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KEY OPINION LEADERS

T H E I N F L U E N C E O F

R E V I E W I N G P R O D U C T S

T O W A R D S T H E I R

F O L L O W E R S V I A

I N S T A G R A M

G R O U P M E M B E R S :

B O E Y C H A N

D O D O C H E N G

N A T A L I E Y E U N G

S U P E R V I S O R :

D R . S L Y V I A J .

M A R T I N

About our project

Nowadays, Instagram is one of most popular

social networking apps which induce the

occurrence of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs),

who are appealing and charismatic in terms

of their face, body or talents. They usually

got thousands to million followers and

likes, meaning that they are able to have

influences over a certain group of people.

Particularly beauty KOLs, who always

review cosmetic and skin care products on

Instagram for their followers, their

followers’ consumption behaviour might

then be affected regarding the sociological

concept such as symbolic consumption,

trust, leadership and authority. Therefore,

our research topic is how does the cosmetic

reviews made by KOLs affect the meanings

of products, and the consumption tendency

of followers.

Content

-Question of inquiry-

-Objectives-

-Literature Review-

1. Characteristic of KOLs

2. The concept and implication

of social networking site

3. Rise of online consumer

review

4. Trust

5. Symbolic consumption &

Sociology of consumption

6. Leadership & Authority

-Methodology-

1. Focus Group

2. In-depth interview

-Interpretation-

1. Observation-Textual Analysis

2. Focus group of followers

3. Interview

-Research Findings and

Analysis-

1. KOLs and Consumption

Behaviour of Followers

2. Trust between KOLs and

Followers

3. Leadership of KOLs

4. New channel for female to

obtain power

-Capstone Fair-

-Limitation-

-Further exploration-

-Conclusion-

O v e r a l l q u e s t i o n

Three subsidiary questions are formed to invest igate the KOL phenomenon and i ts

effect with more detai ls .

# QUESTIONS OF INQUIRY

How does the cosmetic reviews made by KOL affect the meaning of products, and the consumption tendency of followers?

1. What tactics did KOL use to repackage a product and sell it to viewer?

2. How do the KOLs confer the meaning of the products?

3. What different messages can be transmitted through the reviews of KOL comparing to traditional advertising?

#Objectives

To investigate the association

between the KOL review and the

follower’s consumption behaviour.

Short-term objectives

To analyze the relationship between

KOL and followers that affect the

consumption tendency of viewers

Long-term Objective

What are we looking for?

Cha r a c t e r i s t i c s o f KOL s

The c on c ep t and

imp l i c a t i o n o f s o c i a l

ne two r k i n g s i t e

( I n s t a g r am )

R i s e o f on l i n e c on s ume r r e v i ew

T r u s t

LITE

RATU

RE

REV

IEWS ymbo l i c

c on s ump t i o n &

So c i o l o g y o f c on s ump t i o n

L e ade r s h i p and au t ho r i t y

Characteristic of KOL

# KOLs are recognised someone who havesome special qualities, like they are appealing and charismatic in terms of their face, body or talents. According to Weber (1968), charisma from a person is recognised a source of power. They are able to have influences over a certain group of people or even the whole society.

# Hence, many of these people are portrayed

as role models, especially the athletes, as they

carry a positive image and easier to be

accepted by the public (Fraser and Brown,

2002). More athletes are become KOLs on

Instagram nowadays, they will do the product

reviews and share everyday life to their

followers.

THE CONCEPT AND IMPLICATION OF

#To investigate the KOLs’ product reviews on Instagram, it is essential to understand the basic concept and implication of social networking site (SNS). According to Drury (2008), a variety of SNS enable users to receive, share and interact with other netizens, and make the contents become more democratized and not homogenous. Indeed, SNS allows people to create and maintain a community of individuals. In this kind of virtual community, certain elements (i.e. trust) are formed and necessarily existing to bond individuals together. It is possibly one of the reason that KOLs’ product reviews can exert an influence on followers from virtual world to reality.

#Besides, the accessibility and variety of SNS facilitate the trustworthiness of online product review. The information processing is one of the major social media activity of users; people usually retrieve the product information or content online due to its accessibility, being real-time and the variety of viewpoints. Importantly, the sharing information and experiences on social networking sites are considered as reliable and value adding (Kristina, 2011). Based on Kristina’s study, a respondent believes that getting opinion of products online is a reliable way since they don’t benefit anything from advertising a certain product. The respondent and the user who shared opinion formed a relationship of trust via SNS, which is similar with the relationship between KOL and followers.

INSTAGRAMSOCIAL NETWORKING

SITE

R I S E O F

O N L I N E

C O N S U M E R

R E V I E W

#In consumers’ perception, such recommendations are

regarded as convincing and authoritative. They can assure or

break one’s purchasing decision. Hence, more and more

companies are trying to get into this market by sponsoring or

paid to some Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) in order to make

product reviews, especially companies that in the beauty

industry. This kind of trend is beneficial to both of the

consumers and marketers (Tsang & Prendergast, 2009). For

consumers, they can know whether this kind of product suit

them or not ; For marketers, they can understand how their

customer feel towards their products and the products’

performance.

#According to Robson’s (2013) study, due to the popularity of

internet, people share their views and feeling on social space.

Hence, it is no surprise that online consumer review are

critically important to consumers and marketers in nowadays.

Based on the research study , it shows that consumers rely

heavily on consumer recommendation heavily before they

decide whether to buy that product or not. Almost one-fourth

of internet users have seek product review before they

purchase (Zhu & Zhang, 2010). They really take product

reviews into account prior to their purchasing decisions.

TRUST

#Trust is a vital element for online

viewer to make decisions to buy or not

buy after they see the product review.

It is a positive interpersonal

relationship between the followers and

the KOLs, this based on the uncertainty

and risk that the followers evaluated

(Xu, 2014; Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman,

1995). Trust can be divided into

cognitive and affective trust, the former

one is driven by knowledge when

followers consider the review is

reliable and dependable while the latter

one is driven by emotion when

followers have feeling to the review

regarding the perception of friendliness

and warmth from the KOL (Cook &

Wall, 1980; Johnson & Grayson, 2005).

#Besides, trust could be developed better when the interpersonal interaction is close and in long-term (Keller, 2007). Thus, KOLs would share their daily life, like where did they go, what did they eat on Instagram but not only do the product reviews. They try to build a close relationship with their reviewers, and to reply their comments in order to have interaction. As a result, trust is easier to develop among KOLs and their followers. Moreover, Cantallops & Salvi (2014) finds that it has more influences when there is a great number showing the same product review in a collective way, which creates a perception of consensus among KOLs and leads to higher trust from the followers. This explains why the company would find different KOLs to review a particular product in a specific time period, which makes the product can be popular on Instagram and Instagram users can see the same product that reviewed by different KOLs at the same time.

