The Influence of Influencer Endorsement and Social Media Marketing on Purchase Intention with Brand Awareness as a Mediating Variable

Abstract

The growth of social media has strengthened the role of influencer endorsement and social media marketing in shaping consumer behavior. This study analyzes the effects of these two strategies on purchase intention, with brand awareness as a mediating variable, in the context of Nyemil Saji, a snack brand of a small and medium-sized enterprise promoted on TikTok. Survey data were collected from 114 TikTok users aged 18 to 25 years selected by purposive sampling and were analyzed with multiple linear regression and the Sobel test in SPSS. Social media marketing has a significant positive effect on brand awareness, whereas influencer endorsement does not. Influencer endorsement, social media marketing, and brand awareness each have a significant positive effect on purchase intention. Brand awareness does not mediate the effect of influencer endorsement on purchase intention and only weakly mediates the effect of social media marketing on purchase intention. These findings suggest that brand awareness alone is insufficient to generate purchase intention and that other factors, such as trust, perceived quality, or consumer experience, deserve attention.