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COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

In this part of the study, the researchers aim to provide a general overview of the

problem and its setting. This chapter begins with a discussion on the fundamental

knowledge, background and rationale of the study. Details are then provided for the

statement of the problem with the identified key research questions as the foundation and

guide of the study. The chapter then provides a brief explanation of the conceptual

framework and the research paradigm. Then, it discusses the significance and the scope

and delimitation of the study. The chapter concludes with some operational definition of

terms for the convenience of the readers.

Background of the Study

Social media influencers belong to the daily media diet of many people,

particularly adolescents. They seem to play a crucial role in the identity development and

growth of their audiences, in particular value to young people in an utterly diversified

world as they are surrounded by multitude of identities in a stage of life in which they

have to make sense of who they are and where they belong. In the age of social media,

enormous amount of time is spent online, young audiences tend to turn to influencers not

only for entertainment but also for information, advice, company and comfort. However,

it appears there is no clear and comprehensive understanding on the role of these social

media influencers particularly in the behavior and lifestyle of a younger range of

audiences. While academic works exists as to how social media influencers, their content

and credibility, appears to attract wide variety of audiences and their ability to influence
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COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY

their personalities and perception,

little is known and very limited in its ability to provide a comprehensive understanding of

how social media influencers affect the behavior and lifestyle of younger audiences,

particularly students.

Social media influencers are defined as content generators with domain expertise,

who can shape followers’ attitudes and purchase decisions (Freberg et al., 2011; Lou and

Yuan, 2019).

Social media influencers have power especially over young people’s behavior.

Almost half of the young respondents say that the influencers’ content has affected their

behavior not only in everyday decisions but also in topics such as climate change,

education, career choices and elections. Older generations feel that influencers don’t have

that much influence in social matters (Reinikainen, 2019).

Specifically, four key themes for research are identified. First, influencers are

assumed to be so appealing because they are similar to their audiences. They are often

perceived as 'the boy or girl next door' with whom identification is easy. However, there

are probably more reasons for the attraction of influencers. Research is needed to unravel

the underlying psychological mechanisms that explain the appeal of social media

influencers.

Second, the impact of social media influencers on minors may have both desirable

and undesirable consequences. Influencers may inspire minors to behave pro-socially or

more healthy, but they may also show bad examples of smoking, drinking, or even

criminal behavior. In addition, influencer content may also affect minors' psychological
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well-being, COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY materialism, body

satisfaction.

Third, because social media influencers are assumed to have impact on their

audiences, they are also used by third parties for commercial purposes. For example,

brands pay influencers to promote products in content that influencers create. Similarly,

governments or NGO's turn to influencers to promote healthy, social, or environmental

friendly behavior among minors. Despite the popularity of so-called influencer

marketing, theoretical or empirical insights into whether and why influencers are

persuasive among minors and which (psychological) mechanisms underlie this, are

limited.

Fourth, some social media influencers are minors themselves. With major brands

signing up for paid partnerships, a growing number of child and adolescent influencers

(and their parents) are striving to make a profit, which leads to important legal, ethical

and philosophical questions (Woudenberg et al., 2018).

Indeed, influencers’ popularity among these young digital natives has been

increasing exponentially in the past few years (Sehl, 2018). For instance, 70% of

adolescent YouTube subscribers say they relate to influencers more than to traditional

celebrities (O’Neil-Hart and Blumenstein, 2016), and 63% of Generation Zers preferred

to see influencers in ads (Mediakix, 2017). One of the reasons for this trend can be that,

social media influencers are considered as more “relatable” trendsetters than traditional

celebrities, and they can spread advertising messages to the viewers in a more authentic

and natural way (Mediakix, 2018b; Lou and Yuan, 2019).

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While COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY social media

influencers constitute an undeniable part in adolescents’ social media use and daily lives,

limited is known and has the ability to explain the appeal of

influencers among young audiences, how they may affect a student’s behavior and

lifestyle in particular, and the possible changes this may bring forth as they participate in

the real world.

How teenagers identify themselves, and choose to identify themselves in online

communities and social networks, are heavily influenced by the identity cues they pick up

from social media influencers. Sometimes these cues come with positive outcomes, and

others with negative. This study seeks to assess, evaluate and explain how these cues

influences the different aspects of a student’s behavior, and how these in turn create

changes in their lifestyle. The findings of the study will be meaningful in formulating

strategic actions as to how to improve what students could potentially draw from the

contents of their materials.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of the study is to assess and evaluate how social media influencers

may affect the behavior and lifestyle of the accountancy students of Wesleyan

University-Philippines.

The study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. How may the profiles of the students be classified according to:

1.1 Age

1.2 Gender
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COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY

1.3 Year level

2. How may the social media influencers affect the behavior and lifestyle of

the accountancy students of Wesleyan University-Philippines in terms of the

following aspects:

2.1 Time Management

2.2 Personal Dialogue

2.3 Social Connection

2.4 Attitude and Perception

2.5 Personal Choices

2.6 Pattern of Consumption

3. Which among these given aspects of their behavior and lifestyle was greatly

influenced and changed by the social media influencers?

