The Effect of Online Unpaid Reviews made by Renowned Vloggers: the Case of Smartphones

Abstract The main aim of the study is to establish the effects of online unpaid reviews posted by internet celebrities (renowned vloggers) on audience’s purchase intention, product recommendation and engagement on the platform. The empirical research conducted for this purpose revealed that audience’s attitude towards the vlogger is positively affected by the perceived attributes of the vlogger - trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness. Further, the attitudes towards the vlogger reflect on the attitudes towards the reviewed product, and both have positive effects on the purchase intention, product recommendations and actions on Youtube. Despite being influenced by the attitudes towards the vlogger and the product, the attitudes towards the video content don’t have a significant impact on audience’s intentions. Additional multi-group analysis showed significant differences based on audience’s gender and their familiarity with the vlogger.