Study of Influence Mechanism of the Rise of the Internet Celebrity Economy on the Brand Identity of Sichuan Rural Consumers

Abstract

There are three main business models of the Chinese internet celebrity economy - fan rewards, social media advertising, and online retailing. Fan rewards, less often for business, are mainly for online anchors and web writers, who use their talents to create performances or contexts to drive fans to reward them. Social media advertising is a significant channel to earn revenue for celebrities who work as influencers and brand spokespersons. In the online retailing business model, E-commerce based internet celebrities like fashionistas sell self-branded products to potential buyers among followers via Chinese C2C or B2C platforms, such as Taobao and Tmall. The three research objectives are; to analyze the influence mechanism of the rise of the Internet celebrity economy on the brand identity of consumers in rural areas in Sichuan, to investigate the influence mechanism of the rise of the Internet celebrity economy on the brand recognition of rural products of consumers in Sichuan area, and to propose consumers’ brand awareness of rural products, and increase consumers' willingness to purchase rural products.