Gastromaniac. How (food) influencers create trust

Abstract

In the first part of the paper, I shall offer a brief overview of a hypothesis developed in another publication, which explores the relationship between the primordial feeling of trust that each person’s face elicits to varying degrees and how this represents a type of capital for influencers. In the second part of the paper, I shall develop this model using theoretical know-how from the field of brand management, where a beneficial link between the influencer communication model and that of legendary brands emerges. Thus, for an influencer to build invaluable trust capital with his/her followers in the first place, he/she must start from the position of some passion or sacred beliefs which give authenticity to the core expertise underlying the influence being exerted. In this model, the communicative performance of the influencer and the quality of his/her narrative take centre stage. Credibility depends on the synchrony between these elements and the extent to which the constructed public influencer’s character is true to itself in its various manifestations. An explicitly or implicitly defined lifestyle is always present in the system. It provides concreteness and makes it easier for followers to compare and imitate.