Go vegan! digital influence and social media use in the purchase intention of vegan products in the cosmetics industry

Social media have expanded the exposure of vegan consumption decisions and practices through the greater reach of opinions issued digitally by individuals concerned about ethical and environmental issues. Some of these people have reached considerable numbers of followers virtually, becoming digital influencers with built-in credibility that makes them opinion leaders. Considering them, this study aims to analyze the relationship between source credibility and the social media use in the purchase intention of vegan products endorsed by digital influencers, focusing on the cosmetics industry. We used the cross-sectional survey method and adopted Structural Equation Modeling to analyze the relationships between the variables from 190 valid questionnaires. We identified that both the social media use and the source credibility influence the purchase intention of vegan cosmetic products. The ability of digital influencers to shape consumer intentions was recognized, even though the products they endorse do not represent the follower's philosophy of life—for example, a nonvegan follower who intends to consume a vegan cosmetic from the digital influencer endorsement. Furthermore, we identified that the source credibility influences the social media use that is the influencer also shapes the individual digital behavior.