THE IMPACT OF INSTAGRAM CONTENT AUTHENTICITY ON PERSONAL BRANDING CREDIBILITY: EVIDENCE FROM PUTERI INDONESIA WEST JAVA 2025

Abstract

The digital era has transformed the paradigm of personal branding through social media, where the authenticity of content is a crucial element in building the credibility of public figures. This study analyzes the influence of the authenticity of Instagram content on the credibility of personal branding in the context of the Puteri Indonesia West Java 2025 competition. The quantitative approach with a cross-sectional survey design involved 91 respondents who were active followers of the study subject’s Instagram account, selected through purposive sampling with the criteria of at least 17 years old, followed the account for at least 3 months, and were active in the last 30 days. The structured questionnaire instrument uses a 5-point Likert scale with 18 statement items that have been tested for validity and reliability. Simple linear regression analysis using SPSS version 26 resulted in significant findings that content authenticity had a positive effect on the credibility of personal branding with a correlation coefficient of 0.783 and a determination coefficient of 61.3%. The hypothesis test yielded a calculated t-value of 12.458 with a significance of 0.000, confirming the strong statistical influence. The dimensions of authenticity, communication transparency, and narrative consistency have been proven to shape the perception of trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness in the audience's evaluation of the credibility of public figures. The research provides theoretical contributions to Indonesia's digital communication literature and practical implications for beauty competition contestants in designing authentic content strategies to build sustainable influence on the Instagram platform in the national beauty industry ecosystem.