Motormouth: Influencers who drive sponsored cars might sway their followers into driving the same cars, but only in a dream world
A social-media star who drives around in a certain new car could create a star car of sorts, but this kind of product endorsement only works on the impressionable.
It is not enough for the impressionable people in question to merely notice the car being driven around by their favourite celebrity (minor or major, aspiring or established, fringe or mainstream).
They also need to put their money where their mouth is and buy the car, or at least take it for a test-drive at the showroom so that the client can determine whether the celebrity endorsement was effective enough to justify the investment.
Of course, buying a car just because it is endorsed by someone you follow/idolise would be much harder and many times more expensive than getting a gadget, fashion item, or household appliance.
Even if you can afford it, would you want to? Discerning consumers shouldn’t let the paid opinion of a well-known person supersede their usual homework based on expert reviews, actual users’ feedback, trustworthy word of mouth, and good old touch-and-feel.
Of course, any local personality in an advertisement or advertorial would drum up the publicity for the business, especially when it’s related to health and beauty. After all, seeing the seemingly magical effect of the supplement/shampoo/cream and whatnot on the good-looking personality would go some way towards convincing potential customers that they ought to buy this stuff or try the samples.
I am neither handsome nor winsome, and my sphere of influence is somewhere between limited and laughable, so I don’t expect any company to seek my personal support to endorse a particular product.
However, if I ever become a notable micro-influencer in Asia's automotive arena, I would gladly accept free drives for life from car companies which want to leverage my little bit of influence - flash drives, to be exact.
These influencers are out to influence the impressionable with their choice of clothes and car.