#Consumption is a highly complicated phenomenon, but its main idea is to satisfy people’s needs and wants (Charles et al., 2009). There are two incentives that induce the act of consumption. The first is physiological needs. In order to satisfy this needs, consumptions usually focus of the products’ capability. On the other hand, the second incentive is the desire to gain social recognition and self- esteem (Witt, 2010). Symbolic consumption

& Sociology of consumption

#Usually, consumer expenditure on goods are due to its capability. However, Witt (2010) stated that this is not the most important motivation. Gaining social recognition, self- esteem, and status-seeking are more crucial. This actions are typically related to “symbolic consumption”, which means the product itself has agreed symbols and certain kind of social coordination that link to valid and recognized consumption symbols (Heffetz, 2009). And the indicator that the goods consumed should bring visible and universally recognized symbol when the aim of consumption is to seek social recognition and status. Hence, the products’ technological characteristics are not the primary motivator. What really matter is their socially recognized capacity to act as a symbol, which closely related to the growth of consumption.

#Therefore, Witt is promoting an idea that people usually make consumption because of the desire to gain social recognition and status-seeking.

KOL AS LEADER

#Leadership is important to KOL as it

allows the KOLs themselves and their

opinion to become influential among

the followers. Weiman (1991) points

out strong personality is essential for a

KOL to be influential as well as to

have leadership ability. Thus, KOL

must have their own unique

personality that would attract the

followers, which is similar to

charismatic leadership that proposed

by Max Weber. As the personality is

charismatic to the followers, so they

might follow and agree what KOL

says, it constructs the authority from

the KOL.

#Also, Brown and Reingen (1987)

claim demographic similarity will

enhance one’s leadership, such as

university students. There are more

KOLs are current university student,

which have a larger influence among

the young people, as they come from

the same age group and same

educational background, which is like

the peer group, hence it is easier for

the fellow university students to follow

the KOL. People would like to have

social ties and interact with those that

are similar to themselves, particularly

social important attributes (Zenger &

Lawrence, 1989).

#Besides, authority can also come from

source expertise of KOL, like knowledge,

ability and skill, is another factor to

enhance the leadership and authority

(Bansal and Voyer, 2000; Phau & Lo, 2004).

For instance, when the KOL is an expert on

makeup or even have their own business

related to cosmetic, like facial salon, that

particular KOL might gain the authority as

s/he tries different cosmetic products, so

what s/he recommend tends to be more

convincing. However, Standforth (1995)

points out not everyone who claims to be

KOL and asked for advices in that certain

field can be considered as KOL. It is more

important that people who are outside

that group or the public know this person,

s/he is considered as more influential

(Katz, 1957).

LEADERSHIP

AND

AUTHORITY

#Followers of the

KOLs were invited to join the focus

group which lasts for around 30

minutes. Each group would have 3

to 4 people, we welcome everyone

to join our focus group if they are

the Instagram users. We also asked

the interviewees to invite their

friends and join focus group as a

snowball sampling method.

FOCUS GROUP

Methodology

#During the focus group,

questions would be asked, like -

why do they follow this KOL? How

they receive messages from KOLs?

How these product reviews affect

their consumer behaviour? How do

they see these KOLs?

#We have classified various

aspects, such as background

information of following KOLs,

consumption pattern, interaction

with KOLs and gender expectation.

These questions will be asked in

the focus group, so they can freely

discuss these questions.

#Moreover, another session of

the focus group is to do the

reception study. Participants

were asked to play Instagram

with their own accounts in front

of us. However, the results made

from reception study is weak:

participants just simply scrolled

and randomly liked the posts

instead of clicking the hashtag or

comment the KOL 's post. As a

result, the data gathered from

reception study will not be

included in this photobook.

Group 1

Group 2 Group 4

Group 3

In-depth Interview

#We also asked a KOL to do the product review in front of us. For instance, how she take photos of the products, how to edit the photos, type the photo caption and hashtags. Also, we asked them to explain why they act like this when they doing these acts, so we can easier to understand how their thoughts are and what tactics do they use. .

#2 KOLs and 1 marketing department representative were invited to do the face-to-face interview for around 20 minutes, some general questions were included, such as do they consider themselves as “KOLs”? Why would they review products on Instagram? What tactics do they use when reviewing products? What do they think when more people reviewing products on Instagram? These are the basic general questions in semi-structured method, so only general questions were designed and specific questions were asked based on their responses.

Methodology

Two KOLs agreed to have an interviewwith us, which are Hazel Chan

(@hazel0980), and Christy Lee(@christy_lylok).

A year 2 HKU student who worked in amarketing department in a cosmetic

product wholesaler, Eva Cheng, was alsoinvited, which allow us to understandmore about how a cosmetic company

select KOLs to promote their products.

Moreover, we have tried to invite the KOL agencies that mentioned by the

interviewees for interview, however, there were no responses.

Interpretation

“Observation” Textual Analysis

# W E S E A R C H E D A N D

E X P L O R E D W H A T D I F F E R E N T

K I N D S O F C O S M E T I C

P R O D U C T R E V I E W S C A N B E

F O U N D O N I N S T A G R A M . W E

F O U N D T H E P R O D U C T

R E V I E W P O S T S T H R O U G H

K O L S A N D

H A S H T A G S . W E A L S O

C O D E D D I F F E R E N T

K E Y W O R D S F R O M T H E

P R O D U C T R E V I E W P O S T S

T O D O T H E T E X T U A L

A N A L Y S I S , S U C H A S H O W

R E L A T E D W O R D I N G S C O U L D

B E F O U N D O N T H O S E

P O S T S , H O W W O R D S A R E

U S E D T O D E S C R I B E A

P R O D U C T , H O W T H E

P A T T E R N S O F H A S H T A G S

A R E .

KOL ’S FACE , CAPTION , HASHTAGS ARE IMPORTANT

WHA T I T 'S ABOUT

#Dr. Weil Mega Mushroom Soothing Treatment Lotion is reviewed by many famous KOLs on Instagram. Wehave chosen 12 posts about thisproduct for analysis. It is found that every posts have to introduce the name of the brand and the product, which is Dr. Weil Mega Mushroom Soothing Treatment Lotion, and Origin, they have to tag Origin official Instagram as well. For the content, all of them show the features of the product, which are moisturizing and soothing.

CASE OF DR . WEIL MEGA MUSHROOM SOOTHING TREATMENT LOTIONS

FROM ORIGINS

#As the selling point of the product is “四重滲透” (Four unique treatment lotion layering techniques), some of them show what the four steps are: refresh, massage, tap, replenish in their captions. Few of them even take a video to show the whole process of using that particular product (see below).

