From kitchen to closet - nearly three in five users find fashion and food influencer advice helpful

From kitchen to closet - nearly three in five users find fashion and food influencer advice helpful

Lesley Simeon - August 8th, 2024

Social media isn’t only about funny cat videos or the new dance routine on the digital block. Sometimes it’s also about the new shapewear launch or recipes that teach you how you could make your own version of the viral Olympic village chocolate muffin.

In this piece, we’re exploring how useful people across markets find information about clothing/fashion and food/drink by social media influencers.

Data from a recent YouGov Surveys: Serviced poll reveals similar proportions of people across 17 international markets find social media influencers to be useful sources of information when it comes to clothing/fashion (58%) and food/drink (56%).

On the other hand, more than a third of respondents say influencers are not useful when it comes to information about clothing/fashion (34%) and food/drink (36%). Less than one in ten respondents (8% in each category) are not sure.

How useful do people, by market, find influencers for fashion and food-related information? 

Clothing/fashion

Monochrome outfits, eye-catching belts, glittery embellishments and fun socks are just some of the fashion trends social media is said to have inspired this year. Most Indonesians (88%) find such information useful, our survey data reveals, followed by Indians (83%). Consumers in the UAE (81%), Singapore (75%) and Hong Kong (74%) follow.

In Europe, Italians (at 56% on par with Canadians) are the most likely to find fashion-related information from social media influencers useful, while consumers in another European market surveyed - France (40%) - are the least likely across all 17 markets to agree.

More than half of all Brits (51%) find social media influencers useful for information on clothing/fashion - so do over two in five (44%) Americans.

Food/drink

Garlic peeling isn’t a hassle if you were to follow tips from kitchens in another part of the world and you can use tofu and avocado to make desserts like chocolate mousse. Social media is a treasure trove for such tried, tested (and sometimes, failed) food/drink tips, tricks and recommendations. Respondents in Indonesia (where among servings of all things nasi goreng, sate and soto, a viral social media trend saw Indonesians take to a fatal “dragon’s breath” street snack) are the most likely across markets (91%) to find such information useful. On the other hand, Soupe a l'ognion  or Boeuf Bourguignon-loving French (36%) and an equal proportion (36%) of respondents in Denmark (which recently recalled popular Korean ramen, Buldak, for being ‘too spicy’) are the least likely to.

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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from
nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 511 and 2051 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in May 2024. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.

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