1. INTRODUCTION:

Influencer marketing has emerged as a key component of modern marketing techniques, allowing individuals with large social media followings to promote businesses and services (Schouten et al., 2019)¹ According to their follower counts, these influencers are usually divided into four categories: mega-influencers (those with over a million followers), macro-influencers (those with 100,000–1 million followers), micro-influencers (those with 10,000–100,000 followers), and nano-influencers (those with fewer than 10,000 followers) (Chopra et al., 2020)². When it comes to reach, engagement, and authenticity, each group has distinctive advantages (Müller.L et al., 2018)³.

Influencer marketing has grown rapidly in the Indian merchandise industry, as companies increasingly collaborate with influencers to improve customer engagement and brand recognition (Rajput and Gandhi, 2024)⁴. Customers' trust and brand loyalty have increased as a result of this approach (Menon P. B, 2025)⁵. As a consequence of their broad reach, mega and macro-influencers are frequently used to significantly increase brand awareness. However, collaborating with these influencers can be too expensive for many organizations, and their large audiences may result in poorer engagement rates (Growing, 2024)⁶. On the other hand, micro and nano-influencers typically encourage higher engagement rates due to their smaller but more dedicated fan bases (Banerjee, 2025)⁷. Their audiences view their content as more approachable and genuine, which increases their credibility and trust (Swarup, 2025)⁸. Trust and authenticity are essential elements of any influencer marketing initiatives. Indian consumers seem to be increasingly discerning, with a significant segment expressing distrust regarding influencers with enormous followings due to a perceived lack of authenticity (Sudha and Sheena, 2017)⁹. Due to this distrust, marketers are now working with micro and nano-influencers that have more real, personal relationships with their audiences, which increases consumer engagement and trust (Growing, 2024).

The perceived resemblance between influencers and their followers is another factor that affects how successful influencer marketing is. Customers are more inclined to follow recommendations from influencers they believe have similar interests and values with them. Therefore, the effect of influencer endorsements on consumer behavior is further strengthened by the sense of connection that is fostered by this perceived resemblance (Schouten et al., 2019).

In conclusion, in the Indian merchandise industry, the size of an influencer has a big impact on how customers interact with brands and how loyal they are. Micro and nano-influencers give greater authenticity and engagement, whereas mega and macro-influencers offer a wider audience. Brands looking to maximize their marketing efforts and establish long-lasting customer relationships must comprehend the distinct benefits of each influencer type (Rajput and Gandhi, 2024)¹⁰

2. LITERATURE REVIEW:

2.1 Influencer scale:

Influencers are classified according to the number of followers they have, which has a direct effect on their levels of engagement and reach. Usually celebrities or prominent figures with millions of followers, mega influencers have a large following but frequently don't interact deeply with their fans. Mega influencers are useful for brand awareness initiatives because of their greater degree of centrality in social networks, according to (Britt et al. (2019)¹¹. However, compared to smaller influencers, their work frequently lacks relatability and authenticity. Macro Influencers are the individuals balance reach and engagement, having between 100,000 and one million followers. According to (Teresa Borges -Tiago et al.)¹², because they have a stronger relationship with their followers, macro influencers are better at increasing consumer engagement than mega influencers. Micro influencers, who have between 10,000 and 100,000 followers, are known for their narrow audiences and strong levels of engagement. According to (Chen et al.)¹³, micro influencers are perfect for niche marketing since they are seen as more genuine and reliable. According to (Hu et al.)¹⁴ the knowledge and relatability of micro influencers have a big impact on what customers decide to buy. With less than 10,000 followers, nano influencers are excellent at building close, trustworthy relationships with their audience. According to (Wibawa R.C et al.)¹⁵, because of their apparent authenticity and two-way communication, nano influencers are quite successful at influencing consumer behavior.

2.2 Influencer Marketing:

Influencers' reach and trustworthiness are used to promote brands through influencer marketing. Authenticity, content relevancy, and audience alignment are important aspects of successful influencer marketing (Guruge)¹⁶. According to (Ahmed et al.)¹⁷, social attractiveness and follower engagement are important factors in influencer marketing's considerable impact on purchase decisions.

