Modern Ethos: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Digital Influencer Credibility in Building Online Consumer Trust

Abstract

Online consumer trust is a critical precedence that defines the success of digital marketing. The application of modern ethos looks into the credibility of digital influencers that plays a pivotal role in influencing behaviours and beliefs, managing doubts, and improving the level of trust among online consumers. The objectives of the study are to investigate the credibility strategies utilized by digital influencers in their content creation and to determine the employed methods in content creation for online consumers. Additionally, a qualitative approach was adopted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Data was obtained through semi-structured interviews involving a purposive sampling of ten respondents, divided into two groups of five digital influencers and five online consumers. The findings revealed two main superordinate themes: reputation and integrity. The subordinate themes under reputation are authenticity, relevancy, knowledge and experience, and attractiveness which were identified as the key strategies utilized by digital influencers to establish their credibility. Conversely, the integrity superordinate highlights four subordinate themes which are style, fact checking, truthfulness, and relatability. These subordinates represent the content creation methods utilized by digital influencers. This study contributes to the understanding of digital marketing phenomenology by focusing on the strategies that emphasizes digital influencer’s authenticity, consistency, and audience-centric approaches. The implications of the study also include the benefits for practitioners in maintaining their credibility through the aspects of reputation and integrity on social media. Furthermore, the importance of credibility suggests that digital influencers must uphold and prioritize their authenticity, consistency, and transparency in content creation. Audiences are becoming increasingly discerning, and any misconducts or perceived inconsistency may reduce their level of trust. Hence, digital influencers should invest in creating and demonstrating coherence in their personal brand, reflecting on genuine experience, expertise, and relatability.