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
Focus group of followers
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
“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.
Focus group of followers
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
#Social Status of KOLs
#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.
Focus group of followers
#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.
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
#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
#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
#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)
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
#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
#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
#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.
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
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 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)
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 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.
5. Gender Expectation
#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
#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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