Product promotion by means of influencer marketing in the Chinese perfumery and cosmetics market

Abstract

The paper discusses the development of ways to improve the procedure of selecting the most effective opinion leaders (influencers) for the promotion of perfumery and cosmetic products based on the results of the empirical study of the audience’s subjective perception in the Chinese market. The analysis was carried out on the basis of a formalized online survey of perfumery and cosmetics consumers — 992 out of 1,032 responses from the Chinese audience were included in the final sample of the study and handled by means of the partial least squares structural equation modeling. The study proposes a conceptual model of the impact of the characteristics of an opinion leader and their messages on the effectiveness of influence marketing represented by consumer intentions and formed brand image through the process of transmitting a message to influence consumer opinion. As a result, the features of the promotion of perfumery and cosmetic products in the Chinese market were revealed. It was found that overestimating the attractiveness of an opinion leader and underestimating their subjective perception by the consumer result in a low effectiveness of influence marketing. The analysis of the message transmission process showed that its moderators come to the fore, namely, consumer engagement and their valence to advertising. Yet, the impact significantly depends on the category of an opinion leader (number of subscribers, type, etc.). It was found that the direct influence of the opinion leader on the intentions of consumers is ineffective. The study offers practical recommendations to improve the procedure for selecting the most effective opinion leader in order to promote products taking into account the identified features. The directions for further research are outlined.