2.3 Customer engagement:

One of the most crucial outcomes of influencer marketing is consumer engagement. According to (de Oliveira santini et al.)¹⁸, the three main factors influencing engagement are trust, emotional connection, and content value. The significance of platform-specific tactics was emphasized by (Viñals et al.)¹⁹, who pointed out that shorter films on TikTok, for instance, typically result in better interaction.

2.4 Brand loyalty:

Emotional connection, content quality, and influencer credibility are some of the elements that affect brand loyalty. (Çelik et al.)²⁰ discovered that the association between brand loyalty and trust is moderated by the attractiveness of influencers. (Rezki R)²¹ highlighted how influencer credibility, especially for micro and macro influencers, mediates brand loyalty.

3. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY:

Despite the increasing number of researches on influencer marketing, there are still substantial gaps, particularly in understanding how different influencer scales affect customer engagement and loyalty. Instead of comparing the efficacy of mega, macro, micro, and nano influencers in creating enduring brand relationships, the majority of research concentrate on particular influencer categories. Furthermore, there is no study on how consumers view authenticity differently throughout influencer levels, despite the fact that authenticity and trust are generally acknowledged as important components of influencer marketing. Additionally, few researches exist about the psychological processes underlying customer trust, emotional attachment, and influencer-scale decision-making. Moreover, despite the fact that brands spend a lot of money on influencer marketing, there isn't a set methodology for figuring out which influencer category provides the best return on investment. There are few studies that compare how much mega influencers and nano influencers cost in terms of increasing engagement and conversions. The complexity of influencer-consumer relationships and how different kinds of interaction—like direct engagement versus passive following—affect brand affinity are two more areas that are often ignored.

Furthermore, the majority of research on influencer marketing that has already been done is centered on Western economies, with little attention paid to the Indian context, where sociocultural influences are very important in determining customer behavior. Further investigation across various influencer scales is also necessary to better understand the ways in which ethical and transparency issues, especially those pertaining to influencer disclosures and sponsorships, affect consumer trust and brand credibility. Finally, there is no well-established strategy to help firms choose the appropriate influencer category depending on particular marketing goals, which results in strategies that are inconsistent.

4. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

· To determine how mega, macro, micro, and nano influencers affect engagement and brand loyalty in the Indian merchandise market.

· To investigate the long-term impact of influencer marketing strategies on consumer-brand relationships.

· To study the psychological impact of influencer credibility, authenticity, and trust on consumer decision-making.

5. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

The dynamic nature of influencer marketing demands a thorough examination of the ways in which various influencer scales—mega, macro, and micro—impact customer decisions and brand outcomes. According to the framework conceptualized in this study, the influencer scale serves as the independent variable (IV), and consumer demographics regulate the correlations between influencer credibility, perceived authenticity, and dependability and marketing effectiveness. Customer engagement is crucial to this approach as a means of translating influencer impact into brand loyalty, which is the final dependent variable (DV).

5.1 Influencer scale:

The size of an influencer influences its reach, engagement levels, and perceived trustworthiness. Mega influencers with one million or more followers provide extensive exposure, but their endorsements may suffer from reduced engagement rates and apparent commercial motive, according to earlier research (De Veirman et al., 2017)²². Conversely, micro influencers (10K–100K followers) produce noticeably more audience involvement because of their stronger para-social ties, whereas macro influencers (100K–1M followers) establish a balance between reach and relatability (Djafarova and Rushworth, 2016)²³. Examining how trustworthiness, authenticity, and dependability moderate the effect of influencer scale on customer engagement is crucial given the significance of these differences.

5.2 Mediating variables: Credibility, Reliability and Authenticity:

In digital marketing, influencer credibility is a well-established factor that influences persuasion (Hwang and Zhang, 2018)²⁴. Customers evaluate an influencer's expertise and reliability before developing opinions about the brand they are promoting. Credibility on its own, however, is insufficient; audience trust is further strengthened by reliability, or the constancy and dependability of an influencer's recommendations. According to studies, customers are more inclined to interact with influencers that consistently match their values and promote products (Lou and Yuan, 2019)²⁵. Meanwhile, establishing stronger customer-brand interactions depends heavily on perceived authenticity, which is the extent to which influencers seem real and unscripted (Audrezet et al., 2018)²⁶.

