The Influence of Social Media Influencers and E-WOM on Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Brand Trust

Purpose : This study examines brand trust as a mediating mechanism linking social media influencers and electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) to purchase intention for cosmetics products among Indonesian Gen Z consumers, addressing theoretical gaps in process-oriented digital marketing research. Method/ Approach : Survey data from 75 business students at Universitas Timor were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.0. Direct and indirect effects were tested through bias-corrected bootstrapping procedures with 5,000 resamples following contemporary mediation analysis best practices. Findings :