Abstract:
The objective of the study is the understand the factors that influence consumer purchase intention of products endorsed by Korean boy bands on YouTube and identify the weight of the attitude towards source characteristics, YouTube engagement, product involvement level and YouTube advertisement formats amongst each other and with purchase intention. The study was conducted in a quantitative approach from 408 respondents who have been exposed to YouTube ads in 2022. The results are as followed: (1) attractiveness was the highest scored sub-variable of source characteristics, along with clicking like for engagement, product placement for advertisement formats and low involvement product types in relation to the sample having moderate intention to purchase. (2) In regard to the correlation between source characteristics and engagement, a negligible positive association was found. (3) Thirdly, it was found that Korean boy bands’ attractiveness had a higher influence on the purchase intention of the sample group. (4) Lastly, the results showed that advertising format, namely product placement (B= 0.267), and online engagement on YouTube (B = 0.108) of the ads have a positive influence on the purchase intention of the Thai audience. Multiple regression shows a positive influence from the product placement variable on purchase intention. The finding of suggests the endorsement of Korean boy bands is efficient for low-involvement products to young Thai female students with a bachelor’s degree and are fans of Got 7.