According to this framework, customer engagement is influenced by influencers' trustworthiness, reliability, and authenticity. User-generated content, discussions, and even advocacy are now considered forms of engagement in addition to likes and comments (Van Driel and Dumitrica, 2020)²⁷. The engagement determines brand loyalty, which is critical for long-term business survival.

5.3 Moderating Variable:

The diverse character of consumer demographics is often overlooked by influencer marketing strategies, which frequently concentrate on interaction metrics and content quality. Age, gender, cultural background, and level of digital literacy all affect how influential endorsements are. While older customers show more confidence in well-known macro or mega influencers, younger consumers (Gen Z and Millennials) are more likely to embrace micro influencers since they are seen as relatable. Furthermore, the way that authenticity is received is influenced by cultural considerations; for example, some markets value traditional credibility signals more than social media influence. As a moderating element in this approach, consumer demographics affect how various audience segments react to engagement efforts. By being aware of these moderating effects, brands may tailor their influencer campaigns to efficiently reach a variety of customer groups with their endorsements.

Hence, this conceptual framework offers a comprehensive understanding of the efficacy of influencer marketing by integrating demographic influences, influencer scale, credibility, reliability, and authenticity. The model offers a theoretical framework for further empirical study and practical insights for firms managing digital consumer behavior by demonstrating the interactions between different influencer tiers and mediating and moderating variables.

6. DISCUSSION:

The study's findings provide important insights into how different influencer scales affect customer engagement and brand loyalty in the Indian merchandise industry. A distinct trend shows that influencers' efficacy is greatly influenced by their credibility, authenticity, and reliability rather than just their reach. These elements play a key role in mediating whether influencer-driven campaigns result in lasting brand loyalty and meaningful engagement.

One of the most interesting findings is the trade-off between reach and engagement. Mega influencers provide wide brand exposure, but because of their perceived lack of authenticity, their impact on in-depth customer involvement is frequently restricted. However, micro and nano influencers having a smaller fan base or followers, build closer para-social bonds with their audience. Increased interaction rates and more trust-based brand advocacy result from this stronger relationship. Therefore, marketers must balance their influencer mix based on campaign goals, using micro influencers for engagement and conversion and mega influencers for awareness. The importance of authenticity and credibility emphasizes even more how digital marketing is evolving. The authenticity of influencers is a crucial factor in determining their effectiveness because consumers are becoming conscious of overt commercial content. The persuasive power of an influencer is greatly increased by their capacity to uphold consistent values, authentic brand associations, and audience-focused communication. This study demonstrates that influencers' perceived honesty and transparency in brand partnerships significantly influence their credibility, which is not just based on their business knowledge. The results also highlight how engagement-driven indicators are more important than vanity measures like follower count. According to this study, shares, brand-related discussions, and comment-to-like ratios are better measures of an influencer's true impact than numerical reach, which is frequently the focus of traditional marketing strategies. With an emphasis on audience engagement over passive exposure, this change forces marketers to reconsider how they assess influencer relationships.

Lastly, the study highlights that brand loyalty is a process rather than a quick fix. A long-term, trust-based relationship between businesses and their audience is necessary for continued loyalty, even while influencer partnerships can pique consumer interest and engagement. In order to ensure authenticity, message consistency, and a stronger bond with customers over time, this recommends that organizations should prioritize continuing partnerships with certain influencers over one-time marketing activities.

7. IMPLICATIONS:

7.1 Implications for brands and marketers:

· Integration of Multi-Tier Influencer Strategies: Instead of using a single influencer method, marketers could use hybrid strategies that combine micro and nano influencers for engagement that is based on trust with mega influencers for brand visibility. This layered approach ensures that marketing activities are both effective and credible.

· Ethical and Transparent Brand Partnerships: Influencer marketing that seems inauthentic is becoming less and less trusted by consumers. Brands must encourage transparent collaborations in order to lessen this, making sure that influencers openly reveal sponsorships and promote goods they actually use or support.

· Data-Driven Performance Evaluation: When assessing an influencer's actual impact, conventional metrics such as follower count and likes are insufficient. Conversion rates, audience retention, and the level of interaction in comments and shares are examples of engagement-driven KPIs that brands need to go toward.

· Cultural sensitivity and localization in influencer marketing: Given the diversity of India's consumer base, marketers must adjust influencer initiatives to regional and cultural preferences. Working with regional influencers that have a stronger cultural connection to the target market is one way to achieve this.

