ONLINE CELEBRITIES AND FOLLOWERS AS POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS BY DILARA NUR OKA

Firstly, the attention economy, which is quite interesting, is a situation that can even cause sales records to be broken today. For example, when celebrities with many followers such as a popular model, singer, actress, or sincere influencers from micro-celebrities. They promote a product on their social media accounts and attract the attention of not only their followers but also different people attracting attention and interest in that product who are not followed to that account, but who come across on Instagram or Youtube recommendations. They can increase sales. The attention economy is managed not only by influencers but also by followers, namely potential customers because we have various interactions as potential customers with the other ones. So, we can ensure that more people see the products we like. Thus, there is a perfect fit between the brand, the influencer, and the followers.

If we take a closer look at the concept of micro-celebrity. Usually, social media users with 10,000 to 50,000 social media followers are classified by this name. But despite smaller followers, micro-influencers have higher engagement levels. Micro-influencers receive an average of two to five times more organic engagement per Instagram post compared to those with more than 100,000 followers. The mega influencer has more shares, likes, and followers, while the micro influencer's efforts yielded more than 100 sales compared to the mega influencer's five sales. As surprising as it may seem, micro-influencers are more committed to their followers than celebrities with lots of followers. Many consumers believe that such influencers give a more credible impression, which is what I think. For me, the products that micro-influencers promote content sound like a recommendation from a friend. Because when we look at them, they make us feel like one of us. That's why we focus more on them. In addition, sales can be made more effectively by giving brands an advantage in increasing sales. The products sold by such micro-celebrities are more economic than the mega celebrities' products they sell or take sponsor.

However, some celebrities can earn more money with intangible labor, that is, because they have more likes and followers, even though they sell less with unrequited earnings. Even if they sell little, their products are expensive and wealthy fans can afford them and this gives them more money. Frankly, I think this is not fair because more opportunities should be given to successful influencers, namely microcelebrities, who have more sales potential.