dEjournals Home Page
Economica
Opening page Current
Archives Search
Register Login

Economica

Vol. 17 No. 1-2 (2026)
Articles

The Leader as Influencer

Published:
2026-06-16
DOI Linkhttps://doi.org/10.47282/economica/2026/17/1-2/15459
Authors
Krisztián Csák,
Csilla Dr. Juhász
View
pdf
Keywords
leadership influencer CEO brand social media personal branding
License

Copyright (c) 2026 Krisztián Csák, Csilla Dr. Juhász

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How To Cite
Selected Style: APA
Csák, K., & Dr. Juhász, C. (2026). The Leader as Influencer. Economica, 17(1-2), 132-140. https://doi.org/10.47282/economica/2026/17/1-2/15459
Abstract

The rise of social media has fundamentally transformed the tools for building and maintaining personal and corporate brands. Leaders today are not only responsible for achieving organizational goals but have also become key figures in shaping their company's credibility and public perception. Leadership personal branding and the emergence of leaders as influencers show a strong connection to the long-term success and competitiveness of organizations. This study analyzes the role of leaders as influencers, with a particular focus on how they utilize the opportunities provided by social media to consciously build their personal brands. The role of influencers in fostering authentic and personal connections, as well as influencing consumer decisions, is highlighted, especially in the case of leaders with medium to large followings.
A leader's presence on social media can strengthen corporate image, foster brand loyalty, and deepen consumer engagement. Based on relevant literature and case studies, the research explores how leaders' digital skills and social media strategies contribute to the success of personal branding and how this, in turn, impacts the organization's image. The study places special emphasis on the relevance of influencer marketing, which today serves not only as a promotional tool but also as a key element of consumer relations and organizational communication.

References
  1. [1] Ade, S. P., Ilham, R., Sutomo, A., Hermawan, A., & Wardhana, L. W. (2024): The Effects Of Social Media Content, Influencer Marketing And Customer Reviews On Purchasing Decisions. International Journal of Science, Technology & Management. https://doi. org/10.46729/ijstm.v5i2.990.
  2. [2] Ansari, S., & Phillips, N. (2011). Text me! New consumer practices and change in organizational fields. Organization Science, 22 (6), 1579–1599.
  3. [3] Boerman, S. C. (2020): The effects of the standardized Instagram disclosure for micro- and meso-influencers. Computers in Human Behavior, 103, 199–207.
  4. [4] Campbell, C., & Farrell, J. (2020): More than meets the eye: The functional components underlying influencer marketing. Business Horizons, 63(4), 469–479.
  5. [5] Cederberg, C.D. 2017. Personal branding for psychologists: Ethically navigating an emerging vocational trend. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 48 (3): 183–190. https:// doi. org/ 10.1037/ pro00 00129.
  6. [6] Cheng Ean Catherine Lee (2012): Social media and leadership communication: The use of social media by corporate leaders for effective internal communication, China New Media Communication Association Annual Conference Macao International Conference
  7. [7] Chu Chu (2024): Impact of Influencer Marketing on Consumer Purchase Intention: Effect of Word of Mouth, Opinion Leadership, Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Management Research and Economic Development, https://doi. org/10.54254/2754-1169/20/20230207
  8. [8] Djafarova, E., & Rushworth, C. (2017), Exploring the credibility of online celebrities' Instagram profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users. Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.009
  9. [9] Dominyka Venciute, Cen April Yue, Patrick D. Thelen (2023): Leaders' personal branding and communication on professional social media platforms: motivations, processes, and outcomes, Journal of Brand Management (2024) 31:38–57, doi.org/10.1057/s41262-023-00332-x
  10. [10] Geng, R., Wang, S., Chen, X., Song, D., & Yu, J. (2020). Content marketing in e-commerce platforms in the internet celebrity economy. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 120(3), 464–485.
  11. [11] Girginova, K. (2015). Social CEOs: Tweeting as a constitutive form of organizational communication. In Digital Business Discourse (pp. 40-60). Springer. https://doi. org/10.1057/9781137405579_3.
  12. [12] Gorbatov, S., S.N. Khapova, and E.I. Lysova. 2018. Personal branding: Interdisciplinary systematic review and research agenda. Frontiers in Psychology 9: 1–17. https:// doi. org/ 10. 3389/ fpsyg. 2018. 02238.
  13. [13] Ifeanyi, O., & Emmanuel, N. (2023): The Role of Influencer Marketing in Building Authentic Brand Relationships Online. Journal of Digital Marketing and Communication, 3(2), 81–90. https://doi. org/10.53623/jdmc.v3i2.350.
  14. [14] Jacobson, J. (2020): You are a brand: social media managers’ personal branding and “the future audience”. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 29(6), 715–727. https://doi. org/10.1108/JPBM-03-2019-2299.
  15. [15] John, M. A., & Shyamala, K. (2019): The Role of Social Media Influencers in Digital Marketing Era-an Analytical Study. Journal of the Gujarat Research Society, 21(16s), 125–130.
  16. [16] Joshi, Y., Lim, W. M., Jagani, K., et al. (2023): Social media influencer marketing: foundations, trends, and ways forward. Electronic Commerce Research. https://doi. org/10.1007/s10660-023-09719-z.
  17. [17] Khedher, M. 2019. Conceptualizing and researching personal branding effects on the employability. Journal of Brand Management 26 (2): 99–109. https://doi. org/ 10. 1057/ s41262- 018- 0117-1.
  18. [18] Nagy, A., Molnár, D., & Szikszai-Németh, K. (2018): A személyes márkaépítés kihívásai napjainkban. International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences (IJEMS) Vol. 3. https://doi. org/10.21791/IJEMS.2018.4.40.
  19. [19] Pagis, M., and G. Ailon. 2017. The paradoxes of self-branding: An analysis of consultants’ professional web pages. Work and Occupations 44 (3): 243–267. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1177/ 07308 88417709327.
  20. [20] Ryding, D., Boardman, R., & Konstantinou, R. (2023): Optimizing the Effect of Influencer Marketing: Exploring Consumers’ Interaction with Different Influencer Types on Instagram. In C. L. Wang (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Interactive Marketing (pp. 641–664). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-031-14961-0_28.
  21. [21] Schawbel, D. 2009. Me 2.0: Build a powerful brand to achieve career success. New York, NY: Kaplan Books. ISBN: 9781427798206
  22. [22] Tabellion, J., & Esch, F. R. (2019): Influencer Marketing and its Impact on the Advertised Brand. In E. Bigne & S. Rosengren (Eds.), Advances in Advertising Research X (pp. 23–40). Springer Gabler. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-658-24878-9_3.
  23. [23] The Hungarian Competition Authority's 2022 Communication, Online source: https://gvh.hu/pfile/file?inline=true&path=%2Fszakmai_felhasznaloknak%2Ftajekoztatok%2FTajekoztato_az_influenszer_marketingrol.pdf1, accessed on January 20, 2025
  24. [24] Zhao, Y., Kou, G., Peng, Y., & Chen, Y. (2018) Understanding influence power of opinion leaders in e-commerce networks: An opinion dynamics theory perspective. Information Sciences, 426, 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2017.10.031