Abstract
Increasingly, consumers are relying on the Internet to guide their purchasing decisions. This is especially true for Gen Z consumers who are comfortable in relying on the Internet owing to this generation being exposed to the Internet for their entire lives. However, they do not simply accept the information they find on the Internet, instead they are sceptical and they search for credible sources via opinion leaders who offer authentic and trustworthy information through their reviews and opinions. This is especially true for products like cosmetics which are regarded as a high-involvement purchase and as Gen Z consumers are the focal target audience of cosmetic companies, this makes it important for cosmetic brands to understand how Gen Z consumers, the predominant drivers of growth in the cosmetics industry, adopt information shared online by opinion leaders. Using the Information Adoption Model and incorporating additional context-related constructs, brand consciousness and purchase intention, this study determined Gen Z's likelihood to adopt information shared online by opinion leaders. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire whereby 241 completed questionnaires were retained for analysis. The multiple-regression analysis revealed that Gen Z consumers regard the argument quality of opinion leaders as the most influential when determining whether the information is useful which influences their adoption of that information. As Gen Z consumers are brand-conscious, cosmetic brands should ensure these consumers are aware of the product/brand, as this may influence their likelihood of considering the information shared by opinion leaders as useful and adopting it to guide their purchasing decisions.