Abstract

Social media influencer-based marketing has caught the attention of brands as a new communication channel to influence target customers. During the interaction between influencer and followers, the latter display parasocial interaction (PSI)—a one-sided emotional attachment style of the followers to the influencer which may influence profitable marketing outcomes. In this context, this study aims to hypothesize and empirically test a conceptual model of PSI with antecedents, outcomes, and the moderating role of gender using a structural modeling approach. Findings of the study, in general, support the extant literature; however, the role of gender produces a contrary result. The research contributes to knowledge creation in PSI in the social media domain. Research implications for both academicians and managers along with limitations and future directions are discussed.

摘要

基于社交媒体影响者的营销作为影响目标客户的新沟通渠道引起了品牌的关注。在影响者和追随者之间的互动过程中，后者表现出超社会互动（PSI）——追随者对影响者的一种单向情感依恋方式，这可能会影响有利可图的营销结果。在这种情况下，本研究旨在使用结构建模方法假设和实证检验 PSI 的概念模型，该模型具有前因、结果和性别的调节作用。总的来说，研究结果支持现有文献；然而，性别的作用产生了相反的结果。该研究有助于 PSI 在社交媒体领域的知识创造。