European Fashion Companies and Chinese Social Media Influencers

Abstract

European fashion companies – especially luxury ones – have been struggling to enter the Chinese market because of this market’s financial dimensions. However, in order to do so in an effective way, they need to localize their practices and messages, so to address such a different market in an adequate way. When it comes to digital media, different channels, players, and practices are to be considered, due to the Chinese policy of banning most of external social media players. Also, when it comes to the choice of Chinese social media influencers, European brands need to find the right characters, able to embody them in front of Chinese consumers. The case of online live stream sales and of Huang Wei – also known as Viya – has recently demonstrated both how powerful such influencers can be, as well as how their status can change in a few days – she moved from being a “Queen Midas” into becoming a tax evader – with possible negative impacts onto the companies she is working with. The paper presents in-depth interviews with managers of European companies from the luxury sector, responsible to run their online communication in the Chinese market, presenting and discussing their choices of Chinese social media influencers and the reasons for those.