Consumption Patterns of Female Lifestyle Influencers During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Thematic Sentiment Analysis Based on the Comments of Selected YouTube Videos

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every walk of human life in unprecedented ways. During the lockdown, social media tools became a driving force leading to their best usage and receiving recognition for entertaining, learning and influencing daily lifestyles. Social Media Influencers have been admired and acknowledged for influencing people and providing innovative solutions to day-to-day problems maintaining a standard livelihood. This study evaluates the engagement of Indian female influencers during the pandemic extracting the reaction of audiences towards the content uploaded to YouTube through sentiment analysis, by classifying the influencers into five categories, such as Beauty & Fashion, Comedy, Food, Health & Fitness and Travel. The study reveals upload of content to YouTube increased rigorously during the pandemic however comments posted by audiences decrease simultaneously. Yet, the sentiment of the audience is substantially positive, primarily towards the food category. The duration of content uploaded is short and conveniently less time-consuming for the audience, attracting their attention and leading to prompt mention, feedback and comments within the 24-h of uploading content to YouTube. The study highlights that females are abruptly adapting to the social changes and also making it resourceful for the community by practising social media.