Page 137 - Prathima Volume 12

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4.3 Influencers culture

Having explained the demographic and social media aspects of the respondents, this
section will contribute in understanding their involvement in the influencer culture in
Sri Lank.

Respondents mentioned that they follow influencers who review food and Yamu,
Pulse.lk, Queenbee, Google map reviews, Colombo Food Stories, and Rasai Machang
were some of the most common influencers. When understanding what makes them
get attracted towards such influencer profiles, 85% (46) responded that it was due to
photographs the influencers used to upload. 67% (36) also mentioned that information
about new places and menus attract them toward such profiles while only 46% (25)
were concerned about the reviews. Only 7% (4) were concerned about the likes or the
number of followers such influencer profile has. This contradicts with the concept of
celebrity capital introduced by Zach Bussey (2013) on social media branding of the
social media influencers.

As per the responses, it was evident that the sample was keen on the photography and
the reviews of the influencers. With regard to the photography of the influencers a
majority of 77% (40) consider their photographs to be accurate to some extent. 17%
(9) also pointed out that they are inaccurate most of the time. However, only 6% (3)
considered their photographs to be extremely accurate. On the other hand, with regard
to the use of language of the influencers, 68% (34) considered that the language plays a
very important role in the reviews. However, 28% (14) considered it to be moderate
with regard to their opinion on the use of language in review. However, considering the
majority response, this could be considered to be a creation of hyper-reality
(Baudrilliard, 1976) through social media.

4.4 Impact of the influencer culture on the food choices

Adhering to the main objective of the research, the researchers investigated how often
the respondents go out to eat [the majority of 36% (19) pointed out that they go out to
eat once a week]. However, 28% (15) also responded that they do go out several time a
week to eat. [Only 7 (13%) respondents mentioned that they go out only once a week].
98% (51) of the sample mentioned that they go out with friends to eat. 44% (23) and
43% (22) also responded that they go out with family and partners respectively. With
regard to the selection of place to eat, 74% (34) mentioned that it will be based on their
convenience and budgetary requirements. On the other hand, 47% (25) have also
mentioned that the decision is based on the social media profiles.

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