#At last, they will put the same hashtags for the product, like “#OriginsHK”, “#健膚新美學” (new technique of skin care), “#保濕同時鎮靜敏感膚質” (moisturizing as well as soothing for sensitive skin), “#為肌膚打底” (to help improving the skin), “# 調理膚質” (to help improving the skin), “#靈芝⽔” (mega mushroom soothing treatment lotion). They are not only using the same hashtags, but also the order of hashtags.

#Regarding the photos , all of them

show their faces and the products ,

most of them are pretending to use

the product with makeup cotton and

they are showing the face that is

relaxing , presenting that the product

will make them relax and improve

their skin . Moreover , the tone of the

photos are mostly in white , including

the wallpaper , the clothes that KOL

wear . This might represents the

product is pure , clean and refreshing .

Case of Jeju Lava Seawater Boosting Ampoule from Innisfree

#Jeju Lava Seawater Boosting Ampoule is different from the above case, it is reviewed by more KOLs but they are relatively less popular than the product from Origins. This might due to the product itself is cheaper and the target audience is student so Innisfree asks a number of university students to review it. The style of the photos are very different from the above case, as only the product itself is shown on the photo but not the KOL’s face. Yet, the background and how to arrange the products in a photo are important. We can see that KOLs use different background and arrangement for the products, like using other decorations or putting the products irregularly in order to have a better visual presentation.

Product photography is important-

How to arrange the products?

Store Hours

Q u i c h e s S e r v e d A l l D a y

M O N D A Y - F R I D A Y7 a m - 5 p m

S A T U R D A Y8 a m - 3 p m

S U N D A YC l o s e d

Breakfast Items ServedM O N D A Y - F R I D A Y7 a m - 1 1 p m

S A T U R D A Y8 a m - 3 p m

Lunch Items ServedM O N D A Y - F R I D A Y7 a m - 4 p m

S A T U R D A Y8 a m - 2 : 3 0 p m

# R e g a r d i n g t h e c o n t e n t , K O L s w o u l d i n t r o d u c e t h e n a m e o f t h e p r o d u c t a n d t h e b r a n d f i r s t , t h e n h i g h l i g h t t h e s e l l i n g p o i n t s , l i k e p e r s o n a l i z e d , h i g h - m o i s t u r e a n d a n t i - a g i n g f o r t h i s p r o d u c t a n d f i n a l l y a d d t h e o f f i c i a l h a s h t a g s . S o m e o f t h e m m i g h t a d d m o r e t h e i r o p i n i o n s , i n c l u d i n g u n d e r w h a t c o n d i t i o n w o u l d t h e y u s e , s o m e s a y a f t e r b o a t p a r t y a n d s o m e s a y a f t e r c o o k i n g ; s o m e K O L s s t a t e I n n i s f r e e i s o n e o f t h e i r f a v o r i t e b r a n d s a t t h e b e g i n n i n g , s o m e K O L s s a y “ I ’ m r e c o m m e n d i n g… . ” a n d s o m e a d d e m o j i s l i k e h e a r t e y e s f a c e a n d d r o o l i n g f a c e a f t e r i n t r o d u c i n g t h e p r o d u c t . A d d i n g e x t r a o p i n i o n s a n d e m o j i s s e e m t o m a k e t h e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n m o r e c o n v i n c i n g t o t h e i r f o l l o w e r s .

CASE OF SHU UEMURA X SUPER MARIO BROS

#Shu Uemura has launched new lipsticks and

cushion which cross-over with Super Mario

Bros, they invite a number of KOLs to go to

their pop up store and try the new products.

Thus, their photos on Instagram are about

what they do during the event, including

trying or pretending to use the lipsticks and

cushion, playing the capsule toys, and holding

the props that made by Shu Uemura, like

‘#shuxmario”, ‘#shuuemraHK”, the pictures of

lipsticks and cushions.

#Regarding the content, most of the KOLs

introduce the name of the brand and the store,

which is “Shu uemura x Super Mario Bros.

Beauty Adventure pop up store”, the location,

which is Sai Yeung Choi Street at Mong Kok,

and the duration, which is till 5 November. They

have particularly state that they have priority (率

先) to try the new products first, some of them

even invite their followers to be the

“HKshuGIRLS” to save the Princess Peach with

Mario by using the products, which reflects

their target audience is girls as most of the

other cosmetic products do. One of the KOLs

even ask ‘wanna be one of us #HKshuGIRLS?” in

this way, it represents if you come to this pop

up store or use this product, you can become a

girl like “us”.

- POPUP STORE EVENT-

REVIEWING PRODUCTS THROUGH

INSTAGRAM STORY

#Instagram Story is a relatively new

function on Instagram, it could be a

photo or a 1 minute video that lasts

for 24 hours only. Some cosmetic

products would be only reviewed on

the Story but not in a proper

Instagram posts. This might due to

different factors such as how much

paid by the company, how willing do

they recommend or even to portray

it is a good product under a casual

atmosphere.

#Most of the KOLs would say

‘thanks to XXX (the brand)’, some

might say ‘I have bought this xxx’ to

convince their followers that they

use thier own money to buy and

recommend it as a good product, and

some even will try on the product in

the story. They usually hashtag the

name of the brand and products, and

tag the official Instagram account of

the brand.

INTERACTION

BETWEEN KOLS

AND THEIR

FOLLOWERS

HOW DO THEY INTERACT?

#Once the KOL review products on Instagram, some of their followers would comment and

direct message the KOL other than simply like the post. As direct message is private, so only

comments can be used to analyse the responses from the followers and some interactions

between the KOLs and the followers. Some comments are positive and some are negative.

For the positive ones, the follower said she is going to buy this lipsticks because of the KOL

uses or the caption attracts the follower to buy. Then, the KOL replied that people must buy

once they see the lipstick even the KOL herself did not promote. The other example is that

the KOL is reviewing the soothing treatment lotion, one of her followers said she has seen

that lotion before and she is now want to have one, then the KOL replied her this lotion is

good and recommended her to use, she also curious about when did that follower start her

skincare routine. Moreover, a KOL shows the conversation between she and her follower,

talking about the follower is interested of her lipsticks and asks where can get it.

PositiveIn

te

ra

ct

ion

For the negative ones, some

followers commented that the

KOLs' posts are mere

advertisements, and blamed

that they are paid to do the

product reviews, it is all easy

money. Some other offensive

comments are probably

deleted by KOLs already.

