Beyond Vicarious Experience: How Interactive User-Generated Content Shapes Credibility in Generation Z Luxury Consumption

This study examines how interactivity in user-generated content shapes persuasion among Generation Z consumers in luxury fashion in the United Kingdom. Drawing on the Elaboration Likelihood Model, we separate affective engagement (vicarious experience) from cognitive evaluation (perceived information quality) and test their effects on source credibility judgment and purchase intention. Survey data from 312 recent luxury buyers were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Interactivity increases both vicarious experience and perceived information quality. However, only perceived information quality strengthens source credibility judgment, which in turn is the strongest predictor of purchase intention. Vicarious experience shows no direct effect on credibility.