Celebrities And Celebgrams Of Cosmetics: The Mediating Effect Of Opinion Leadership On The Relationship Between Instagram Profile And Consumer Behavioral Intention

Instagram is increasingly becoming popular among Indonesian consumers as a source of reference, thereby leading to the emergence of online influencers such as ̳celebrities‘ and ̳celebgrams‘. The research purpose is to study if characteristics of an influencer‘s Instagram account affect the influencer‘s opinion leadership as well as its consequences on the behavioral intention of Indonesian cosmetic product consumers. The study uses a quantitative survey conducted on 250 Instagram users who follow selected celebgrams or celebrities who endorse cosmetic products. A hypothesized model is built to analyze the antecedents and consequences of the opinion leadership of the two types of influencer. As for opinion leadership antecedents, both models show that originality of the Instagram account is crucial in building up the opinion leadership, while quality and quantity of the Instagram posts are not significant factors. Perceived uniqueness of the account seems to affect the opinion leadership only for celebrity accounts and not for the celebgrams‘. Further, findings suggest that opinion leadership affect consumer behavioral intentions, namely intentions to interact, recommend, and follow advice. Finally, the account’s perceived fit with personal interest is not affecting the relationship between opinion leadership and the intention to follow advice for both celebrity and celebgram. The findings suggest some important implications for cosmetic companies in utilizing opinion leaders as their promoters, and also for micro-influencers that are beauty gurus who wish to learn the important key factors to attract more Instagram followers and build their social media communities.