Interpretation

“Focus group of followers”

# O U R D I S C U S S I O N

Q U E S T I O N S W E R E D I V I D E D

I N T O M A I N L Y F I V E

A S P E C T S , I N C L U D I N G

P E R C E P T I O N S O N K O L ,

P E R C E P T I O N S O N

I N S T A G R A M P O S T S B Y K O L ,

C O N S U M P T I O N P A T T E R N ,

I N T E R A C T I O N W I T H K O L A N D

G E N D E R E X P E C T A T I O N O F

K O L .

1. Perceptions on KOL

#Reasons of following KOL

#Social Status of KOLs

#To be a KOL?

2. Perceptions on Instagram Posts by

KOL

3. Consumption pattern

4. Interaction with KOLs

5. Gender Expectation

Focus group of followers

1.

Perceptions

on KOL

#Some participants pointed out

KOLs are diversified, there are

different types of KOL, they talk

about beauty, video games,

travel, or food, so they have

influences over the group that

are interested in that particular

area. Yet, many participants

pointed out KOL become popular

in order to earn money, by

getting sponsored items or

promoting products.

#Most of the participants expressed that KOL is someone who have influences over a group of people, it might be a group of students, or a group of working class, etc. Participant N even described KOL is ‘King of Likes’, who gains popularity online, especially on social networking sites.

#Regarding the reasons they follow KOL,

more than half of the participants

explained their interest matching with

the KOL is the main reason that they

follow, such as they are interested in

beauty so they will follow beauty KOL.

Participant E and Participant F even

consider these KOLs in certain aspects are

experts as their knowledge is more

professional, so participants could know

more about this aspect when they follow

this KOL.

#Reasons offollowing

KOL





#To be a KOL?

2. Perceptions on Instagram Posts by KOL




“Yeah…You know, KOL should be moreprofessional in a certain aspect, like they can

give us more professional opinion in thatparticular area. Like I watch Ling Cheng, she

is an expert in Korean and its culture, and Iam interested in Korean lifestyle, so I’d love

to follow her, particularly to see how sheuses Korean cosmetic product and hairstyle.”

(Participant F, Group 2)

#Besides, few of them mentioned

their peers are the reason leading

them to follow a particular KOL, their

friends would recommend or

introduce some KOLs or the products

that reviewed by KOLs to them. Thus, if

they find the KOL is attractive

regarding the appearance or

popularity, they will follow him/her as

well. Few of them also mentioned they

follow the KOLs on Instagram because

the KOL himself/herself has Youtube

channel. They first know about the

KOL on Youtube, then they follow

him/her on Instagram because they

want to know more daily life of the

KOL.


1. Perceptions on KOL #Reasons of following KOL #Social Status of KOLs #To be a KOL? 2. Perceptions on Instagram Posts by KOL 3. Consumption pattern 4. Interaction with KOLs 5. Gender Expectation


#Most of the participants agreed that many KOLs are come from middle class or above, because they have no financial burden or even hold certain financial power in order to build up the network. Purchasing the fashion and food, travelling all the time could attract people to pay attention to this KOL, when s/he becomes famous, KOL company or cosmetic product company would find them to do product review. Many of the participants mentioned many cosmetic products are expensive, normal young people or students could only afford one to two products but not everything like the KOL.

“Sue Chang is a famous KOL, she lives in Beverly Hills, she has a video about her room tour, it is very high class, like

the baby room is so fancy and there are many closets.” (Participant A, Group 1)

“One of the KOLs I follow is Elaine Hau, she always shows the luxury handbags

and cosmetic products, like Chanel and Dior. She is so crazy.” (Participant F,

Group 2)

#Participant F even showed the photo of Elaine Hau to other participants

during the focus group.


#Yet, few participants felt the social status is not related to be a KOL, because KOL is

just someone affects a group of people, but these people can be from any class, such as followers like the KOL due to their ability or

ideas. Also, registering an Instagram account costs nothing, so if someone has

ability, s/he can do KOL without spending a lot of money.


#The image and lifestyle of KOLs attract people to see his/her posts, and willing to

know more about his/her daily life by following their social networking sites, one

of the reasons is because the followers could not experience this kind of luxury lifestyles. However, Participant A also

argued some KOLs are from lower class:

“Melon is a KOL who is not rich, she emphasized she lives in public

housing, the reason why I follow her is simply because she is funny and true.”

(Participant A, Group 1)

FOCUS GROUP OF FOLLOWERS 1. Perceptions on KOL



#To be a KOL? 2. Perceptions on Instagram Posts by KOL




#TO BE AKOL?

#Participants’ opinions are diversified,

some do not want to do and some want to

be them. For those who wants to be them,

they envy for KOL’s daily life which they

are able to use different products for free

and they can go travel all the time, which is

a relaxing job.

#However, some participants do not eager

to be a KOL because they see it just for

entertainment and particularly Participant

H, a male participant, felt that being a KOL

is so complicated which he prefers to work

at office to earn money.

#Yet, they also pointed out they would assess their own abilities, like the courage to be a public figure, which will be commented by the others, as well as their social circle needs to be big enough and the skills like how to present a product.

FOCUS GROUP OF FOLLOWERS

“Their daily life and social life attracted me. At first sight, I don't recognise it is an advertisement, I think she likes this brand and this product, but then when I see the hashtags and captions, I feel that

these are advertisements” (Participant D, Group 1)

“They pretend it is their daily life but actually the are selling the products.” (Participant N,

Group 4)

#However, few of the participants could not really identify they are sponsored or the KOLs buy the products themselves.

“KOL always share their daily life, like OOTD, which means

Outfit Of The Day, they tag the brands of their clothes, their

shoes, their accessories and their cosmetic products. I cannot really classify these are advertisements

or simply daily life sharing.” (Participant G, Group 2)


#Participants were able to point out that there are different types of posts, including daily life, like what did they do, where did they go, and what did they eat, as well as the product reviews and recommendation posts.

2. Perceptions on

Instagram post by

KOL

F O C U S G R O U P O F F O L L O W E R S1. Perceptions on KOL



#To be a KOL?

2 . Perceptions on Instagram

Posts by KOL




#When participants are asked about whether their perceptions are affected by the sponsored advertisements, they discussed in various criteria, such as depending on the attractiveness of the post, the product, as well as the KOL.

“It depends on the attractiveness of the advertisement, I prefer those pictures

that can show ‘before and after’, like the whitening teeth stuff from Korea. It shows a big contrast before using the thing and after using it. The picture

convinces me to try it.” (Participant D,Group 1)

“It depends on how much the KOL I like, I tend to believe what s/he recommends or wants to try if I really like him/her.”

