Working (out) with fitness influencers - benefits for the fitness influencer, user health, and the endorsed brand: Key factors and the role of gender and brand familiarity.

Objective: Fitness influencers have become important digital health communicators with regard to influencing consumer health behaviours, such as physical activity. We investigate how working (out) with these new communicators can generate benefits for the fitness influencer, user health, and endorsed brands. Based on the source credibility, social identity theory, and gender congruity research, this paper aims to identify the main factors that affect users' attitudes toward the fitness influencer (influencer benefit), users' exercise intentions (user health benefit) and their purchase intentions (brand benefit), considering user and influencer gender. Methods: Two studies were conducted, both with male and female influencers and users. In study 1 (n = 496), the fitness influencer endorsed an unfamiliar brand, and in study 2 (n = 529) a familiar brand was endorsed. To test the proposed models and to estimate the path coefficients, structural equation modelling was performed. Results: Key influencing factors were identified in the two studies: For attitude toward the influencer, source credibility is the most important; for exercise intention, parasocial interaction and attitude toward the behaviour are crucial; and purchase intention is largely predicted by the brand attitude. The studies revealed gender-congruent and non-congruent tendencies for female and male respondents, and different effects of unfamiliar and familiar brands. Conclusions: Working (out) with fitness influencers can improve user attitudes toward the influencer, increase users' exercise intentions, and increase brand purchase intentions, for both unfamiliar and familiar brands. Some gender congruity and some gender incongruity effects exist. The paper discusses important implications for theory and practice.

Motivate me to exercise with you: The effects of social media fitness influencers on users' intentions to engage in physical activity and the role of user gender.

Objective: Social media fitness influencers are evolving into a new digital form of health communicators whom consumers might turn to for assistance with more physical activity and exercise at home, especially in the current COVID-19 crisis. Drawing from source credibility theory, social cognitive theory, protection motivation theory and literature on physical activity, physical fitness and gender, we analyse how male and female users' evaluations of social media fitness influencers and user health-related variables impact intentions to exercise with the social media fitness influencer. Methods: Two consecutive studies using male and female YouTube fitness influencers were carried out. Structural equation modelling was conducted to test the proposed models and estimate the path coefficients. Results: Study 1 (N = 507) shows that the respective influencer's perceived trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness are important for the influencer's evaluation, and that it is the perceived motivating power rather than the attitude toward the influencer that increases intentions to exercise for male and female users. Study 2 (N = 445) extends Study 1 and shows that physical fitness, training involvement with YouTube fitness videos and lower health increase behavioural intentions. A more negative body image also raises intentions to exercise, but only among female users. Conclusion: Social media fitness influencers who are perceived as trustworthy, as experts and as attractive, can be effective for increasing men's and women's physical activity. Perceived motivating power of the influencer emerged as a key variable that predicts intentions to exercise. User health-related variables have different effects on intentions to exercise for men and women.