· Long-Term Influencer-Brand Collaborations: Brands should establish lasting relationships with influencers rather than relying just on one-time partnerships. Influencers can more naturally include items into their content with this strategy, which also promotes consistency in brand message.

7.2 Implications for the Government and the regulations:

· Controlling Inauthentic Engagement and False Influencers: The emergence of false influencers, who use bot-driven interactions, bought likes, and comments to artificially inflate their follower counts and engagement metrics, is a significant problem in influencer marketing. Social media platforms and the government should work together to create verification systems that identify dishonest influencers. Stricter laws requiring transparency in influencer-follower engagement metrics can be implemented to protect consumers and companies from deceptive recommendations.

· Required Disclosure of Paid Promotions and Sponsored Content: Although disclosure of sponsored collaborations is required by current advertising guidelines, enforcement is still inadequate. Influencers and brands who do not openly declare sponsored content require additional penalties from the government. Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques can be used to track non-compliance and warn or punish offenders.

· Addressing AI-Generated Personas and Deep fake: Influencers Deep fake technology and AI-generated influencers pose new risks since they can be programmed to trick audiences without human control. Regulations requiring AI influencers to be clearly identified as artificial personalities must be implemented by governments. Furthermore, to ensure transparency, companies who use influencers created by AI should reveal that they are not human.

· Increasing Digital Literacy and Consumer Awareness: Given the significant impact influencer marketing has on consumer behavior, governments have to incorporate digital literacy initiatives into educational programs to increase awareness

7.3 Implications for the future research:

· The rise of influencers powered by AI offers digital marketers both new possibilities and difficulties. It is necessary to research how well virtual influencers work to increase customer engagement and trust as they become more popular. Future studies should examine the relative relatability, authenticity, and engagement metrics of AI and human influencers. Furthermore, studying how various customer segments react to AI-powered recommendations can shed light on how influencer marketing is changing in the digital sphere.

· While influencer marketing has been extensively researched, its impact differs dramatically across various areas of the merchandise industry. Future studies should examine how influencer marketing methods vary across different product categories, moving away from a broad, generalized approach and toward sector-specific analysis. For example, user-generated content, lifestyle appeal, and influencer aesthetics are key components of fashion and beauty items, making Instagram and TikTok the most popular venues for interaction. Conversely, technology and electronics goods rely on thorough product reviews, influencer credibility, and demonstration-based marketing, where YouTube and Twitter are vital in influencing consumer trust and purchasing behavior. Future research can offer more useful insights for companies operating in different industries by focusing on a single area rather than examining the merchandise industry overall.

· While influencer marketing has been extensively researched, the long-term consequences on brand loyalty remain unknown. Longitudinal studies should be the main focus of future research to look at how influencer relationships affect customer loyalty over time. Brands investing in influencer marketing must know if influencer-driven engagements result in repeat business and long-term brand partnerships.

8. CONCLUSIONS:

This study offers an elaborate overview of the method in which influencer scale affects marketing outcomes, including brand loyalty and customer engagement. The findings dispute the notion that greater influencers inherently result in increased engagement, instead emphasizing the importance of trustworthiness, dependability, and perceived authenticity in affecting customer trust. While mega influencers offer a wide audience but may have trouble being perceived as authentic, micro and macro influencers frequently exhibit stronger audience relationships, encouraging deeper engagement. This study emphasizes the necessity for brands to evaluate influencer relationships thoroughly, going beyond follower counts to give priority to high-quality interactions and audience relevance. Furthermore, the rise of inauthentic influencers with fictitious fan bases is an important issue that calls for more advanced authentication processes to guarantee that marketing expenditures generate a genuine impact on consumers.

As the digital marketing landscape evolves, companies need to optimize their influencer strategy, relying on analytics to maximize returns. Achieving a balance between consumer trust, purposeful brand engagement, and regulatory monitoring will be crucial for influencer marketing's future in creating a more genuine and significant digital marketplace.

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Received on 10.03.2025 Revised on 04.04.2025

Accepted on 23.04.2025 Published on 28.05.2025

Available online from May 31, 2025

Asian Journal of Management. 2025;16(2):94-100.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5763.2025.00015

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Creative Commons License.