(Participant G, Group 2)

#Besides, participants would also prefer to see if the KOL could record the product in detailed and the effectiveness. To access the reliability of the posts, participants would alsosee other followers’ comments on that posts, other blogs and forums, they will do the research themselves. More importantly, the reputation, including past record and experiences of the KOL are essential, many participants pointed out that they would see what products did the KOL recommend before, to see they are truly recommend or not. Yet, some participants just take it as reference.

“I don’t really think their recommendations are reliable,

because I think many of them are sponsored. The review just let me

to know the product is newly launched, but not to see the

product is good or bad, I will use other ways like ask my friends or check in forum to see it is good or

not. The post is just for information.” (Participant L,

Group 4)

2. P

erce

ptio

ns

on In

stag

ram

po

st b

y K

OL

FOCUS GROUP OF FOLLOWER

“KOLs are too rich and get sponsored! They have all the

colours of a series of the lipstick! So I can check it out which colour is cute when

they put on their lip. There are so many KOLs reviewing the same product at the same

time, so I can see more different comments by KOLs.”

(Participant B, Group 1)

2. PERCEPTIONS ON INSTAGRAM POSTS BY KOL

#Yet, when participants have certain goods that want to consume but not yet decided,they would see the posts by different KOLs for the same product.





#To be a KOL?

2. Perceptions on Instagram Posts by

KOL




FOCUS GROUP

OF FOLLOWER

3. CONSUMPTION PATTERN

#Almost all participants stated they will

not buy immediately after the KOLs’

reviews, but they will pay more attention

to the product when they go shopping in

reality and have a higher desire to get the

products, because KOLs also use this

product and recommend it. Even they

have conation to buy it, some participants

added they will remind themselves to be

critical and think about do the review is

real or not, and to buy according to their

own needs.

#However, some participants do not agree

the product reviews by KOLs, thus they are

not affected that much,. They disagree the

logic behind the sponsored posts as they

encourage the excessive expenditures and

impulse buying:

“The incentive of buying and trying product is merely producing a product review, but in fact they're not really need to consume and use it.

This causes the excessive expenditures on the things that we don’t necessarily need.” (Participant G, Group 2)

“I disagree the consumption pattern, as most of the time they don’t finish the whole product as they have given or they bought different products to do review, in order to sustain the influences and status of KOL. But it is too

wasteful that they have to change the clothes and makeup product everyday, how to dispose the goods is another problem.” (Participant E, Group 2)

#Moreover, to male participants, the

consumption pattern is less likely to be

affected by KOLs, particularly the beauty

ones, as they just for entertainment.

“I follow that KOL because I want to see the content but not what s/he sells, so most of the time I will skip the advertisement. Also, the

consumption pattern differs from mine, I would like to try myself in the shopping mall but not

listening how KOLs review this product. Another point is that when a KOLs who focus on

doing foodie, but then one day she reviews a cosmetic product, I think this is quite ridiculous.” (Participant M, Group 4)

“As you know, there are some product review posts only showing the products, but not the KOL’s face, I usually skip those posts

unconsciously. I just want to see his/her face.” (Participant H, Group 3)

“Even I am affected and inspired from the KOLs, like they recommend a white shirt from Supreme, it is too expensive that I cannot afford, so I would

buy a white shirt from Uniqlo as substitute.” (Participant L, Group 4)




#To be a KOL?

2. Perceptions on Instagram Posts by KOL




FOCUS GROUP OF FOLLOWER 4. Interaction with KOLs

#All the participants claimed they did not

comment or send direct message to KOL and

did not participate the events that related to

KOL, including held by KOL or events that

KOL would join. Only one participant,

Participant F, wants to participate an activity,

which is a giveaway by commenting on the

posts, but eventually she did not do it.

Another participant, Participant D, stated she

would not idolise KOL as they are not really

the pop stars.


#Most of the beauty KOLs that participants

mentioned were female KOLs, only few male

KOLs are mentioned, mostly are from foodie

and video games. For male beauty KOLs, Ricky

and Seraph Ng are being discussed. As

participants thought the nature of product is

usually for female, so they think the review

from female KOLs is more useful and practical.

When male KOLs review the cosmetic product,

he uses a male perception to do the makeup

and his target audience is male. Yet, few

participants hold another views:

“The relationship of gender and what s/he promotes is not closely linked. Makeup skills are more

important to me.” (Participant K, Group 3)

“The beauty KOL that I always follow is not a girl but a boy, he is called Seraph Ng. I like to see his product review because he always uses technology to support and I can see the effectiveness of the

product.” (Participant J, Group 3)

Interpretation

"Interview"HA Z E L C H A N

C H R I S T Y L E E

E V A C H E NG

# B A S E D O N H A Z E L ’ S S H A R I N G , S H E R E S P O N D E D T H A T T H E D E F I N I T I O N O F K O L I N N O W A D A Y S I S A C T U A L L Y Q U I T E B O A R D . P E O P L E W H O H A V E L O T S O F F O L L O W E R S , P O S T E D P R O D U C T P R E V I E W , O R H A V E S O M E S P O N S O R E D P O S T O N I N S T A G R A M A R E B E I N G D E F I N E D A S K O L .

DEFINITION

OF KOL

HAZEL CHAN

INT

ER

VIE

W W

ITH

The image

management of

Instagram

#It seems related to the idea of presentation of self and the concept of frontstage and backstage. To make herself as a trustworthy and reliable person, Hazel tends to present herself as a positive girls with great social life and lifestyle. Hazel tries not to express something sensitive and even offensive on the public Instagram in order to create an Instagram account with pleasure. However, Hazel also emphasized that it is not the fake image but also part of the Hazel Chan. But still, it might be one of the reason why the follower liking following those KOL’s Instagram account and the suggestions made by the product reviews. Besides, the content mixture of commercial posts and daily life sharing might be an essential elements that differentiate from the artists, and make them more approachable and persuasive.

#According to Hazel Chan, she have registered 2 different Instagram accounts for different purposes. First is the public account (@hazel0980)allow anyone to access and follow; and the other one is private and only friends are allowed to be the followers. There are different image and feeling of two accounts-- Hazel Chan would post contents that are more positive, energetic and happier; Pictures with friends and commercial advertisements are usually posted on the public account to show her daily life to the followers. As for the private account, Hazel tends to express her inner feeling and attitude that only the close friends know on the private one, which make it like a private diary.

PRESENTATION SKILLS OF PRODUCT AND REVIEW

#The product choice made by the KOL might

be one of the reason why followers would

believe KOL’s sharing. Hazel explained that

she tends to accept cosmetic product review

invitation since she is interested in trying

and using different new makeup products.