4. What are the possible actions or solutions to effectively improve what

students could potentially draw from the contents of SMI's materials?

Conceptual Framework

Adolescents, particularly students, are keen users of social media. In recent years,

visually oriented platforms in particular, such as YouTube and Instagram, have gained
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increasing COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY popularity among

students all over the world, and have surpassed the more ‘traditional’ social networking

sites such as Facebook.

While social media is claimed to be all about conversation (Wright, Khanfar,

Harrington, & Kizer, 2010), social media influencers (SMIs) are claimed to be all about

interaction (Uzunoǧlu & Kip, 2014). An SMI is often referred to as a third-party

individual with high social status (Lu, Li, & Liao, 2010) and strong social influence (Li,

Lee, & Lien, 2014). Social influence means that individuals can adapt or change their

decisions, thoughts and actions as a result of the interaction made with people they

believe have the same interests as themselves, such as SMIs (Li et al., 2014). Abidin

(2016) argues that as the popularity of social media increases, so does the number of

SMIs. Through time, SMIs have grown to become an important marketing tool for

companies to be able to advertise their products to consumers (Jaakonmäki et al., 2017).

Forbes (2016) claims that a social media influencer (SMI) can shape the attitudes,

opinions, actions as well as purchase decisions of its followers. The author explains that

this is due to their influential power and their ability to participate in conversations and

interactions with their followers. SMIs are also known to have the ability to master the e-

WoM, which has been found to have a great impact on the purchase decisions of

consumers (Freberg et al., 2010; Li, Lee, & Lien, 2014; Nejad, Sherrell, & Babakus,

2014). The reason behind this is that the e-WoM that comes from an SMI is considered to

be more powerful and convincing than the e-WoM that comes from companies

themselves (Uzunoǧlu & Kip, 2014). While SMIs have the ability to master e-WoM,
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researchers have COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY acknowledged

several factors that have emerged as a result. These factors are also claimed to be reason

why consumers see SMIs as very influential individuals. These factors include content,

expertise, attractiveness, social identity and trust.

Social media have previously been found to play an important role in students'

identity development, a crucial and central developmental phase which affects many

aspects of a person’s life. Social media offer students the opportunity to get in touch with

others from a wide variety of backgrounds. With influencers being central players on

many social media platforms, their role in the student's behavior and lifestyle needs

further investigation. It is therefore important to know who these influencers are, and

what content they produce that adolescents or students can borrow from. While social

media influencers are gleaning increasing trust and nourishing relationships with their

audience and followers, insights on the role of influencers in adolescents’ and student’s

relationship formation and consumption behaviors are still rare. Drawing on the

literatures of a person’s time management, personal dialogue, social connection, attitude

and perception, personal choices and pattern of consumption, this study proposed a

conceptual model that expounds the appeal of influencers among students.

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COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY

Time Management

Personal Dialogue

Social Connection

Attitude and Perception

Personal Choices

Pattern of Consumption

Figure 1. Research Paradigm

Firstly, the research paradigm or worldview of the research needs to be decided

upon, as it lends to the overall view, methodology and outcomes of any research study

(Quinlan 2011; Saunders et al. 2016).

As the study’s objective is to provide a clear and comprehensive understanding

about how social media Influencers affects the different aspects of a student’s behavior

and lifestyle, the interpretivist approach is deemed as the most suitable for the paradigm.

According to Saunders, Interpretivism aims to delve deeper into understanding the social

realities of humans and views people as subjective beings, who’s individual social
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worlds, feelings, COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY opinions and

viewpoints hold value and meaning. The study takes into consideration the fact that

responses will be subjective and therefore cannot be generalized for the whole

population.

The illustration shows the existing relationship between social media influencers

and the students. One may clearly identify the flow, as represented by the lines, of how

these two parties affects each other and though may be differently, both representation is

needed for an understanding of the whole phenomenon. This study aims to explore

opinions and experiences, and to present a clear interpretation of what might really be

happening in the world of students’ engagement with SMI's and how it affects the

specifically identified aspects of their behavior and lifestyle.

Significance of the Study

This study will be a substantial endeavor in providing a clear and comprehensive

understanding of how social media influencers affect the behavior and lifestyle of

students, particularly the Accountancy students of Wesleyan University-Philippines.

Furthermore, the researchers firmly believe that the findings of the study will be

meaningful in formulating strategic actions as to how to improve what students could

potentially draw from the contents of social media influencers' posts, videos, photos, and

any similar medium or materials.

