'A'-lister endorsements get an 'F' among Millennials

Shopper-focused influence marketing firm Collective Bias surveyed nearly 14,000 adults in the U.S. to find out how their online behavior influenced in-store purchase decisions. One of the highlights of their findings is that 30% of shoppers are more likely to purchase a product endorsed by a non-celebrity blogger than a celebrity.

Furthermore, of that 30%, 70% of Millennials had the highest preference for peer endorsement.

In fact, just 3% of respondents said they would consider buying a product in-store if it was endorsed online by a celebrity.

Of course, some bloggers have themselves achieved celebrity status, albeit among their followers and not in a mainstream environment such as film or television - but instead by blogging or vlogging on specific topics such as beauty. According to a recent report by Fashionbi, some beauty bloggers have loyal fan bases that can be as high as 30 million and among the top bloggers earnings can range from $15,000 to $41,000 per month.

Indeed, Collective Bias' survey revealed that nearly 60% of respondents have taken into consideration a blog post, or social media post, into consideration when shopping in-store with men 2X more influenced by blog reviews than women. On the flip side, television ads (7.4%) were the least influential form of communication when shopping for products in-store, as were print ads (4.7%) and digital ads (4.5%).

"With little data available on the current state of influencer marketing, the findings of this report strongly indicate that consumers are less engaged with advertisements and seemingly disingenuous celebrity endorsements," said Bill Sussman, CEO of Collective Bias. "As ad blocking continues to grow, it only further threatens the effectiveness of traditional ad techniques to deliver ROI, meaning brand marketers will need to turn to more effective alternatives such as influencer content."

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Tags: advertising, blogging, in-store, influencer marketing, retail