Digital Consumption and Audience Trust in the RadarPertanian YouTube Affiliate Ecosystem

Imam Mahmud; Yuni Ratna Sari; Anita Damayantie; Namira Anjani

doi:10.70716/perseptif.v4i3.826

Authors

Imam Mahmud Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University, Lampung, Indonesia Author https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0235-7537
Yuni Ratna Sari Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University, Lampung, Indonesia Author
Anita Damayantie Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University, Lampung, Indonesia Author
Namira Anjani Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University, Lampung, Indonesia Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70716/perseptif.v4i3.826

Keywords:

Digital Consumption Habitus, Audience Trust Formation, Symbolic Capital, Creator Economy, Affiliate Marketing

Abstract

Digital platforms have transformed information consumption while expanding economic opportunities through the YouTube Affiliate ecosystem. This study analyses how audience trust is formed through digital consumption habitus within the YouTube Affiliate ecosystem, using the RadarPertanian YouTube channel as a case study. The study employed a qualitative approach with a descriptive research design. Primary data were obtained through in-depth interviews with purposively selected channel managers involved in content production, audience interaction, and affiliate activities. Additional data were collected through observation and documentation, including video archives, audience interactions, channel analytics, and affiliate activity data. Data were analysed interactively through coding, categorisation, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification, supported by source and methodological triangulation. Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field, and capital guided the analysis. The findings indicate that audience trust is associated with authentic communication, practical agricultural experience, consistent educational content, and sustained creator-audience interaction. These practices generate repeated digital consumption experiences and support recognition of the creator’s competence as a credible information source. This recognition contributes to symbolic capital formation within the digital field. Affiliate activity data provide contextual evidence of economic activities and do not establish that trust directly causes affiliate clicks or purchases. The study contributes to digital sociology by conceptualising audience trust as a social process shaped by repeated practices, actors’ positions, and recognition of creators’ capital.

Author Biographies

Imam Mahmud, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University, Lampung, Indonesia

Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University
Yuni Ratna Sari, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University, Lampung, Indonesia

Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University
Anita Damayantie, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University, Lampung, Indonesia

Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University
Namira Anjani, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University, Lampung, Indonesia

Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lampung University

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