We review the economics of superstars, originally developed for stars in traditional media, and discuss whether they are applicable for the novel phenomenon of stars in social media (influencer, micro-celebrities). Moreover, we analyse potentially new factors for creating social media...

A new type of superstars developed with the rise of social media markets: social media superstars (SMS). The economic literature on the superstar phenomenon provides empirical evidence on different types of stars, above all athletes and musicians. This paper presents the first empirical work on...

Social media stars gain star-status with uploads on social media pages like YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram. One of the most popular platforms is “Instagram” owned by Meta/Facebook. The growing social, cultural, and economic power of so-called influencers raises questions about key drivers of...