THE USE OF INFLUENCER MARKETING SERVICES FOR UNFAIR COMMERCIAL PRACTICE IN THE EU AND LATVIA

Recent years have seen a growing global demand for influencer marketing services despite those having both advantages and disadvantages. Specifically, through influencer marketing campaigns brands operating under fierce
competition aim to instil in consumers a more positive attitude towards their product, promote buying decisions, and implement a dialogue approach in marketing communication and feedback generation so as to establish a much closer link with their consumers. However, there are also major disadvantages about influencer marketing, such as the yield of influencer marketing campaigns and the lack of regulatory framework in respect of liability for unfair commercial
practice and breach of confidentiality. The goal of the study is to develop recommendations for avoiding liability for unfair commercial practice in Latvia based on the theoretical aspects and the use of influencer marketing services in marketing campaigns in EU. The methods of research used are monographic, secondary data analysis, comparison, grouping, graphic, descriptive,
as well as qualitative data analysis, case study, the analytical, inductive and deductive method. The results of the study show that, while the global demand for influencer marketing activities has been rapidly growing over the recent years, it also becomes increasingly important for businesses building long-term partnerships with influencers to thoroughly consider the influencers’ values, beliefs, life style and conduct on social media as well as to seek to include in the contract a confidentiality clause prohibiting disclosure of information on the marketing strategy, customer behaviour etc. when providing services to other partners and avoiding conflicts of interest in providing services to competing businesses.