BUSINESS
Influencers and Buying Choices on Chinese Social Media
ChinaFri May 30 2025
The world of social media is a big deal, especially in China. It is a place where influencers hold a lot of power. They can sway what people buy. A recent study looked into how these influencers and the happiness people get from social media affect buying decisions. The study focused on entertainment-type influencers.
The study used two main ideas. The first is attribution theory. This is the idea that people judge others based on their actions and looks. The second is source credibility theory. This is the idea that people trust certain sources more than others. The study looked at nine different factors that could affect buying decisions.
To gather data, an online survey was conducted. It included 363 people who follow entertainment-type influencers. The results showed that social happiness plays a big role in whether people buy something. It acts like a middleman between the influencer's qualities and the person's decision to buy.
The study found that how pretty or inspiring the influencer's posts are matters a lot. These things make people happier on social media. But, the influencer's fame and the deeper meaning behind their posts don't seem to make a difference. This is interesting because it shows that looks and surface-level inspiration are more important than fame or deep meaning.
The study also found that people's knowledge about a product can change how much social happiness affects their buying decision. If people know a lot about a product, they might not be as influenced by social happiness. This is important for businesses and marketers to keep in mind. They should think about who they choose to promote their products and what kind of content they put out.
The study is important because it helps us understand how influencer marketing works in the digital age. It's especially relevant in China, where social media is huge and always changing. Businesses and marketers can use these findings to make better choices about who to work with and what kind of content to create. They should think about what makes people happy on social media and how much people know about their products.
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questions
If influencers were replaced by talking pets, would purchase intentions still be influenced by social satisfaction?
What role does cultural background play in the effectiveness of influencer marketing strategies?
What potential biases might exist in the data collection process that could affect the validity of the results?
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