Marketing budgets have shifted dramatically over the last decade. Brands across industries are moving capital away from traditional celebrity endorsements and toward social media personalities. Estimates suggest the influencer marketing economy grew from just over one billion dollars in 2014 to roughly twenty-four billion dollars in 2024. Fashion brands are particularly aggressive in this space. They rely on digital content creators to bridge the gap between high-end products and everyday consumers.
Despite this massive investment, the specific mechanics of why consumers buy from these online figures remain partially understood. Previous industry assumptions focused on an influencer’s attractiveness or their perceived expertise. However, a new investigation suggests that a different quality might be driving sales: relatability.
A research team recently conducted a quantitative study to measure how an influencer’s ability to seem like a “regular person” affects a follower’s wallet. The study, titled “The impact of social media fashion influencers’ relatability on purchase intention,” appears in the journal Acta Psychologica. The findings offer a granular look at how emotional connections translate into revenue and identify which consumers are most immune to this effect.
Defining the Research Gap
Ji Wang and Yidan Ma, researchers from the Business School at Liaoning University in China, led the investigation. They collaborated with colleagues Le Min, Yujia Xiao, and Jiannan Geng from the Minzu University of China. The team identified a limitation in existing marketing literature. While “relatability” is often discussed in industry blogs, it lacked a clear scientific definition or a reliable way to measure it. Most prior studies relied on interviews or small focus groups rather than hard data.
To address this, the researchers turned to the Meaning Transfer Model. This theory suggests that influencers possess certain symbolic traits. Through their content, they transfer these traits to the products they endorse. Finally, consumers transfer those traits to themselves by purchasing the product. The researchers hypothesized that relatability is a key trait in this chain.
They set out to answer two primary questions. First, does relatability directly cause people to want to buy products? Second, does the consumer’s own knowledge about fashion change how they react to that relatability?
Deconstructing Relatability
Before collecting data, the team had to operationalize what it means to be relatable. They synthesized previous qualitative work to establish that “Social Media Fashion Influencers’ relatability” is not a single trait. It is a composite of four distinct dimensions.
The first dimension is accessibility. This refers to the influencer sharing daily life experiences and personal values. It creates a sense of openness that allows followers to feel well-informed about the person behind the screen.
The second dimension is interactivity. This measures how often the influencer communicates with followers. It goes beyond posting content to include responding to comments and engaging in a way that mimics family or friendship dynamics.
The third dimension is ordinariness. This describes influencers who behave like normal individuals rather than distant stars. They exhibit a standard lifestyle that followers feel they could emulate.
The fourth dimension is homophily. This is a sociological term referring to the perception of similarity. It occurs when followers believe the influencer shares their specific interests, values, and background.
The Methodology
With these definitions in place, the researchers designed a survey to test their hypotheses. They utilized a digital research platform to recruit participants from across China. To ensure the data was relevant, they implemented a screening process. Participants had to name a specific social media fashion influencer (SMFI) they viewed frequently. They also had to confirm they were currently following or subscribing to that account.
The final sample consisted of 324 valid responses. The demographic breakdown showed that approximately 64 percent of the respondents were female. The majority fell between the ages of 25 and 35. This alignment matches general industry data regarding the primary consumers of fashion content on social media.
The survey used established scales to measure the variables. Participants rated statements regarding the influencer’s accessibility, the emotional value they felt toward endorsed products, and their own level of fashion expertise. The researchers then used statistical modeling to analyze the relationships between these data points.
Analyzing the Emotional Chain
The analysis revealed a clear chain of events connecting the influencer to the purchase decision. The data showed that high levels of relatability had a direct, positive link to purchase intention. When an influencer appeared more accessible and ordinary, followers were more likely to plan a purchase.
The researchers found that this process worked through an emotional pathway. Relatability triggered a specific reaction known as “perceived emotional value.” This is the utility a consumer derives from the feelings or affective states that a product generates.
The process functioned as follows: The influencer established a friend-like connection through daily sharing and interaction. This connection transferred positive sentiment to the clothing or accessories they featured. The consumer then perceived the product as having higher emotional value. Finally, this heightened value led to a stronger intention to buy.
The Role of Consumer Expertise
The study introduced a significant variable that complicated this simple chain: consumer expertise. The researchers measured how much knowledge the participants believed they possessed regarding fashion trends and products.
The analysis showed that expertise acted as a boundary condition. It changed the strength of the relationship between emotional value and the decision to buy.
For consumers with low levels of fashion expertise, the emotional path was strong. These individuals relied heavily on the feeling of connection and the emotional appeal of the product. They lacked the technical knowledge to judge the item on its objective merits. As a result, they leaned on the influencer’s relatability to guide their choice.
For consumers with high levels of fashion expertise, the dynamic shifted. These participants possessed deep knowledge of brands, fabrics, and trends. The data indicated that for this group, the link between perceived emotional value and purchase intention was significantly weaker. Their rational assessment of the product overrode the emotional cues provided by the influencer.
Implications for Business
The findings offer practical direction for content creators in the fashion sector. The data suggests that strictly professional or highly curated personas may be less effective than those that embrace “ordinariness.” To maximize influence, creators should prioritize content that showcases daily routines and fosters two-way communication.
For brands, the study highlights the importance of matching the influencer to the target customer. If a company is selling complex, high-technical fashion items to knowledgeable buyers, a relatable influencer may have limited impact. In those cases, the consumer’s own expertise will dominate the decision-making process.
However, for mass-market fashion products targeting general consumers, relatability is a potent tool. Brands targeting this demographic should select partners who exhibit high levels of homophily with their audience. The “friend-like” bond appears to be a primary driver of sales for the average shopper.
Directions for Future Inquiry
This investigation opens several new avenues for research. The current study relied on self-reported data collected at a single point in time. Future projects could track consumer behavior over a longer period to see if the effect of relatability fades or strengthens.
The researchers also note that the study focused on individual factors. Future inquiries could examine how group dynamics on social media influence these purchases. For example, does seeing a friend interact with an influencer heighten the sense of relatability for a third party?
Additionally, the research was conducted within a specific cultural context. Investigating whether these four dimensions of relatability—accessibility, interactivity, ordinariness, and homophily—hold the same weight in different cultural markets would be valuable. This would determine if the desire for a “regular” influencer is a global phenomenon or specific to certain consumer groups.
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