第1591期:Do social influencers affect our buying?

Have you ever been on social media and seen your favourite celebrity talking about a product? These endorsements might not be totally random, and are actually seen as a vital part of the marketing process. The question is: How do social media influencers ‘influence’ what you buy?您是否曾经在社交媒体上看到您最喜欢的名人谈论产品？这些认可可能不是完全随机的，实际上被视为营销过程的重要组成部分。问题是：社交媒体影响者如何“影响”你购买的东西？Human desire for status and making friends, combined with our need to belong to a group, make us susceptible to being ‘socially influenced’. Companies often use that desire to have a similar lifestyle to a celebrity we admire to hawk or launch a product. So, what do these endorsements actually do?人类对地位和交朋友的渴望，加上我们需要属于一个群体，使我们容易受到“社会影响”。公司经常利用这种与我们钦佩的名人拥有相似生活方式的愿望来兜售或推出产品。那么，这些代言实际上是做什么的呢？Firstly, they can be used to build brand awareness. A social media influencer should have a strong understanding of the platform they operate on, and therefore can create engaging content that not only adheres to the brand image, but sparks their followers’ interests in a product they might never have seen before.首先，它们可以用来建立品牌知名度。社交媒体影响者应该对他们所运营的平台有深刻的了解，因此可以创建引人入胜的内容，这些内容不仅符合品牌形象，而且可以激发他们的追随者对他们可能从未见过的产品的兴趣。Secondly, influencers can improve a company or product’s relationship with their customer base. According to InMoment’s 2018 US Retail CX Trends Report on customer loyalty, 77% of buyers have been brand loyal for more than ten years. This is also true of 60% of millennials. A popular celebrity can target key demographics and talk or blog about a product, which can create an instant and lasting bond with the consumer.其次，影响者可以改善公司或产品与其客户群的关系。根据 InMoment 的 2018 年美国零售客户忠诚度趋势报告，77% 的买家对品牌忠诚度已超过十年。 60% 的千禧一代也是如此。受欢迎的名人可以针对关键人口统计数据并谈论或发布有关产品的博客，这可以与消费者建立即时和持久的联系。Lastly, influencers can improve customer buying habits with seemingly ‘unbiased opinions’. We are more likely to respond to ‘peer recommendation’ than traditional ads, meaning the fact we see an influencer as a ‘friend’ can make us less likely to be sceptical about what we are seeing.最后，影响者可以通过看似“公正的意见”来改善客户的购买习惯。与传统广告相比，我们更有可能对“同行推荐”做出回应，这意味着我们将影响者视为“朋友”这一事实可以使我们不太可能对所看到的内容持怀疑态度。So, the next time you see a celebrity talking about a product, you might want to consider that this could be a carefully crafted marketing strategy designed to target your core needs. If you find yourself perusing a product you’ve seen on social media, you may well have been influenced.因此，下次您看到名人谈论产品时，您可能要考虑这可能是一种精心设计的营销策略，旨在针对您的核心需求。如果您发现自己正在仔细阅读您在社交媒体上看到的产品，那么您很可能受到了影响。词汇表social media 社交媒体celebrity 名人endorsement 名人代言，名人为某商品做广告marketing 营销，推销social media influencers 网络红人hawk 兜售brand awareness 品牌意识，品牌认知engaging content 吸引人的内容brand image 品牌形象customer base 客户群customer loyalty 客户忠诚度demographic （顾客）族群blog 写博客bond 联系，纽带buying habit 购买习惯peer recommendation 朋友的推荐，熟人的推荐