When followers follow Hazel’s Instagram, it

is not special to see her different makeup

styles on her daily life photo. The unity of

the image of Hazel and the review she wrote

is important to accept her viewpoint and

suggestion. Moreover, according to Hazel

Chan’s sharing, the approachable and

friendly style of product presentation are the

more appealing and attractive than public

commercial advertisement. Unlike the

standardized and unemotional content,

KOLs usually input personal experience and

feeling into the content. Even some of the

content and tag are compulsory due to

company required, the image and

presentation made by KOL still make it

reliable.

#Comparing with other KOLs, the

presentation made by Hazel Chan is more

natural and carefree. She did not use so

many fancy or delicate wordings or picture

to present the products. And the timing of

posting review is not her concern as well.

Nonetheless, Hazel also mentioned about

her choice of product and the skills of

drafting caption. First, the cosmetic

products are the most common products

that she would select since it is also what

she interested, and the embarrassing or

awkward products are not her list even

those usually offer higher reward.

#Besides, she usually draft the content and

tag naturally as if sharing her daily life, or

sometimes just use the company

suggested. And Hazel also believed that

the practical and realistic caption with

beautiful photo is the successful point of

her product review. As for the product

with poor quality, Hazel claimed that she

would still post it but tend not to mention

too much about its shortcoming and

emphasize on other sides of product.

Definition of KOL

#According to Christy’s

sharing, she believes that

there is no any specific

requirement to be a KOL.

However, they are usually

people who have a lot of

followers and post

product reviews on their

Instagram accounts.

Interview with

CHRISTY

LEE

#Christy mentioned that she did have 2 Instagram accounts, one is a public account (@christy_lylok) and the other one is a private account. For the public account, it allows everyone to access and follow. She basically will post things that she wants more people to know, or things that the public will be interested in, such as product reviews and news commentaries. She revealed that she did not deliberately cultivate a specific style for her image or style, but she is persistent in the “color” of her Instagram photos. Usually, there is a sequence in her public Instagram account. For example, when her previous posts are photos that are colorful, she will have a sense that she must keep her following photos are as colorful as her previous posts. Besides of the color, her physical appearance is crucial as well. And for the content, she will try to maintain the captions of each post are in “high quality”.

The image managementof Instagram

#For the private account, the posts are usually related to her inner personal feeling or some silly things. For instance, photos with her grimace or photos that she think is hilarious. #This situation is same as Hazel. Both of them also tend to present themselves as positive as they can. They try not to post something negative on their public Instagram account in order to maintain they have a fabulous social life. As they believe photos that they post on their private Instagram account may affect their public image.

PRESENTATIONSKILLS OF

PRODUCT ANDREVIEW

#For the skill she is using on her

presentation style, she will make use

of a beautiful background. If she is

interested in that product, she will

show her face in the photo as well. If

not, she will just post a photo that

only show those products. Also, for

caption in some sponsored products,

those marketing companies usually

will provide some guidelines for her

to specify what should be included,

such as hashtag.

#When compare with other

KOLs, the presentation style of

Christy is more carefree. For the

choice of making a product

review, she will depend on her

interest. If she is not interested

in that specific product, she will

not make a product review or

even try it as she does not want

to have it.

#Nonetheless, she asserted that she

usually will draft the content by

herself. For products with poor quality,

she will definitely mention the

advantages first, then followed by the

disadvantages. For the products that

she is interested in, she will describe it

more and add more emojis.

Furthermore, she concerned with the

timing of posting product review.

Basically she will post it at night or

when she is having lunch as these are

some prime time that can attract

more “Likes”.

EFFECT OF

PRODUCT

REVIEW

#Based on Ch r i s t y ’ s s ha r i ng , s he

men t ioned t ha t a s mos t o f t he

KOLs w i l l s how t he "be fo re and

a f te r pho to ” f o r each p roduc t

and t hey w i l l s ha re t he i r f ee l i ngs

t owards i t . Hence , i t ga i n

t r u s two r th i nes s f r om fo l l ower s

and t hey w i l l cons ide r t he KOL a s

r e l i ab le . A s KOL a re u sua l l y t he

one who w i l l u se d i f fe ren t k i nds

o f co smet i c p roduc t mo re

f r equen t l y , hence , t hey a re mo re

e xpe r ienced i n i t o r s omehow an

“ expe r t ” . T hu s , f o l l ower s w i l l be

w i l l i ng t o f o l l ow t hose KOLs and

t r u s t t hem.

#A l so , s he a s se r ted t ha t KOLs a re

t he one who k now mo re abou t t he

consumer s ’ needs when compare

w i t h ce leb r i t i e s o r s upe r s ta r s , who

t end t o have a mo re s upe r io r

l i f e s t y l e . KOL w i l l k now mo re

abou t t he p r i ce , t he qua l i t y o f t he

p roduc t s , and mo re r eachab le a s

t he d i s tance be tween KOL and

f o l l ower s i s s ho r te r t han w i t h

ce leb r i t i e s , wh ich a re t he

advan tages o f KOL . F u r t he rmore ,

s he r e vea led t ha t s ome f o l l ower s

d id s end d i r ec t mes sage he r abou t

t he u t i l i t y o f t he p roduc t s , whe re

t o buy , o r a s k i f i t i s wo r thy o r no t .

T h i s s hows t he i n f l uence o f he r

p roduc t r e v iew pos t s a re e f fec t i ve

and d id t r i gge r f o l l ower s t o have

a s ense t o buy t ha t spec i f i c

p roduc t s .

EVA CHENG

Interview withThe gender expectation

(and stereotype) toward female KOL

#All of our interviewees claimed that

female KOLs are advantaged in the

market of KOL and cosmetic product .

According to Eva , there are more female

consumers than male in the market of

makeup product . As a result , the

company tends to seek potential female

KOL to help promoting their cosmetic

products , and the KOLs tend to choose

writing the cosmetic product review in

order to cater their fol lowers , who are

mostly girls .

#Besides , they also agreed that people in

the society put more emphasis on

female ’s morality and image than male ’s .

When seeking the cooperating

opportunity with KOL , the company

would also examine and judge i f the

style of the KOL is suitable for promoting

the certain product . For example , they

lean toward KOLs who have a

standardized female image , l ike long

hair , pure and true clothing and written

style , to help writing the review of

certain product for the sake of better

advertising effect . It shows that the

public more or less has the expectation

on female KOL ’s appearance and

manner , and aversion may form i f KOL

went off track of the stereotyped image .

The trustworthiness and sincerity of

KOL #All of our interviewees , Eva ,

Christy and Hazel agreed that

one of the advantages of KOL is

the feeling of trust and

truthfulness . Different from the

commercial idols appeared in

the traditional advertisement ,

KOL who originally is just the

nobody can act as a fr iend of the

fol lowers . The distance between

KOL and fol lowers is short that

fol lowers can easily

communicate and interact with

KOL through commenting and

sending direct message . Besides ,

the product reviews made by

KOL are not always positive . They

sometimes sti l l give genuine

opinion and crit icize the

unqualif ied products . Those kind

of reviewing style reflects the

truth to the viewers , which

makes KOL become rel iable , and

fol lowers are thus will ing to trust

and fol low her .

