“Unpacking Influencer Strategies”: Review of Social MediaInfluencer Product Promotions and Consumer PurchaseDecisions Using The TCCM Framework

Social media influencers are more than just trend-setters in a world where digital opinions can dwarf conventional persuasion strategies; ‎they subtly influence what consumers purchase, how they think, and who they trust. Despite prevalent research on how influencers influence consumer engagement and buying behavior, there remains an insufficient understanding of how influencer promotional strategies ‎psychologically alter customer perception and behavioral outcomes. This study fills the gap by evaluating 91 peer-reviewed publications ‎from ABDC-ranked journals that were indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus databases using a TCCM (Theory, Context, Characteris‎tics, Methodology), a framework-based review to analyze the effects of promotional persuasion techniques on the cognitive and emotional ‎processes influencing customer behavior. Encompassing TCCM framework in this review provides holistic knowledge of most prevalent ‎theories, (psychology and behavioral theories, persuasion and communication theories, social influence and identity theories and source ‎credibility theories), context (digital contexts such as platforms and countries), characteristics (groups as attitudinal and behavioral outcomes, ‎persuasion and promotional tactics, psychological and relational outcomes and influencer characteristics and methods(methodological and ‎analytical approaches). It provides an overview of existing research through the analysis and uncovers pivotal themes from the perspective ‎of influencers' promotional strategies, driving psychological responses such as consumers' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes‎.