Me, myself, and my mediated ties: Parasocial experiences as an ego-driven process

Abstract

ABSTRACT Forming ties with media consumers and investing effort in knowing what they do and what happens to them is a common reason many people use media. The one-sided nature of these parasocial experiences, however, suggests that consumers may be using them, in part, based on egocentric motivations. In this study, a model of egocentric motivations for engagement in parasocial relationships is offered as a means of enhancing the scholarly understanding of who is most likely to form the strongest mediated ties and experience the various benefits and consequences therein. Additionally, a concept from interpersonal relationship literature (i.e., interpersonal perception) is developed within a parasocial relationship framework as a means of drawing additional parallels between parasocial and interpersonal relationships. This new concept (i.e., parasocial perception) serves to add nuance to how parasocial relationships are understood to form, and be experienced by consumers. Study findings reveal support for our model of egocentric parasocial motivations and demonstrate the emerging viability of the interpersonal perception concept in a mediated context. These data are discussed in terms of their scholarly and practical implications.