for knowledge and creativity The best results for influencer marketing efforts are achieved when there is a high degree of

congruence between the customer and the product This leads to greater positive sentiments of the item as well as improved purchase and referral intentions

2.1.3 Vietnam's F&B industry:

The food service sector in Vietnam is expected to grow at an 8.50 percent CAGR between 2022 and 2027 A significant proportion of monthly earnings is spent on eating out, indicating that the sector is thriving The country now has 550,000 F&B outlets, including 430,000 conventional meals and 82,000 chain restaurants From 2022 to 2027, Vietnam's food service sector is predicted to grow at an 8.50 percent CAGR A third of monthly income goes on eating out, showing that the industry is rapidly expanding There are presently 550,000 food and beverage establishments in the country, including 82,000 fast-food restaurants and 430,000 typical restaurants

Social influence comprises endorsements and promotion from celebrities, key opinion leaders (KOLs), and influencers as well as suggestions from their social network They can become devoted clients or occasional guests depending on whether they receive satisfactory services and rates that correspond to their impressions and the caliber of the meal The social networking sites that consumers use for social media influencers may

be seen in the survey analysis's findings on the traits of consumers' practices of doing

so in Vietnam The most popular social media platforms for following influencers are Facebook (93.5%), Instagram (87.1%), and YouTube (75.3%) The majority of consumers (94.6%) seek advice from influencers in the culinary industry who are qualified, skilled, and informed, such chefs, blogs, The majority of customers said they want to speak with influencers because they offer a lot of relevant information (63.5%), expertise and skills (56.8%), and there are lots of appealing product photographs (50%) All of the survey participants had considered and purchased the influential food items listed in the article 48.4% of participants sporadically view influencer postings, and 37.6% frequently do so When consumers see social media influencers post about food and drink goods, they choose videos with 73.6% of the vote, followed by images with 66.7%

2.2 Conceptual model and hypothesis development

Expertise

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Expertise level is defined as the extent to which the influencer is perceived as having knowledge or skill in a particular field (Ratchel et al., 2014) While expertise is highlighted to have a positive impact on both attitude and purchase intention (Till and Busler, 2000) Silvera and Austad (2004) highlighted that target groups' purchase intention is at a higher level when the influencers are more reliable since his/her higher expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness When influencers post about particular products or promote brands on social media platforms using their own expertise, the message of the products or brands can be seen as more trustworthy to their followers rather than sponsored commercials (Kassoway, 2015) As a result, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H1: The expertise of the influencer has a positive effect on consumers’ purchase

intention

Influencer Credibility

Influencers are considered as more credible and trustworthy than typical celebrities, and this has a substantial influence on the purchase intentions of their followers Sen & Lerman (2007) back up Deatara et al (2019) findings by claiming that highly credible communicators are more convincing than those with poor credibility Jiang's (2018) study also stated that a credible celebrity has a favorable influence on marketing effectiveness, such as enhancing customers' perceptions toward the brand and purchase intention Based on this, it is proposed:

H2: The influencer credibility has a positive effect on consumers’ purchase intention

Likability

Likability is described as the affection of an information receiver for the information source's appearance and character attributes (Kiecker & Cowles 2001; Teng et al., 2014) One of the most significant variables affecting a consumer's attitude is their opinion of an influencer (Li et al., 2014) In current study, likability is defined to be an individual’s tendency to be driven to the communicator’s charm or persona, or his/her level of sociability or approachability (Xiao et al., 2018) Therefore, likability of an influencer is positively shown to increase credibility, consumer attitudes and buying intention (Kumar, 2011) Thus, we extend our hypothesis as follow: