f-square test.

This study aims to examine how influencer marketing shapes tourists’ perceptions and purchase intentions in the tourism sector of Bangladesh. Specifically, it examines the impact of word of mouth, content characteristics, consumer trust, emotional connection, and brand awareness on consumer perception, as well as how these perceptions influence purchase intention within a digital marketing context. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed, utilizing a structured online questionnaire distributed to active social media users who follow travel influencers. Data were collected from 400 respondents through non-probability purposive sampling, representing individuals familiar with influencer-generated travel content. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses and evaluate both measurement and structural models. Results revealed that word of mouth (β = 0.269, p