Influencer Marketing, Social Media Regulation, and Purchase Intention Among Nigerian Millennials

The rapid proliferation of social media platforms has transformed the marketing landscape, giving rise to influencer marketing as a dominant communication strategy. Despite the growing adoption of influencer marketing in Nigeria, empirical evidence on how influencer characteristics and perceived social media regulation jointly affect purchase intention among millennials remains limited. This study examined the effect of influencer credibility, trustworthiness, perceived social media regulation, and perceived influencer expertise on purchase intention among Nigerian millennials, as well as their combined effect. Anchored on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) and Source Credibility Theory (Ohanian, 1990), the study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Primary data were collected via a structured questionnaire administered to 385 millennial social media users drawn from Lagos State, Nigeria, using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis. Results revealed that influencer credibility (β = 0.341, p < 0.01), influencer trustworthiness (β = 0.287, p < 0.01), and perceived social media regulation (β = 0.198, p < 0.05) each exerted a significant positive effect on purchase intention. Perceived influencer expertise (β = 0.156, p < 0.05) also significantly influenced purchase intention. The combined model was statistically significant (F = 47.823, p < 0.001, R² = 0.621). The study contributes to consumer behaviour literature in the African digital marketing context and offers actionable recommendations for marketers, regulators, and platform operators.