In the contemporary globalised markets opinion leaders play a vital role in the process of the purchasing decision-making of consumers. Thanks to their individual skills, specific knowledge or their personality, opinion leaders have a direct or indirect influence on the attitudes and decisions of consumers. In the contemporary globalised marketing using social media, this role is taken over by the influencers who affect consumers with their thoughts, attitudes and opinions and thus, significantly influence trends in demand for particular products. Over the recent years, influencer marketing has become increasingly popular, representing a specific type of social media marketing. The aim of this scientific contribution is the systematization of knowledge about the position and roles of influencers as opinion leaders in the social media environment in order to identify their typology, influence factors and the intensity of their impact on consumer decision making process, based on the comparison of knowledge from the results of global research studies and the quantitative online research study processed by authors. The findings of the survey showed that the promotion of some products through influencers may be more advantageous than others. Influencers will have the greatest impact when buying clothes, shoes, cosmetics and, surprisingly, services. Meanwhile, people rely heavily on other factors to buy food, jewellery and electronics, but it is not excluded that influencer marketing could affect them as well.
The viewers' response to television advertising has changed dramatically over the past years. Search visibility of advertisers has become of paramount importance to ensure that communication messages are followed up appropriately, and that the specific brand is considered in the customer decision-making process. This paper examines the effectiveness of communication campaigns that include TV advertisements. Specifically, it determines if, and to what extent, the advertisers of selected Australian TV advertising campaigns are visible in full-text searches on Google for a variety of relevant keywords. The visibility of advertisers is measured as the number of keyword searches that result in a high ranking on the search engine results page, average ranking, and site visibility. The results revealed notable differences in the visibility of advertisers in searches. Enhancing their visibility represents a challenge for companies striving to optimise the delivery of their communication message(s) across the entire spectrum of traditional and online media.
Research background: Opinion leaders have always influenced consumers’ decision-making process. At present, with the development of digital technologies and social networks, influencers have taken on the role of opinion leaders worldwide. Influencers represent a very authentic group of people who publish their attitudes, opinions and observations through social media. People sympathize with them because the content they publish is close to them and reminds them of their own lives and the situations they face or would like to experience in the future. The impact of influencers is really great. This is also evidenced by the fact that a separate area called influencer marketing has emerged within the global marketing. Influencer marketing can be defined as the process of researching, identifying, supporting and engaging people in high-impact conversations.
Purpose of the article: The aim of the contribution is to point out the history of the activity of opinion leaders in the traditional environment up to the current global digital environment and social networks.
Methods: The authors used the analysis of secondary data and the comparison of knowledge from the results of global research studies and the research study processed by authors.
Findings & Value added: The article provides a new perspective on the impact of opinion leaders on consumer behaviour and defines the characteristics that are most important in influencing the consumer.
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