Students. This study will be beneficial for the students to have better and clear

understanding of how the social media influencers affect their behavior and lifestyle. The

outcome of this study may help the students be able to distinguish whether or not the
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social media COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY influencers are

significantly affecting them in a positive manner. It will also help them assess whether or

not they are gaining awareness, advantage knowledge and new ideas.

Parents. This will also be significant for the parents of the students, as well as the parents

of a wide range of social media audiences where parental guidance and intervention is

still necessary, considering that this research can be an essential tool for them to know if

watching or engaging with social media influencers will assuredly benefit their children

and not the otherwise. Moreover, it will also give them a more comprehensive

examination of some variables that may possibly cause change in their children's

behavior.

Social Media Influencers. This study will also be beneficial to the social media

influencers in a way that they may set forth additional precautionary measures when it

comes to choosing what content they will be uploading to ensure that it will bring more

benefit to the audience, especially to the younger ones.

Researchers. It will also be significant to the researchers, considering that this research

can be an essential tool not just for the accomplishment of their studies but also for their

personal growth and advancement. Furthermore, the study can also be a basis for further

researches in the future

Scope and Delimitation

The scope of the study will be limited to assessing and evaluating how social

media influencers affect the behavior and lifestyle of the Accountancy students of
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Wesleyan COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY University-

Philippines.

The study will be conducted on the second semester of the Academic Year 2019-

2020. The respondents of this study will be limited to 86 Accountancy students of

Wesleyan University-Philippines, Cabanatuan City.

The respondents will answer the questionnaire formulated by the researchers to

determine how social media influencers affect the behavior and lifestyle of the students,

and to what extent are the students aware of the effects and changes it brings about.

Specific aspects of students' behavior and lifestyle were identified to examine

more comprehensively how these are influenced and in what ways. These aspects

include, and are limited to, a person’s time management, personal dialogue, social

connection, attitude and perception, personal choices and pattern of consumption.

Definition of Terms

To provide clarity and understanding to the readers as they are utilizing this study,

the following terms are defined.

Attitude. It refers to the set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviours, toward a particular

object, person, thing, or event. Attitude can greatly influence the behavior of the students.

Attitude is one way to evaluate a person, things, or ideas.

Behavior. It is the actions that students use to adjust and to live within its environment.

Behavior can be influenced by a number of factors beyond attitude, including

preconceptions about self and others, monetary factors, social influences, and

convenience.
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Consumption COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY Pattern. It refers

to the expenditure pattern of income of the students within categories of products, such as

food, clothing, and discretionary items.

Lifestyle. It refers to the way of living of every individuals on a day-to-day basis. It is

expressed in both work and leisure behaviour patterns and in activities, attitudes,

interests, opinions, values, and allocation of income. Healthy lifestyle is very important

for the students because they can experience performance pressure. It reflects their self-

image and self-concept; the way they see themselves and believe they are seen by others.

Media. It is a various means of communication like news, entertainment, data,

promotions, and many more. Media is used by the students to facilitate active learning

strategies (for better learning).

Perception. It refers to the way sensory information is organized, interpreted, and

consciously experienced. Students perception on situations, places, and things reflects the

way we view the world that influences the conclusions and decisions students make.

Personal choice. It provides pathways for students to fully, genuinely invest themselves

in a quality works that matters.

Social Connection. The feeling of belongingness wherein you feel generally close to

other. It provides health and well-being benefits which involves of feeling loved, cared

for, and valued.

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Social Media. It COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY is an online

technology platform that helps connect people together. Social media helps the students

to have access on the basic information quickly.

Social Media Influencers. It represents the new type of independent third party endorser

who shape audience attitudes through blogs, tweets, and the use of other social media.

They can boost the internet presence effectively.

Time Management. It refers on managing time effectively allowing the students to

assign specific time slots to activities according to their importance

References

Craston, E. (2019). Social Media Influencers Have Influenced the Identity Formation of

Teenagers. Retrieved February 17, 2020 from

http://networkconference.netstudies.org/2019Curtin/2019/05/05/social-media-

influencers-have-influenced-the-identity-formation-of-teenagers/?

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_GaJV60
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Freberg, K. COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTANCY (2011). Who are

the social media influencers? A study of public perceptions of personality.

Retrieved February 17, 2020 from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/251582746_Who_are_the_social_media

_influencers_A_study_of_public_perceptions_of_personality?

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pl9lljrE32aq96bvAIOOImdmBelv_mM

Lou, C. (2019). Fancying the New Rich and Famous? Explicating the Roles of Influencer

Content, Credibility, and Parental Mediation in Adolescents’ Parasocial

Relationship, Materialism, and Purchase Intentions. Retrieved February 15, 2020

from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02567/full

Nandagiri, V. (2018). The impact of influencers from Instagram and YouTube on their

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ram_and_YouTube_on_their_followers?

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Van Eldik, A. k. (2019). Urban Influencers: An Analysis of Urban Identity in YouTube

Content of Local Social Media Influencers in a Super-Diverse City. Retrieved

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