The impact of social media influencers on purchase intention towards cosmetic products in China

Abstract

The research aims to study the influence of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), social media influencers in China, on the perception and purchase intention of college age female consumers. For the between-subject experimental study, one group of respondents was shown the information for four products, while the 2nd group was shown both the product information and the product review given by a celebrity, and the 3rd group was shown the product information and a review provided by the well-known blogger and KOL on Little Red Book, one of the most popular social media platforms in China. Each participant in the survey were asked to assess their product attitude and purchase intention for each product. In order to determine the influence of the KOLs, An ANOVA analysis was performed on the data. The results indicate that celebrity KOLs exert a measureable influence on young female customers’ perceptions of products and purchase intention but the popular blogger KOL does not. Additionally, there is a strong correlation between the product attitude and purchase intention.