Abstract:
The research Communication and Role of Opinion Leaders towards Thai Fans: A Case
Study for BTS aimed to study the communication and role of opinion leaders of Thai BTS fans.
This study was qualitative research. The data were collected using in-depth interviews with opinion leaders and discussions among the BTS fans. The samples were selected based on a purposive sampling. The major findings revealed as follows:
1. According to the communication style of the opinion leaders of Thai BTS fans, the
opinion leaders were messengers and centers of integration. There were conversations,
interactions, news translation, information exchange, social activities to promote the reputation of BTS and fans. There was a communication issue in providing information and news about BTSs future, which may be customized for personal information. New media were used as the communication channels to receive messages and communicate with the fans such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and websites. There is the use of personal media referring to other opinion leaders, official media events organized by agencies or capitalists, and informal events organized by opinion leaders or fans themselves. The recipients were Thai fans who are exposed to BTSrelated
media by their friends, close friends, or groups of people in online media. The media used
to keep up with personal media news are opinion leaders and other BTS fans. As to using new media and following the news from the agency, the news was spread widely; personal opinions were posted; and the news was filtered before the news was spread or commented on.
2. The opinion leaders of Thai BTS fans played a role in spreading information,
protecting, and maintaining BTSs reputation, providing the fans with information and advice, and building relationships with BTS fans.