More and more brands are using social network stars to promote their products. But are these people really credible to their audiences? The YouGov polling institute has studied the question by conducting a survey of 6000 people.
The survey was conducted between July and August 2022, among a representative sample of the French population.
To lay the groundwork, YouGov sought to know if respondents knew the difference between an influencer and a muse. While both are paid by brands, the former promotes the brand (to its community), while the latter embodies it.
The 18-24 year olds (Gen Z) understand better than their elders the difference between the two.
Impact
While Boomers are not at all receptive to the messages conveyed by influencers (10%), Gen Z (41%) and Millenials (28%) agree that network stars help give credibility to a brand and influence their perceptions.
Even more, Instagrammers and others push 28% of 18-24 year olds to buy.
On the other hand, only 6% of those aged 55 and over place an order after seeing a promotional post. Are they less influential? Not necessarily, this strong gap can also be explained by a very contrasted use of social networks. 75% of young people are active on these platforms against 25% of older people.
