Explaining Heterogeneous Effects of KOL–KOC Combinations: A Persuasion-Knowledge Framework for Multi-Source Influencer Marketing

Abstract

Both key opinion leaders (KOLs) and key opinion consumers (KOCs) are frequently deployed by brands in short-video social commerce, In the existing studies on the effects of such multi-influencer combinations, there are various results ranging from synergy to no significant effect, and even negative consequences. This review synthesizes research on influencer marketing, multi-source information integration, and the Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM) and develops a framework centered on consumers’ interpretation processes to explain this heterogeneity We hold the opinion that the combination of KOL and KOC is not inherently complementary. Its effectiveness depends on how consumers perceive the relationship between them. When the level of persuasion knowledge or skepticism is low, consumers are more likely to interpret multiple cues as independent confirmations, thereby enhancing the diagnosticity of perceived information and promoting purchase. When the level of persuasion knowledge is high, the same configuration is more likely to be interpreted as a coordinated persuasive behavior, thereby stimulating consumers' inference of the manipulative intention and psychological resistance, weakening or even reversing the persuasive effect. Integrating prior empirical and review evidence, we propose a dual-pathway, multi-source persuasion framework that explains when KOL–KOC combinations function as complements versus substitutes. By unifying diagnosticity-based information processing with reactance-based resistance mechanisms, this review clarifies the theoretical origins of heterogeneous influencer-mix effects and provides guidance for future research design and influencer portfolio strategies in short-video commerce.