Investigating the influence of social media influencer credibility on beauty product purchase behaviors: a case study from Vietnam

Celebrity endorsement is the most used strategy since consumers value celebrities in advertisements. Organizations invest in celebrity endorsements in the expectation that they will enhance consumer perception of a product or service, evoke favorable attitudes toward a brand, influence purchase intentions, and eventually increase sales and profits through increased consumer preference for a product, brand, or service. This paper examines the effect of endorser characteristics on purchasing intentions in South Africa. The survey sampled South Africans residing in Gauteng Province. The Qualtrics questionnaire was completed by 145 respondents ranging in age from 18 to 55 and living in various areas of Gauteng Province. Given the research objective, the paper analyzed only responses from participants who stated that they had been exposed to celebrity-related adverts. The findings show that these respondents saw advertisements featuring celebrities. To evaluate the hypotheses, regression analysis was performed. The results reveal that consumer behavior, such as purchase intention, is influenced by attractiveness (β = .271; p < 0.05) and attitudes (β = .520; p < 0.05). However, in this study, expertise (β = .089; p > 0.05) and trustworthiness (β = –.095; p > 0.05) were not related to purchase intentions. Understanding celebrity endorser’s attributes can help organizations determine the most successful marketing strategies for attracting new customers and maintaining existing ones.

Ukraine, as a young country, is creating the investment market, which is the most important component of the national economy under the challenges and threats of the XXI century, instability and hybrid war. The study aims to analyze the investment climate and investment attractiveness of Ukraine and to identify key indicators through the political, legal, economic, social, and other conditions under which its investment market will become attractive. The dynamics investigation of foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows into Ukraine during 2002–2018, their structural analysis enabled to identify the periods of the most significant fluctuations and to state the reasons for such changes, to differentiate priority sectors of the Ukrainian economy being of financial interest to foreign investors, which is as a whole the basis of the attractive investment climate formation and management in the country.
The methods of financial management system, including the method of SWOT analysis, were applied to determine investment weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities, considering the peculiarities of their management.
As a consequence of the analysis on the reasons for the reduction of foreign investments in the country economy, it is proved that the proposed mechanism for improving the investment climate in the country will allow increasing FDI inflows and financing the general capital investments.

This research paper discusses the degree of institutionalization of communication as a strategic managerial function to explore the different scopes and status achieved across countries and organizational sectors. Empirical work was conducted in Lithuania, Spain and Argentina, chosen as pioneers and regional leaders towards institutionalization through the establishment of the first university-level communication studies, national and worldwide networks of communication researchers and practitioners. Purposeful convenience sampling also ensured data collection through 61 semi-structured interviews with communication experts, senior managers and scholars from these countries, and a pilot survey with 20 Lithuanian communication specialists. The results suggest that CEOs in Argentina (70.6%) and Spain (65%) are more aware of the communication value, 60% communication specialists hold executive/senior positions. All this is 10-15% lower in post-communist countries. For 90% Lithuanian respondents, the CEO’s full understanding of communication is the number 1 factor affecting the institutionalization of communication, followed by the evolution of their profession in the country, which influences the perception of the communication function. Strengthening their role and status is the 4th priority for communication professionals in Europe and Argentina. This requires further education to fill a widening gap of data competencies and management skills, expressed by 69% of Spanish communicators, 75-87% in the former communist bloc, and 45% of seasoned Argentinean communicators. The empowerment of communication specialists remains highly dependent on the communicative competence and willingness of CEOs, who also need ad hoc executive education, which is more widely available in Spain and Argentina than in Lithuania.

Acknowledgment
This paper was written under the Lithuanian Research Council and European Investment Funds grant No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712, as part of the post-doctoral research project “Towards an assessment model for mission-based strategic communication excellence”.