What Should Be Done to Standardize Internet Celebrity Marketing?

The boom of live-streaming video and e-commerce platforms in China has attracted many social influencers, or Internet celebrities, to advertise certain brands and products. The number of influencers and their fans is surging. In 2018, sales based on livestreaming marketing amounted to more than 100 billion yuan ($14.3 billion), up by almost 400 percent year on year. Influencer marketing is making itself a force that can’t be ignored.

However, a growing number of cases of influencers making fools of themselves while advertising products are shedding light on a pressing issue. While reaping huge profits, some influencers are turning a blind eye to the quality of the products they are pitching. For example, online celebrity Li Jiaqi, who once sold 15,000 lipsticks within five minutes and was dubbed “the king of lipsticks,” met his Waterloo in a recent live stream when promoting a non-stick pan. The audience could see that the fried egg was firmly sticking to the pan. This and other incidents of Internet celebrity marketing have sparked heated discussions online and in many media outlets.

Some people believe that in the era of the Internet celebrity and fan economy, influencer marketing is actually not to blame, but there must be a bottom line for what can and cannot be done. Some others view this incident and the sensation it has caused as an opportunity for this business to be standardized.

Quality before profit Huang Qizhe (

Wen Wei Po): The emergence of online shopping has given rise to the new phenomenon of Internet celebrities selling goods during their live-streaming shows. Can Internet stars’ popularity be turned into commercial benefits? The answer is yes. Consumers’ love for Internet stars will easily persuade them to purchase things that their idols are pitching. However, while reaping huge profits, these stars and the platforms that they operate on should also take responsibility for their behavior, lest consumers be misled. Otherwise, the business will not last long. The problem now is whether their sense of responsibility has also risen in accordance with the booming business.

Compared to movie stars making eyepopping amounts of money by acting as ambassadors for certain brands, what Internet stars do is more like getting a commission from marketing. Influential cyber stars can get a commission as high as 20 percent of the sales.

Whether they will carefully discern and choose quality products as they are lured by high profits remains a question. Presently, this depends on their conscience.

In some extreme cases, some cyber stars even pitch products and brands without basic quality certificates. These products are rejected by the media, but they are praised and endorsed by these stars during their live-streaming shows. In addition, the language used in live streaming should fall under the Advertising Law and not be exaggerated.

Fans or ordinary consumers will buy something because of an Internet star’s glamor and blandishments at first, but in the long run, what appeals to consumers is the quality of products and the credibility of brands. There is no lack of examples of Internet stars being rejected by fans and consumers for selling low-quality or fake products. Therefore, given these lessons,

Internet stars or blogebrities should refrain from making money at the expense of this industry’s credibility and future prosperity.

Beijing Youth Daily): Before pitching a certain brand, a full understanding of the brand is a precondition, and social influencers are no exception. Compared to conventional commercials, Internet stars can easily turn their fans into consumers. Lured by high commissions, more and more stars are becoming open to whatever products come their way, and given this fact, it’s only natural for the product to fail in the middle of a live-streaming show. Whether they are famous movie stars in traditional commercials or cyber stars, they all need to take accountability for the products and brands they pitch in accordance with the E-commerce Law and the Advertising Law.

Influencers usually know a lot about a certain kind of product and are equipped with corresponding professional knowledge. They gain credibility in this way and gradually become guides for consumers. To be an expert does not mean that they can make use of their identity to endorse certain products regardless of the facts. Consumers never lack in choice of what to buy, but cyber stars’ credibility will soon run out if they continue to squander it.

Wang Han ( A lesson to learn

Jiang Meng www.people.com.cn):

Consumers are unlikely to try everything before making a purchase, and usually shop based on key opinion leaders’ introduction to a product. Influencer marketing has begun to prosper. The question now is whether these influencers are really professional and capable of telling the good from the bad among so many types of commodities. In most cases, influencers don’t purchase the commodities that they pitch, but are given them by the manufacturers. So, despite their plaudits, it’s quite possible that there is some kind of interest connection between influencers and those behind the screen.

The delicate relationship between social influencers and their fans is making the situation even more complicated. To rely on influencers’ conscience or their sense of responsibility to their fans is not enough to correct fraud or other bad deeds in the industry. It’s not enough to generally demand that e-commerce and Internet livestreaming platforms regulate themselves, either.