Influencer Marketing: United States Versus China

Abstract

This research investigates the differences of advertising techniques of influencers on Chinese and American social media. Posts on Xiaohongshu(RED) and Instagram were used to represent the marketing behaviors of each country. Content analysis and interviews were used to draw conclusions. Several tests were used to analyze the collected Likert scale data. It was concluded that Chinese influencers were more informative, containing several products in each post. Chinese influencers also fit more traditional beauty standards while American influencers promoted body-positivity. In addition across both platforms certain factors like “attractiveness”, “number of products”, and “luxury” led to larger follower counts.