ResearchF ind ings

&Ana ly s i s

1 . K O L & f o l l o w e r s '

c o n s u m p t i o n

b e h a v i o u r

2 . T r u s t b e t w e e n

K O L s a n d f o l l o w e r s

3 . L e a d e r s h i p o f

K O L s

4 . N e w c h a n n e l f o r

f e m a l e t o o b t a i n

p o w e r

# Followers' consumption does not directly affected, but indirectly. Many of the participants stated they will have a higher desire and pay more attention to the product when they go shopping.

#Observation on Instagram posts: the image that presented by KOLs are middle-class or above lifestyles. The clothes they wear, the food they eat, the place they go are fancy and appealing. Most of them are not cheap, especially to their target audiences, secondary school students or undergraduates.

#Findings in focus group: most of the participants regard KOLs as middle class and presenting a sign of middle class. They seem not to worry about their financial status and keep showing their followers what did they buy or use, and their ‘daily life’ through Instagram.

KOL &followers'

consumptionbehaviour

Research Findings & Analysis

1. KOL & followers '

consumption

behaviour

2. Trust between

KOLs and followers

3. Leadership of

KOLs

4. New channel for

female to obtain

power

#The reason why they buy that product is not only satisfying the psychological

needs, but also gaining social recognition and status.

#Some followers hope to be alike as KOLs

by using the same product. They are willing to spend more money on the same

type of product for a more ‘high-class’ brand which used by KOLs. Thus,

products carry the symbol and sign of middle class and lifestyle, for followers to

seek social recognition and status.

KOL &followers'

consumptionbehaviour

#For those who oppose the consumption pattern of KOLs, their

reason is because KOL’s consumption behaviour is too wasteful. They keep purchasing and using different kinds

of cosmetic product to sustain the status of KOLs, which encourages

excessive expenditure and impulse buying. Therefore, they will not be affected that much as they will buy

according to their own needs.

#However, the influences are less likely to happen on male followers and those who

opposed the consumption pattern of KOLs.

#For male followers, they follow the beauty KOLs mostly because of their appearances but not interested in what they use. Thus,

they tend to skip the product reviews when they are scrolling Instagram, especially

photos that only contain the product itself.

Research Findings & Analysis

1. KOL & followers'

consumption behaviour

2. Trust between KOLs and

followers

3. Leadership of KOLs

4. New channel for female to

obtain power

#Symbolic consumption

TRUST BETWEEN KOLS & FOLLOWERS

#Our focus group participants

consider when many KOLs review the

same product at the same period, it is

a sign of advertisements. Particularly

when the product is also reviewed by

the ‘lower-order’ or ‘more-ordinary

like’ KOLs, followers feel the product

is relatively ‘cheap’, which followers

tend to not believe the KOLs

#But still, followers claimed those

product reviews by KOLs have certain

degree of credibility which means

there is trust built between them to a

certain extent.

#Yet, the contrast might due to the differences of the context as the context of l iterature reviews are from Western countries, and our findings are from Hong Kong context.

#In terms of interpersonal interaction, Hong Kong people are less l ikely to comment or communicate with the KOLs, since some of them consider KOLs as celebrit ies, which have a higher status than ordinary people within a hierarchy.

TRUST BETWEEN KOLS & FOLLOWERS

#On the other hand, one special relationship, distant closeness, may be formed between KOL and followers. Even followers do not always take the initiative to comment or direct message to the KOL, they can understand KOL’s life and his/her social circle. In this condition, even if followers and KOL have never met in reality, they are just like the close friends: knowing KOL’s daily routine and receiving the up-to-date sharing by KOL’s Instagram posts. This kind of closeness is thus developed on the distant relationship, which hence positively affect followers’ attitude towards KOLs and their sharing.

#Even KOLs try to build a close relationship by sharing their daily life, followers might feel distant from the KOL. This could also explain why one of our interviewees, Hazel Chan, mentioned most of the messages she received are from her friends but not the followers. Another possible reason is that they were shy to admit that they interact with the KOLs during the focus group, thus they might claimed they have never done it before.

Trust between KOLs & followers

#In terms of a great number showing the same product review, Hong Kong followers tend to trust less towards KOLs. Since Hong Kong people are actually active audience, they are actively involved but not receive information passively. They receive other information from their friends and online and then analyse themselves. For example, many followers know the reviews are actually strategic, they have this thought because they are able to reach these information from online forums, like LIHKG. As LIHKG users always portray KOLs as ‘beauty beggar’, meaning KOLs once became famous, they keep reviewing products from different cosmetic company but not truly recommend to their followers. Thus, the perceptions of followers might be affected by these comments.

#When KOLs are selecting which product is good for the followers,

followers will feel that the products are truly recommend by them.

#For instance, some famous KOLs like Mingjai, he revealed that he would

choose the product that he feels it is good and good for his followers from an interview (Nextplus, 2017). He said he would not accept all the invitations

from different companies to earn money, because this will damage the

his image as well as the trust with the followers.

#Also, some KOLs will analyse whichcosmetic or skin care products are good

for the followers by categorising them insuitable for normal skin, dry skin, oily skin

and combination skin. This makes s/hebecomes more reliable and professional in

order to enhance the trust from followers.

#Secondly, KOLs have to make clear theproduct review is sponsored or not so the

followers could understand more clearlybut not being tricked. Edward Slime is a

Hong Kong YouTuber, he also revealed thathe would state ‘this is sponsored’ when he

has to do the sponsored product. Since hisexperience told him the ‘views’ from

audiences dropped the most when he hasmost advertisements in that month. Thus,

he states clearly afterwards and let thefollowers to understand what they are

watching and will not be feeling tricked.

Leadership of KOL#From our observation of KOLs’ Instagram post, there are lots of

comments that are praising KOLs’ appearance. For example, “Pretty

girl”, “Beautiful”, “Your skin is goal!”, which match with the

feedback we collected in the memo activity. As most of them replied that KOL are the one who have

attractive and appealing appearance and this is the most effective way that can increase

their fame. Some of the participants revealed that they

would usually follow KOL who has attractive appearance or style.

#Based on the previous literatures,

KOLs’ unique personality would

attract followers and they would

agree with what the KOL says.

However, based on the information

we collected, most of the followers

revealed that KOL’s appearance is

the most essential element that

lead to KOLs’ success. Only few of

them concern with KOLs’

personality when they are selecting

to follow which KOL on Instagram.

