Summary of the main cues, primary aspects and short quotes
| Main cues | Primary aspects | Short quotes |
|---|---|---|
| Customer experience-related cues | ||
| Source factors | Public account status | “The user account status must be public, not private … This information helps me realize the authenticity of the influencer I follow” (ID04) |
| Account verification indicated by a blue checkmark | “The audience’s account has verification as a blue checkmark, a cue to identify SMI authenticity” (ID02) | |
| Frequency of posted content | “I still click on the user’s accounts, … do they regularly post videos through that account?” (ID21) | |
| The absence of a default user avatar | “I click on the user’s profile to see if the user’s avatar is a default avatar, hidden avatar, or real face avatar. The default and hidden avatars are clones …, which makes me suspicious about the SMI’s authenticity” (ID13) | |
| Comment valence | Two-sided comments, but leaning towards the positive side | “… I also rely on comments to assess the authenticity of SMIs … Comments should have two-sided information, both good and bad points” (ID03) “… To evaluate an authentic SMI, these comments should be two-way comments, both pros and cons for her …. but I lean toward positive comments …” (ID11) |
| Negative comments | “When SMI [Name removed] collaborates with a brand [Name removed], I feel she is very inauthentic, because when I read the comments, I see a lot of complaints and negative feedback about her” (ID17) | |
| Positive comments | “ … I often scroll down to see the comments of SMIs to check their authenticity …. But if the 10 comments are all positive, they have been bought with money” (ID04) | |
| Post-service effectiveness | Tangible results self-evaluated by customers after using the service | “I have been utilizing this service by myself for a long time but do not see the real results in my face …. I kept squeezing acne and endured peeling skin … SMI [Name removed] is very inauthentic” (ID08) |
| Before-and-after results evaluated and shared by SMIs or their audiences | “ … In addition, I rely on the image in the video clip to see a noticeable change in the results, before-after results from SMIs or SMI’s audiences, which makes the SMI authentic” … (ID04) | |
| Service results without any photo editing | “An authentic SMI will not use photo software to edit images of service results” (ID10) | |
| Experience alignment | SMI’s evaluations align customer’s personal experiences | “I will rely on my personal experience to see if it is similar to what the SMI says. From there, I evaluate the authenticity of the SMI” (ID11) |
| SMI’s evaluations match customer’s knowledge | “I have some knowledge and experience … I see that the SMI’s review does not match my knowledge … so this SMI is no longer authentic to me” (ID16) | |
| Customer materialism | Customers’ happiness that is attributed to SMIs | “My life has never been happy. The reason that I consider the SMI [Name removed] as authentic is that when I watch her video about filler service, she is able to satisfy me ….Thus, she is very authentic for me” (ID14) |
| Customer’s pursuit of wealth that is attributed to SMIs | “[Name removed] is very rich and successful. She goes to study abroad; this is my dream. She satisfies me via her content. So I don’t think she cheats me for advertising money … She is authentic”(ID13) | |
| Collaborative brand-related cues | ||
| Brand credibility | Good facilities | “An authentic SMI must collaborate with spa-like [Name removed] spa … with good facilities. What I like most about this spa is that there is a separate room …” (ID05) |
| Professional staff skills | “How credible is the spa? It must have staff with professional skills. Authentic SMIs should collaborate with these brands” (ID03) | |
| Service provider expertise | “I find the SMI is authentic when collaborating with credible brands and expert doctors” (ID01) | |
| Trustworthy services with a clear process | “The process is vague, not clear or transparent … this spa is less credible, the services are not trustworthy, …influencer [Name removed] is not authentic, I unfollowed her … …..” (ID09) | |
| Price consistency | “The service price list is public and consistent with what the spa describes” (ID07) | |
| Brand coolness | Update new beauty service trends | “I find that if an SMI collaborates with clinics that update with the latest beauty trends, I see this person as authentic.” (ID18) |
| Familiar with customer’s memories | “To see whether this influencer is authentic, she should collaborate with beauty centers which are updating with the top new services. I usually get familiar with centers in my memory because I have experience and knowledge in those centers before …. Spa [name removed] is a trendy brand” (ID04) | |
| Brand experience | Convenience of location | “Location is convenient and close to my home …., a lot of branches, I feel comfortable to use the service here … She is very authentic in my mind …” (ID18) |
| Pleasing atmosphere | “I see that an authentic SMI has to work with spas/clinics that have a pleasing space, such as cleaning machines and medical sterilization” (ID19) | |
| Positive social media experience | “I had good social media experiences. A brand must have useful information on social media, which recognizes the authenticity of SMIs with whom they collaborate” (ID13) | |
| Competent staff | “The competence of the staff is bad. The staff always forces me to buy the service package and talks very impolitely” (ID08) | |
| Influencer-owned brand | Transparent self-disclosure of service positives and negatives | “Spa [Name removed] has an owner who is a very famous and talented SMI [Name removed] …. she discloses both the pros and cons sides of a service applied to the face … All things can prove her authenticity” (ID20) |
