Are influencers opinion leaders? Student perception of influencers as information resources from the position of Lazarsfeld’s two-step flow communication theory

Abstract

Paul Lazarsfeld’s two-step flow of communication theory tells us that the information from the media is shared with the audience with the help of opinion leaders. Opinion leaders are those who consume more media content than other members of the community. They are influential when it comes to topics in which they are perceived as the most interested and the most knowledgeable members of the community. Today, social media have a special group of users – the influencers. Influencers have large followings, and their influence is recognized by the marketing industry. Through this thesis we tried to find out whether influencers are opinion leaders, as Lazarsfeld described them. Results of the research conducted on a convenient student sample have shown that, although influencers and opinion leaders share some of their characteristics, influencers are lacking the ability to mobilize their followers, that is, to influence their behavior. Their posts do not entice their followers to seek information from other sources and the level of trust in them as an information source is not high. Compared to other information sources in our research, influencers are not a relevant information source in the decision-making process.