Bloggers sway 63 per cent of UAE beauty purchases
The growing power of social media influencers and bloggers has been borne out by new research from Dubaibased PR agency BPG Cohn & Wolfe. The report reveals that 71 per cent of UAE residents aged 18-40 seek advice online before purchasing.
Beauty, fashion and food are the areas where residents are most likely to turn to leading social media influencers for recommendations, according to the research, for which 1,000 men and women across the country were interviewed.
Tech-savvy residents use their smartphones to follow their favourite influencers with 63 per cent more likely to buy fashion or beauty products endorsed by them.
BPG Cohn & Wolfe PR director, consumer practice, Taghreed Oraibi managed the research process. He said: “We are working closer than ever with bloggers and influencers and wanted to find out just how influential they have become in a country that is more switched on and digital than many all over the world.
“The results have clearly shown that companies now have to take these online influencers seriously and listen to what they have to say. They need to find creative and engaging ways to work with them to tell their story and reach customers in that vital 18-40 demographic.
“BPG Cohn & Wolfe has identified the rise in influence of bloggers for some time and this led to commissioning the research to assess just how widespread their influence is and in what areas they have the most impact.”
Facebook proved to be the number one platform for following social media influencers. Fashion and beauty influencers were followed highly on Facebook and Instagram.
The study found that the most popular fashion and beauty social media influencers among UAE residents were Huda Kattan, Joelle Mardinian, Ola Alfares, Lojain Omran, and Amina Shelbaya with some of them having millions of followers.
Among the main reasons for following these influencers were their personal style, beautiful photographs and an ability to inspire other’s fashion and beauty style.