An Analysis of Influencer Marketing Effectiveness in Luxury Brands using Eye tracking Technology

In this paper, we examine the advertising impact of influencers on the promotion of a luxury fashion item and the effect of the presentation style. More specifically, we focus on the application of eye-tracking technologies to analyze how consumers respond to different presentation strategies used by influencers when promoting a product in a photograph.We report the results of an experimental study in which a group of participants were exposed to a set of static visual stimuli (i.e. photographs) related to new product launches by luxury fashion brands in the form of promotions by social media influencers. Individual responses were evaluated based on the participant’s ability to recall information from the stimuli as well as their recorded gaze points and fixations, which were tracked to identify areas in which the viewer had a particular interest at a specific time during exposure.Our results revealed that consumers tend to be impacted more heavily and recall a luxury item more easily when the product is promoted by influencers who appear not to be looking directly at the camera in the pictures (i.e. not making eye contact with the viewer). The percentage of individuals who correctly identified the luxury item with this type of stimulus was 87.5% as opposed to 46.25% when the influencer was looking directly at the camera. In addition to the influencers' visual contact, two other aspects were evaluated: the impact of the influencers' popularity and the aesthetic characteristics of the photographs used as stimuli.Our study confirms the effectiveness of the marketing strategies pioneered by some of the most recognized luxury fashion brands and delivered by influencers, particularly if the influencer does not establish visual contact with the target audience. This type of communication enables a more targeted type of advertising which moves from the exclusivity of promoting luxury fashion brands in certain events and marketing campaigns by celebrities to influencers that can reach large audiences on social networks.