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@article{206915,
        author = {Mrs.A.Shanthi and Dr.V.Sivakumar},
        title = {THE POWER OF INFLUENCE: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS SHAPE BRAND AWARENESS AND CONSUMER PERCEPTION},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {2},
        pages = {3325-3332},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=206915},
        abstract = {Social media influencer marketing has emerged as one of the most significant disruptions to traditional brand communication, with Indian advertisers allocating over INR 2,500 crore to influencer marketing in 2025 alone, yet the structural pathways through which influencer characteristics translate into brand awareness and consumer brand perception remain incompletely modelled, particularly across the increasingly fragmented influencer tier landscape (nano, micro, macro, mega). This study examines the effects of four influencer dimensions credibility, parasocial relationship, content authenticity and influencer-brand congruence on consumer brand perception, mediated by brand awareness, among 410 social media users across India. Anchored in Source Credibility Theory, Parasocial Interaction Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the study employs Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) via SmartPLS 4.0 and multi-group analysis (MGA) to test influencer tier as a moderator. Influencer Credibility emerges as the dominant predictor of Brand Awareness (b = 0.45, p < 0.001), followed by Parasocial Relationship (b = 0.37), Content Authenticity (b = 0.31) and Influencer-Brand Congruence (b = 0.26). Brand Awareness strongly mediates these effects on Consumer Brand Perception (b = 0.55, p < 0.001), with the model explaining 72% of variance (R-squared = 0.72, SRMR = 0.057, NFI = 0.933). Influencer Credibility retains a significant direct effect on perception (b = 0.15, p < 0.01), confirming partial mediation. MGA reveals that nano/micro-influencers generate significantly stronger Credibility-to-Awareness (delta-b = 0.15, p = .012) and Parasocial Relationship-to-Awareness (delta-b = 0.22, p < .001) effects than macro/mega-influencers, despite their smaller reach, reflecting an authenticity-scale trade-off in influencer marketing effectiveness. These findings provide actionable influencer selection guidance for Indian brand marketers and theoretical advancement of the influencer marketing effectiveness literature.},
        keywords = {Brand Awareness, Consumer Perception, Influencer Marketing, Parasocial Relationship, Social Media, Source Credibility.},
        month = {July},
        }