Influencer Marketing and Social Media Advertising: An Empirical Study of Consumer Behaviour and Engagement

The rapid growth of social media platforms has altered modern marketing techniques, establishing influencer marketing as the dominating promotional strategy. Influencers serve as opinion leaders, shaping consumer views, trust, and purchasing decisions through sponsored content. Simultaneously, the structure of social media advertising-particularly video-based vs poster-based content-has a significant impact on customer engagement. This study looks at the effects of influencer marketing and social media advertising formats on customer behavior, engagement, website visits, and purchase intent. 127 individuals provided primary data using a standardized questionnaire. The influencer-mediated consumer engagement theory (IMCET) serves as the study's theoretical framework. The findings show that influence credibility and video marketing greatly increase customer engagement and buy intention. The study has theoretical and operational significance for digital marketers and adds to the influence of marketing literature.