Do social media users find fitness and exercise advice by influencers on these platforms useful?

Do social media users find fitness and exercise advice by influencers on these platforms useful?

Lesley Simeon - August 8th, 2024

One day social media could have you making dalgona coffee, baking banana bread and another day you’re learning the hook steps of the latest dancing trend online. Most of these trends, how-tos and hacks reach you through an influencer. But on social media, are they seen as useful sources of information when it comes to information on fitness and exercise?

According to a YouGov Surveys: Serviced poll which engaged consumers across 17 international markets, a majority of consumers (59%) find information about fitness and exercise, shared by social media influencers useful, second only to information about travel (60%). However, a third of those polled (33%) do not find social media influencers to be useful sources of fitness-related information. 

More women (61%) than men (57%) say they find social media influencers’ fitness advice useful, demographic data shows. 

Useful

An overwhelming majority of Indonesians (92%) are of the opinion that social media influencers are useful sources of information on fitness/exercise. Notably, in another YouGov article, we see how Indonesians also stand out across markets for their highest rate of social media membership. Respondents in India (86%) and the UAE (83%) follow in sharing this opinion with Indonesians.

At 57%, within Europe, Italians lead in saying they find social media influencers useful when looking for fitness-related information, followed by Poles (55%). Britons aren’t far behind at 53%, while less than half of all Americans (45%) are of the same opinion. 

Among the 17 markets polled, Denmark has the smallest proportion of respondents (33%) saying they find fitness advice from social media influencers useful. 

Not useful

Danes (50%) and Swedes (49%) account for the largest proportion of those who say social media influencers are not useful sources of information about fitness/exercise. Nearly half of all respondents in France (47%) agree as well. 

Fitness information from social media influencers is not useful to two in five Americans (40%) and a comparatively smaller proportion (36%) of Britons.

In Asia, fitness information offered by social media influencers is not seen to be useful by nearly one in five Hong Kongers (19%), followed by Singaporeans (17%). 

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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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