Table of Contents
Type: Dissertation Proposal | Subject: Marketing | Level: Undergraduate | Word Count: ~2,100 words
This model dissertation proposal was produced by an Essays UK specialist as reference material for learning purposes only. For support in this field, see our marketing writing specialists.
Overview: This model undergraduate dissertation proposal sets out a deductive, survey-based study of influencer marketing and Gen Z purchase intention in the UK fashion sector. It develops a conceptual model in which brand trust mediates the link between influencer credibility and purchase intention, and specifies the hypotheses, methodology and ethical plan needed to test it. Use it as a reference example of how a quantitative marketing proposal is structured and argued.
Social media has reshaped how fashion brands communicate with young consumers, and influencer marketing has become one of the most prominent tactics within this shift. In the United Kingdom, fashion retailers increasingly direct budget towards collaborations with content creators on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, often favouring these partnerships over traditional celebrity endorsement. For Generation Z consumers, broadly defined as those born between 1997 and 2012, such creators are a routine source of product discovery and style inspiration rather than an occasional interruption. This cohort is widely characterised as sceptical of overt advertising yet highly responsive to peer-like recommendation, which makes the mechanism by which influencers shape their buying decisions a question of both academic and commercial interest. Fashion is a particularly suitable category in which to study this effect, because clothing choices carry strong identity and social-signalling value and are therefore sensitive to the opinions of trusted figures.
A recurring theme in the marketing literature is that influence does not operate directly on behaviour but through intervening psychological states, of which trust is frequently identified as central. An influencer who is perceived as credible may foster trust in the brands they promote, and that trust may in turn raise the consumer’s intention to purchase. However, the relative contribution of the different dimensions of influencer credibility, and the role of the quasi-friendship that followers feel towards creators, remain contested. A good deal of existing work also draws on samples from the United States or Asia, leaving a gap in understanding that is specific to the UK fashion sector and its Generation Z audience.
This proposal sets out a plan to investigate these relationships empirically. It adopts a deductive, survey-based design to test a conceptual model linking influencer credibility, brand trust and purchase intention among UK Gen Z fashion consumers. The sections that follow state the aim and objectives, review the relevant literature and derive hypotheses, outline the proposed methodology and analysis, and address the project timeline and the ethical considerations that will govern the fieldwork.
The overall aim of the study is to examine how the perceived credibility of social media influencers affects the purchase intention of UK Generation Z fashion consumers, and to assess the extent to which brand trust mediates this relationship. To achieve this aim, the research pursues four objectives:
The study is guided by one central research question: to what extent does brand trust mediate the relationship between influencer credibility and purchase intention among UK Gen Z fashion consumers? From the literature reviewed below, five hypotheses are derived:
The review is organised around three themes that together build the conceptual model: the dimensions of influencer credibility, the relational dynamic of parasocial attachment and authenticity, and the pathway from brand trust to purchase intention.
Research on endorsement has long been organised around the source credibility and source attractiveness models. Ohanian (1990) proposed that the persuasiveness of an endorser rests on three dimensions: trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness. Applied to social media, these dimensions have been found to shape consumer responses, although studies disagree on which matters most. De Veirman, Cauberghe and Hudders (2017) report that a large follower count signals popularity but can reduce perceived uniqueness, complicating any simple link between reach and persuasion. Lou and Yuan (2019) extend credibility thinking into an explicitly influencer-led context and show that the informational value and trustworthiness of a creator shape follower trust in branded content. Schouten, Janssen and Verspaget (2020) argue that influencers often outperform traditional celebrities because audiences perceive them as more similar and identifiable, consistent with the match-up hypothesis. Taken as a whole, this body of work supports treating credibility as multidimensional rather than a single construct, and it motivates the separate treatment of trustworthiness and expertise in the present model.
A second stream explains influence through the relationship between creator and follower. The concept of the parasocial relationship, originally described by Horton and Wohl (1956), refers to the one-sided sense of intimacy that audiences develop towards media figures. On social platforms, frequent, informal and seemingly personal content can intensify this feeling, so that followers respond to influencers much as they would to acquaintances. Jin, Muqaddam and Ryu (2019) find that Instagram influencers can generate stronger source trust than traditional celebrities, attributing this to perceived closeness. Djafarova and Rushworth (2017) likewise report that relatable, non-traditional figures are especially persuasive among young female users. Running through this literature is the notion of authenticity: perceived genuineness appears to underpin both parasocial attachment and the willingness to accept commercial messages, which suggests that the quality of the relationship, and not merely the attributes of the source, warrants inclusion in any explanatory model.
The third theme concerns the outcomes of influence. Trust is widely modelled as an intervening variable between persuasive communication and behavioural intention. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), beliefs and attitudes are understood to precede intention, which in turn predicts behaviour. Within marketing, brand trust is argued to reduce perceived risk and so to raise the intention to purchase. Chetioui, Benlafqih and Lebdaoui (2020) provide evidence that influencer attributes shape consumers’ attitudes towards a brand, which then affect intention, supporting a mediated rather than a direct pathway. McCracken’s (1989) meaning transfer model offers a complementary explanation, proposing that the meanings attached to an endorser move first to the brand and ultimately to the consumer. Together, these perspectives justify positioning brand trust as the mediator in the conceptual model and purchase intention as the dependent variable, with influencer credibility and parasocial relationship strength acting as antecedents.
