Smaller voices, bigger impacts: Exploring micro-influencer characteristics across consumer decision-making stages

The emergence of micro-influencers has become a game-changer for businesses, affirming the notion that smaller is smarter. They resemble ordinary individuals, engaging in authentic conversations with their followers, then offering brands more sincere outreach marketing initiatives. Thus, the study was conducted to ascertain the influence of micro-influencer characteristics on consumer decision-making stages through the mediating role of para-social relationships. The cross-sectional study with stimulus exposure picked 16 profiles of micro-influencers who are working in different industries on Facebook and Instagram, with n = 808. The study investigates that the characteristic of micro-influencers has the greatest impact on decision-making stages, including credibility, homophily, and post’ commercial orientation and the stage at which micro-influencers can optimize the marketing objectives. The results proved that micro-influencers’ credibility emerged as the strongest factor positively associated with para-social relationships to information search and buying stages. Even post’ commercial orientation has a small positive impact on other variables; it contributes as a pioneering study to enhance the positive relationship in micro-influencer activities. These insights advance both theory and practice in social media marketing and provide guidance for brands aiming to optimize micro-influencer campaigns.