Eighth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

The concept of opinion leadership was first mentioned in a study investigating the effects of mass communication after the 1940 U.S. presidential election. The fact that mass media in the study does not affect people’s voting behavior and the fact that the communication process is carried out through opinion leaders is said to transform the communication process into a two-stage structure. Opinion leaders play an important role not only in the context of transmitting information but also in the process of purchasing products and services. It has been proved in many studies that opinion leaders play an important role in the process of creating the purchasing behavior of consumers. Opinion leaders are using, testing, and evaluating products or services before consumers buy them. Consumers who have no prior knowledge of any product or service can therefore give importance to the opinions and recommendations of opinion leaders. Clothing products in the low affinity category are a product that consumers decide to purchase without going through much research, thought, or evaluation. While apparel products enter the low-affinity category for some consumers, they may enter the high-affinity category for some consumers. The relationship between the purchasing process and the role of opinion leaders in this study is examined. The study explains whether female consumers use clothing products since they are the leader of social media in the online purchasing process. In the study, the data obtained by the questionnaire from the quantitative research method will be analyzed in the SPSS program.