A parasocial relationship refers to a one-sided relationship through which one individual develops an emotional reference to one other individual (sometimes a celeb, an influencer, or a preferred fictional character). According to new analysis, these relationships can heighten the persuasive energy of social media influencers by rising their credibility. The examine additionally signifies that curiosity within the social media influencers’ subject enhances parasocial relations. The findings have been printed in Acta Psychologica.
“We started to focus on the topic of social media influencers (SMIs) and their persuasive power as we realized their importance for the advertising market worldwide,” defined examine writer Delia Cristina Balaban, a communication sciences professor on the Babeș-Bolyai University.
“There are some similarities between traditional celebrities and SMIs. However, the differences are relevant, as SMIs are both content creators on social media and managers of the audiences they build on several platforms. We focused on the parasocial relationship between SMIs and their followers and the role this relationship plays for advertising outcomes. As SMIs constantly interact with their followers by posting on social media on a daily basis, parasocial relations can be build.”
For their examine, the researchers collaborated with a feminine SMI from Romania who had 12,000 followers on Instagram. The members considered a screenshot her profile web page and an Instagram “story” (a brief video) through which she demonstrated the right way to use a branded hairstyling product. The examine included 190 feminine members. One hundred and 6 members have been followers of the SMI on Instagram, whereas the remaining 84 members weren’t.
Followers didn’t report stronger parasocial relationships with the SMI in contrast non-followers. “We were surprised that the follower status didn’t necessarily result in parasocial relationship, as previous research stated,” Balaban instructed PsyPost.
However, the researchers discovered that followers with higher ranges of product involvement tended to report stronger parasocial relationships with the SMI. More particularly, followers who agreed with statements reminiscent of “I am very interested in hairstyling products” and “Hairstyling plays an important role in my daily routine” have been extra more likely to agree with statements reminiscent of “If the SMI felt good in the Instagram story, I felt good as well.”
“Our main finding was that the interest in the topic the influencer is publishing content about plays a moderating role in the relationship between the follower status and the advertising outcomes,” Balaban stated. “In other words, social media users that have an interest in the subject the SMI is posting about will develop strong parasocial relations with SMIs. Just being a follower is not enough to build parasocial relationship with SMIs. Interest in the topic is also needed.”
The researchers additionally discovered that stronger parasocial relationships with the SMI have been related to higher perceived credibility (e.g. trustworthiness and experience). Greater perceived credibility, in flip, was linked to elevated intentions to buy the marketed product.
“Our study has the advantage to be conducted with the help of an SMI that supported us to have access to her followers,” Balaban stated. “Research focusing on SMIs should be conducted in real settings. Future research carried out with real SMIs and real followers should consider other types of SMIs (macro and mega) that work in different fields (lifestyle, fitness, etc.). This can contribute to a better understanding of the parasocial relationships.”
The examine, “Parasocial relations and social media influencers’ persuasive power. Exploring the moderating role of product involvement“, was authored by Delia Cristina Balaban, Julia Szambolics and Mihai Chirică.
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