Data Collection and Sampling
This study uses a survey method. The questionnaire was distributed through the Credamo platform. Credamo is a professional questionnaire survey platform in China with more than 1.5 million subjects nationwide. Questionnaires are distributed on this platform, and random samples were selected for investigation in this study. The study also set up a screening question so that only consumers who had bought household energy-saving products recommended by internet celebrities could participate, and the rest would be stopped from filling out the questionnaire. Subjects were asked to recall an internet celebrity who had purchased household energy-saving products on their live streaming or short video platforms. Subjects who completed the questionnaire with good quality were rewarded with red packets. After eliminating invalid questionnaires, 334 valid questionnaires remained. Participant demographics are shown in
Table 1.
To ensure the quality of the questionnaires completed by the subjects, this study translates the developed scales drawn from foreign languages to make them fit the cultural context and cognitive habits of Chinese people. At the same time, the test questions were designed appropriately, and instructions were written to state that the questionnaire’s content was for academic research purposes only.
Expertise borrowing from the scale developed by Ohanian (1990) [
29] and modifying it, the scale is measured by four questions: “I think the internet celebrity is knowledgeable”, “The internet celebrity is an expert in the field of energy conservation and environmental protection”, “The internet celebrity has extensive experience in selling household energy-saving products”, and “The internet celebrity is qualified to sell household energy-saving products”. Social attraction was measured using the scale used by Shen et al. (2019) [
50] through the questions, “I think interacting with the internet celebrity would be helpful for me to buy household energy-saving products for my home”, “I can communicate with the internet celebrity in a friendly way”, “I have a good time with the internet celebrity ”, and “I approve of the internet celebrity’s values on energy-saving and environmental protection”. Task attraction was measured using the scale developed by Shen et al. (2019) [
51] through the questions “I would rely on an internet celebrity if I want to complete the task of purchasing household energy-saving products for my home”, “the internet celebrity can meet my needs in terms of purchasing household energy-saving products for my home”, “the internet celebrity makes it easier for me to complete my household energy-saving products”, and “I am confident in the performance of the household energy-saving products endorsed by the internet celebrity”. The parasocial relationships were assessed using a Rubin et al. (1985) [
52] scale, which included the questions “I look forward to exchanging knowledge about environmental protection and energy conservation with the internet celebrity”, “I follow the internet celebrity when he appears on other online community platforms”, “I would like to meet the internet celebrity in person”, and “I feel that I am part of that internet celebrity’s ‘fan base’”. Green self-efficacy was based on a scale developed by Chen [
53], Shen et al. (2013) [
54], and others, using the questions “I feel that I can successfully practice environmental ideas”, “I feel that I am capable of helping to achieve environmental goals”, “I feel confident that my energy-saving behavior will make a difference to the environment”, and “I feel confident that I can change environmental issues through my own efforts”. The Shelton and Yang (2005) [
55] scale was used to assess product purchase intention; “I would like to buy the household energy-saving products recommended by the internet celebrity”, “If necessary, I would buy the household energy-saving products recommended by the internet celebrity”, and “I would like to recommend the household energy-saving products endorsed by the internet celebrity to my friends and relatives”.
Expertise borrowing from the scale developed by Ohanian (1990) [
29] and modifying it, the scale is measured by four questions: “I think the internet celebrity is knowledgeable”, “The internet celebrity is an expert in the field of energy conservation and environmental protection”, “The internet celebrity has extensive experience in selling household energy-saving products”, and “The internet celebrity is qualified to sell household energy-saving products”. Social attraction was measured using the scale used by Shen et al. (2019) [
50] through the questions, “I think interacting with the internet celebrity would be helpful for me to buy household energy-saving products for my home”, “I can communicate with the internet celebrity in a friendly way”, “I have a good time with the internet celebrity ”, and “I approve of the internet celebrity’s values on energy-saving and environmental protection”. Task attraction was measured using the scale developed by Shen et al. (2019) [
51] through the questions “I would rely on an internet celebrity if I want to complete the task of purchasing household energy-saving products for my home”, “the internet celebrity can meet my needs in terms of purchasing household energy-saving products for my home”, “the internet celebrity makes it easier for me to complete my household energy-saving products”, and “I am confident in the performance of the household energy-saving products endorsed by the internet celebrity”. The parasocial relationships were assessed using a Rubin et al. (1985) [
52] scale, which included the questions “I look forward to exchanging knowledge about environmental protection and energy conservation with the internet celebrity”, “I follow the internet celebrity when he appears on other online community platforms”, “I would like to meet the internet celebrity in person”, and “I feel that I am part of that internet celebrity’s ‘fan base’”. Green self-efficacy was based on a scale developed by Chen [
53], Shen et al. (2013) [
54], and others, using the questions “I feel that I can successfully practice environmental ideas”, “I feel that I am capable of helping to achieve environmental goals”, “I feel confident that my energy-saving behavior will make a difference to the environment”, and “I feel confident that I can change environmental issues through my own efforts”. The Shelton and Yang (2005) [
55] scale was used to assess product purchase intention; “I would like to buy the household energy-saving products recommended by the internet celebrity “, “If necessary, I would buy the household energy-saving products recommended by the internet celebrity “, and ”I would like to recommend the household energy-saving products endorsed by the internet celebrity to my friends and relatives”.
Expertise borrowing from the scale developed by Ohanian (1990) [
29] and modifying it, the scale is measured by four questions: “I think the internet celebrity is knowledgeable”, “The internet celebrity is an expert in the field of energy conservation and environmental protection”, “The internet celebrity has extensive experience in selling household energy-saving products”, and “The internet celebrity is qualified to sell household energy-saving products”. Social attraction was measured using the scale used by Shen et al. (2019) [
50] through the questions, “I think interacting with the internet celebrity would be helpful for me to buy household energy-saving products for my home”, “I can communicate with the internet celebrity in a friendly way”, “I have a good time with the internet celebrity ”, and “I approve of the internet celebrity’s values on energy-saving and environmental protection”. Task attraction was measured using the scale developed by Shen et al. (2019) [
51] through the questions “I would rely on an internet celebrity if I want to complete the task of purchasing household energy-saving products for my home”, “the internet celebrity can meet my needs in terms of purchasing household energy-saving products for my home”, “the internet celebrity makes it easier for me to complete my household energy-saving products”, and “I am confident in the performance of the household energy-saving products endorsed by the internet celebrity”. The parasocial relationships were assessed using a Rubin et al. (1985) [
52] scale, which included the questions “I look forward to exchanging knowledge about environmental protection and energy conservation with the internet celebrity”, “I follow the internet celebrity when he appears on other online community platforms”, “I would like to meet the internet celebrity in person”, and “I feel that I am part of that internet celebrity’s ‘fan base’”. Green self-efficacy was based on a scale developed by Chen [
53], Shen et al. (2013) [
54], and others, using the questions “I feel that I can successfully practice environmental ideas”, “I feel that I am capable of helping to achieve environmental goals “, “I feel confident that my energy-saving behavior will make a difference to the environment”, and “I feel confident that I can change environmental issues through my own efforts”. The Shelton and Yang (2005) [
55] scale was used to assess product purchase intention; “I would like to buy the household energy-saving products recommended by the internet celebrity “, “If necessary, I would buy the household energy-saving products recommended by the internet celebrity “, and ”I would like to recommend the household energy-saving products endorsed by the internet celebrity to my friends and relatives”.