Abstract

Beginning with the notion that short-form video sites represent key digital commerce destinations for food influencers in general, there is very little research explaining how specific persuasion cues lead to varying degrees of consumer engagement. Based upon the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), Social Proof theory and the COBRA framework, this study aims to understand whether argument quality as a central-route cue and perceived emotional appeal as a peripheral-route cue affect consumption, contribution, creation engagement behaviors. Additionally, the study will determine if perceived post popularity, a platform-generated social proof signal, affects these relationships. A survey was conducted of 386 users of short food influencer videos. PLS-SEM analysis was performed on the survey data. Results indicated that both argument quality and perceived emotional appeal positively influence all three engagement levels. Perceived emotional appeal exerts a stronger effect, particularly on higher-engagement behaviors. The moderating effects of perceived post popularity were limited and applied solely to contribution, where it weakened the positive relationship between argument quality and contribution but strengthened the positive relationship between perceived emotional appeal and contribution. This study builds upon existing knowledge of how consumers respond to food influencer content by exploring differences between types of engagement and integrating platform-generated signals within an ELM-based theoretical model.

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