#Hence, we believe that KOLs’

appearance is also one of the

essential element that lead to

their success and previous

researches did not included.

#However, it does not mean that KOLs’

personality is not important. It is

essential as well. Regarding to the

memo we collected, some of them

would also be attracted by KOL’s

personality.

#Another important factor is KOL’s

knowledgeability. According to the

previous research, this is an influential

factor that can enhance KOL’s

leadership and authority. The data we

collected is align with this statement.

#Nonetheless, there is a point that

the reason why followers would

believe in that particular KOL is not

because of they have their own

business related to cosmetic, but

because of that KOL have tried

various kind of products. Hence,

followers will feel that they are

reliable and knowledgeable as they

did not only try one particular

product, but several already.

Leadership of KOL

#Based on our observation, KOLs are

usually female, especially beauty KOLs.

According to the information we collected,

most of the beauty KOLs that participants

mentioned were female KOLs, only few

male KOLs are mentioned. They think

female KOLs review is more useful and

practical. Moreover, regarding to the memo

we collected in the capstone fair, some

participants bring a point that due to the

development of social networking sites, it

provided a chance for people to express

their idea. As we are living under a world of

patriarchal society, the emergence of

Instagram beauty KOL offered female an

opportunity to express their idea and

views, which is somehow breaking the

order of a patriarchal society as there are

more female beauty KOLs rather than

male.

#For some of them, being a KOL is

even their full time job. They run their

Instagram accounts as a business.

Hence, we think that KOL is a new

channel for female to obtain power, as

they can set up their business on their

own by becoming a KOL.

New channel for female to obtain power

P h o t o P r i n t i n g

T A K E Y O U R

S O U V E N I R !

We have pioneered breakthroughs and have broadened our enterprise

CAPS

TON

E

FAIR

We have a solid financial position, a

formidable management team, and a vision

of leading the country to global

competitiveness.

i P a d M i n i

W H O I S K O L ?

M e m o p a d

W H A T I S Y O U R

F E E L I N G A B O U T

K O L ?

L e t ' s d o p r o d u c t

r e v i e w !

C H A N C E T O B E

K O L !

#ACTIVITIES

Who is kol?

@sociologycapstone17

FOR THOSE WHO DOESN'T KNOW KOLS...

They are able to know more about what do KOL share

on Instagram with our explanations

#We provide an iPad miniwith our Instagramaccount which followsdifferent beauty KOLs

Memo activity

WHAT IS YOUR FEELING

ABOUT KOL?

POSITIVE NEGATIVE

“Attractive and appealing appearance”

“Many followers” “Rich”

“Leader” “Fashionable” “Goddess”

“Kong girl” “Attention seeker”

“Only have the pretty appearance (all that glitters is

not gold)” “Materialistic”

“A fraud who only want to earn money”

“Creating a non realistic image”

#We raise a question of “What

is your feeling about KOL?" and

participants expressed their

thoughts on the memo pad we

provided to them. They sticked

their memo on the board.

#Finally, we successfully

received 37 memo. Generally,

the memo we collected can be

categorised in both positive and

negative perspective.

–

#We opened a public Instagram

account (@sociologycapstone17)

for our participants to have a

chance to be KOL by doing product

review. They are free to use our

cosmetic products and props to

decorate their photos, and upload

on our Instagram account. Finally

more than 20 participants were

willing to participate this activity.

–

Chance to be kol

CAPSTONE

FAIR

PEER

REVIEW

“Fun , creat ive and goodexper ience as a KOL . ”

“The booth is beauti fu l withmany decorat ion . The part

of be ing a ‘KOL ’ is a lsofunny . ”

“Topic is attract ive s ince itis re lated to our dai ly l i fe . ”

“Comprehensive ana lys iswith d i f ferent ang les (KOLs ,

fo l lowers)” “Interest ing , i nnovat iveexper ience of be ing KOL ,quite authent ic , c lear

information andexp lanat ion . ”

#After finishing thecapstone fair, we

successfully received 13feedback forms from

students and otherpasserby. In general,

the comments given bythe participants and

audiences were mostlypositive and

encouraging.

Followers are active audience which many of them

know that product reviews by KOLs are marketing

strategies. Yet, these reviews still affect their

consumption tendency consciously and

subconsciously due to symbolic consumption from

KOLs. Besides, trust, authority and leadership of

KOLs are vital elements affecting the association

between product reviews and followers'

consumption pattern.

Conclusion

FURTHER EXPLORATION

#This research only focuses on Instagram, there are a lot more social networking platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

KOLs will use these platforms together, and the result might be

seemed to overlap, but the nature of each social networking platform is different. For instance, Youtube consists only video, KOLs must

take video by themselves in order to be activated on this platform.

Comparing to Instagram, like they only review cosmetic product by using photos, words or even a 1- min short video. Yet, if they use

Youtube to do the review, they are able to try the products and talk as

long as they wish. Thus, we believe the result will have some

discrepancies.

#For different types of KOLs, such as foodie, traveller, the result of how these KOLs affect their followers on particular consumption pattern might

be different. In our focus groups, some participants pointed out that they would like to try the restaurant

when they see the beauty KOLs have been there. Thus, the result might be different as the nature of the area that

KOLs belong to are different. Besides, this is more likely able to

include opinion from male participants as they are less likely

involving in cosmetic reviews in our research. We believe that the result will be different when we investigate

other types of KOLs and their followers, and able to see the whole

picture of how KOLs influence followers’ consumption tendency.

#For the methods for further

exploration, we can also adopt

survey to collect data from

followers, as survey enables us

to collect a large number of data.

We can know more about how

followers in general think about

KOLs as well as how KOLs’

product reviews affect their

consumption pattern. Also, we

believe interviewing KOL agency

will provide us more

understandings on this issue

that unfortunately we could not

contact them this time.

#Only few of our focus group interviewees have tried to direct message or comment on KOLs’ post. Thus, thereare only few interactions between KOL and followers, which is also out of our expectations.

Limitations

#During the process of inviting KOLs to be our interviewees. We also

suffered a hard time, as those more popular and famous KOLs refused to participate in or did not reply us. This situation

does not only happened in the process of inviting KOLs, but also inviting

marketing companies and agencies. We have tried to direct message them, but

there is no any reply.

#As most of our focus group participants are female, thus,

our research may not be comprehensive enough, as we

did not include much male participants. We did not

deliberately to invite more female than male participants,

but male usually refuse to participate in as they are not so

familiar with KOL. Future research may pay more

attention to this point and include more male participants,

who may have different viewpoint towards KOL when

comparing to female.

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