The proposed conceptual model therefore specifies influencer trustworthiness, influencer expertise and parasocial relationship strength as independent variables, brand trust as a mediating variable, and purchase intention as the dependent variable, as expressed in hypotheses H1 to H5 above.
The study adopts a positivist philosophy and a deductive approach, which is appropriate for testing theory-derived hypotheses through measurable variables (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2019). Because the aim is to quantify relationships rather than to explore meanings in depth, a quantitative, mono-method design is selected. The research follows a cross-sectional time horizon, collecting data at a single point rather than tracking change over time, which suits the resource and schedule constraints of an undergraduate dissertation. A survey strategy is used, as it permits the standardised collection of data from a relatively large sample at low cost and supports the statistical generalisation that a deductive design requires (Bryman and Bell, 2015).
Primary data will be gathered through a self-administered online questionnaire distributed via social media channels and a university participant pool. The target population is UK-based Generation Z consumers aged 18 to 25 who follow at least one fashion influencer; a screening question will exclude those who do not. A non-probability sampling strategy combining convenience and snowball sampling will be used, which is a pragmatic choice given the absence of a reliable sampling frame for this population, while its limitations for representativeness are openly acknowledged. A target of approximately 250 completed responses is proposed. This figure comfortably exceeds the common guideline of at least ten cases per measured item and is sufficient for the planned regression and mediation analysis (Hair et al., 2019). A pilot of around fifteen respondents will be conducted first, to check question clarity and preliminary scale reliability before full distribution.
All constructs will be measured using multi-item seven-point Likert scales adapted from validated instruments: influencer trustworthiness and expertise from Ohanian’s (1990) source credibility scale, parasocial relationship strength from established parasocial interaction measures, and purchase intention from widely used intention items. Measuring with pre-tested scales supports construct validity and allows comparison with prior work. The collected data will be analysed in IBM SPSS. Descriptive statistics will summarise the sample, and internal consistency will be assessed using Cronbach’s alpha against a threshold of 0.70 (Field, 2018). Pearson correlation will examine the bivariate associations, and multiple regression will test the direct hypotheses. The mediating role of brand trust set out in H5 will be examined using the bootstrapping procedure implemented in the Hayes PROCESS macro, which is now generally preferred over the earlier causal-steps method for estimating indirect effects.
The project is planned over a fifteen-week period. The indicative schedule below allocates time to each stage, with deliberate overlap between data collection and preliminary analysis to accommodate a slower-than-expected response rate.
| Phase | Activity | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Literature review and conceptual model refinement | 1–3 |
| 2 | Questionnaire design, ethical approval and pilot | 4–5 |
| 3 | Main data collection | 6–9 |
| 4 | Data cleaning and statistical analysis | 9–12 |
| 5 | Writing up, revision and submission | 12–15 |
The research will be conducted in accordance with the university’s research ethics policy, and ethical approval will be obtained before any data are collected. Because the study involves human participants, informed consent is central: the questionnaire will open with an information sheet explaining the purpose of the research, the voluntary nature of participation and the right to withdraw at any time before submission. No participants under the age of eighteen will be recruited, which removes the need for parental consent and avoids the added ethical complexity of surveying minors. The questionnaire will not collect names, contact details or other directly identifying information, so responses will be anonymous rather than merely confidential. Data will be stored securely on a password-protected, university-provided drive and used solely for the purposes of this dissertation, in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR. As the subject matter is not sensitive and participation carries minimal risk, no significant risk of harm to participants is anticipated; nonetheless, contact details for the researcher and the supervising tutor will be provided so that any concerns can be raised.
The study is expected to make a modest but useful contribution in two respects. Theoretically, by testing credibility, parasocial and trust constructs within a single mediated model, it will clarify whether the influence of creators on Gen Z fashion buyers runs through brand trust rather than acting directly, and which antecedents carry the most weight. This responds to the fragmentation noted in the literature, where credibility dimensions and relational factors are often examined separately. Practically, the findings will offer UK fashion marketers guidance on influencer selection, indicating whether perceived trustworthiness and authenticity should be prioritised over reach when the goal is to build the trust that precedes purchase.
Several limitations are acknowledged in advance. The cross-sectional design captures intention at a single moment and cannot establish causation or observe actual purchasing behaviour, which is known to diverge from stated intention. The reliance on non-probability sampling constrains the generalisability of the results beyond the achieved sample. Measuring purchase intention by self-report also invites social-desirability and common-method bias, which the study will seek to mitigate through anonymity, varied item wording and assurances that there are no right or wrong answers. These constraints are typical of an undergraduate project and will be discussed transparently when the findings are reported.
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