A phenomenological research on influencers and their content in the context of opinion leadership

The concept of opinion leadership, introduced by Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet in the 1940s, emerged as a result of the two-stage flow model. While the concept, which was introduced in the period when it was accepted that the impact of mass media was limited, was used to explain the roles of individuals in traditional media environments, today it has started to be used for influencers in social media environments that have become widespread with the developments in information and communication technologies. It is important to conduct research on whether the traditional assumptions of the concept continue to apply to influencers in social media environments. Therefore, in this study, it is aimed to question whether influencers can be considered as opinion leaders within the framework of Instagram content together with the opinions, attitudes, behaviors, experiences and social media usage practices of influencers. In the research, mixed method was adopted and exploratory sequential design was used. In the first stage of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 influencers selected by purposive sampling method. In the second stage, content analysis was conducted on the accounts and content of influencers by creating a coding chart in accordance with the purpose of the research to support and verify the literature and qualitative interviews. While the population of the study consists of influencers, the sample consists of 12 different categories of influencers and 120 content of influencers selected by purposive sampling method. According to the findings, it was determined that the two-stage flow theory needs to be updated and adapted to the present day, influencers see themselves as opinion leaders, and influencers have a perception that they are opinion leaders as a result of interaction with their followers. However, it is not correct to say that influencers are fully opinion leaders or that their opinion leader role exists in a certain sense, but it has been concluded that in order to talk about such a situation, it should be evaluated together with multiple factors (social media usage practices, content, interactions with followers, level of communication with institutions, organizations, brands or agencies, etc.). Keywords: Social media, Instagram, Two stage flow model, Opinion leadership, Influencers