Yogyakarta, January 7th, 2022
The Master of Science and Doctoral Program (MD) FEB UGM has successfully held a scientific discussion event, MD REFO #6, on January 7th, 2022. The sixth MD REFO (Research Forum) presented international speakers, namely Mrs. Vicky Andonopoulos, Ph.D., Lecturer at the University of Sydney, Australia. The host of this event was Mrs. Widya Paramitha, Ph.D., Lecturer at Universitas Gadjah Mada. This research forum raised a contemporary topic, namely “Study on Social Media Influencers from An Experimental Design” which was research by Mrs. Vicky. MD REFO #6 aims to add theoretical and methodological insights as well as support scientific contributions, especially in the field of modern marketing. A total of 87 participants consisting of various parties, including students, academics, practitioners, and the general public, attended to listen to the speakers’ presentations with their research that was very interesting and relevant to modern marketing conditions.
In this scientific discussion opportunity, Mrs. Vicky started the presentation by explaining the role of influencers in product promotion and the difference between celebrity endorsers. This experimental research is very interesting because it examines the role of influencers on social media in terms of authenticity. Currently, the role of influencers is very important in modern marketing, namely online marketing, including through social media. In its success in influencing consumer purchasing decisions, the authenticity of influencers plays an important role. Consumers can judge from any content that the influencer is waiting for on their social media.
Based on the research results, it can be seen that authentic influencers can increase trustworthiness, so they can encourage increased inspiration to buy products. There is also a direct effect of authenticity in utilitarian products, the more authentic an influencer is, the more inspiring it is to buy the product. In contrast to what happened to hedonic products, the lower the authenticity of an influencer, the more inspirational the product purchase will be. That is because hedonic products tend to require content that must be interesting and striking.
The research discussion greatly enriches scientific insight, both from a theoretical and methodological perspective, so it can increase the novelty of modern marketing research, especially on social media-based marketing. It is hoped that this event will be able to increase knowledge and motivate participants as a provision for contributions. The MD REFO #6 event was closed with a group photo. (Y)