| Comprehensive disclosure of service details | “This store is opened by SMI [Name removed] … He discloses all service information he provides. I judge he has high authenticity” (ID17) | |
| Main cues | Primary aspects | Short quotes |
|---|---|---|
| Source factors | Public account status | “The user account status must be public, not private … This information helps me realize the authenticity of the influencer I follow” (ID04) |
| Account verification indicated by a blue checkmark | “The audience’s account has verification as a blue checkmark, a cue to identify SMI authenticity” (ID02) | |
| Frequency of posted content | “I still click on the user’s accounts, … do they regularly post videos through that account?” (ID21) | |
| The absence of a default user avatar | “I click on the user’s profile to see if the user’s avatar is a default avatar, hidden avatar, or real face avatar. The default and hidden avatars are clones …, which makes me suspicious about the SMI’s authenticity” (ID13) | |
| Comment valence | Two-sided comments, but leaning towards the positive side | “… I also rely on comments to assess the authenticity of SMIs … Comments should have two-sided information, both good and bad points” (ID03) |
| Negative comments | “When SMI [Name removed] collaborates with a brand [Name removed], I feel she is very inauthentic, because when I read the comments, I see a lot of complaints and negative feedback about her” (ID17) | |
| Positive comments | “ … I often scroll down to see the comments of SMIs to check their authenticity …. But if the 10 comments are all positive, they have been bought with money” (ID04) | |
| Post-service effectiveness | Tangible results self-evaluated by customers after using the service | “I have been utilizing this service by myself for a long time but do not see the real results in my face …. I kept squeezing acne and endured peeling skin … SMI [Name removed] is very inauthentic” (ID08) |
| Before-and-after results evaluated and shared by SMIs or their audiences | “ … In addition, I rely on the image in the video clip to see a noticeable change in the results, before-after results from SMIs or SMI’s audiences, which makes the SMI authentic” … (ID04) | |
| Service results without any photo editing | “An authentic SMI will not use photo software to edit images of service results” (ID10) | |
| Experience alignment | SMI’s evaluations align customer’s personal experiences | “I will rely on my personal experience to see if it is similar to what the SMI says. From there, I evaluate the authenticity of the SMI” (ID11) |
| SMI’s evaluations match customer’s knowledge | “I have some knowledge and experience … I see that the SMI’s review does not match my knowledge … so this SMI is no longer authentic to me” (ID16) | |
| Customer materialism | Customers’ happiness that is attributed to SMIs | “My life has never been happy. The reason that I consider the SMI [Name removed] as authentic is that when I watch her video about filler service, she is able to satisfy me ….Thus, she is very authentic for me” (ID14) |
| Customer’s pursuit of wealth that is attributed to SMIs | “[Name removed] is very rich and successful. She goes to study abroad; this is my dream. She satisfies me via her content. So I don’t think she cheats me for advertising money … She is authentic”(ID13) | |
| Brand credibility | Good facilities | “An authentic SMI must collaborate with spa-like [Name removed] spa … with good facilities. What I like most about this spa is that there is a separate room …” (ID05) |
| Professional staff skills | “How credible is the spa? It must have staff with professional skills. Authentic SMIs should collaborate with these brands” (ID03) | |
| Service provider expertise | “I find the SMI is authentic when collaborating with credible brands and expert doctors” (ID01) | |
| Trustworthy services with a clear process | “The process is vague, not clear or transparent … this spa is less credible, the services are not trustworthy, …influencer [Name removed] is not authentic, I unfollowed her … …..” (ID09) | |
| Price consistency | “The service price list is public and consistent with what the spa describes” (ID07) | |
| Brand coolness | Update new beauty service trends | “I find that if an SMI collaborates with clinics that update with the latest beauty trends, I see this person as authentic.” (ID18) |
| Familiar with customer’s memories | “To see whether this influencer is authentic, she should collaborate with beauty centers which are updating with the top new services. I usually get familiar with centers in my memory because I have experience and knowledge in those centers before …. Spa [name removed] is a trendy brand” (ID04) | |
| Brand experience | Convenience of location | “Location is convenient and close to my home …., a lot of branches, I feel comfortable to use the service here … She is very authentic in my mind …” (ID18) |
| Pleasing atmosphere | “I see that an authentic SMI has to work with spas/clinics that have a pleasing space, such as cleaning machines and medical sterilization” (ID19) | |
| Positive social media experience | “I had good social media experiences. A brand must have useful information on social media, which recognizes the authenticity of SMIs with whom they collaborate” (ID13) | |
| Competent staff | “The competence of the staff is bad. The staff always forces me to buy the service package and talks very impolitely” (ID08) | |
| Influencer-owned brand | Transparent self-disclosure of service positives and negatives | “Spa [Name removed] has an owner who is a very famous and talented SMI [Name removed] …. she discloses both the pros and cons sides of a service applied to the face … All things can prove her authenticity” (ID20) |
| Comprehensive disclosure of service details | “This store is opened by SMI [Name removed] … He discloses all service information he provides. I judge he has high authenticity” (ID17) | |
Source(s): Authors’ own work
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