Abstract

Purpose: Social media influencers (SMIs) have become significant sources of information influencing their followers' purchase intentions; few studies have been published on the effect of the number of followers and package tour prices on followers' purchase intention within the Vietnam travel industry utilizing naïve theories. This study examined the relationship between the number of followers and purchase intention and tested the moderating role of package tour price. Research Design, data and methodology: A 2 (number of followers: high vs. medium) × 2 (package tour price: high vs. low) between-subjects factorial design was used. 395 Vietnamese students (114 men, 281 women; M_age = 19.99, SD_age = 1.25) from Thuongmai University participated in the study. ANOVA and PROCESS MARCO were used to test hypotheses. Results: Findings indicate that participants show a higher purchase intention for SMIs with a higher number of followers than those with a medium one. When the package tour price is high, participants with a medium number of followers show a greater purchase intention than those with a high one. Conclusion: This recommendsthat tourism managers collaborate with SMIs with a high number of followers when the package tour price is low and with SMIs with medium ones when the package tour price is high.