Parasocial Research Articles

Emotional Construction and Consumer Retention in Otome Game Brands: A Case Study of Crisis Public Relations in "Light and Night"

In recent years, with the awakening of female consciousness and the flourishing of the gaming industry, otome games targeting female groups have emerged. These games stimulate continuous emotional consumption by guiding players to build virtual intimate relationships with game characters, thus unleashing enormous commercial potential. This paper, based on the Theory of Parasocial Interaction, selects two typical crisis events in the game production and consumption conversion process. By conducting text mining and public opinion analysis, this paper aims to analyze the emotional marketing, public relations strategies, and feasible measures of otome game brands.

Roles of parasocial relationship with eco-celebrities, motivation attribution, and message framing in virality of climate information on social media

Grounded in literature on attribution theory, framing, and information sharing, this study addresses the process and behavioral consequences of celebrity advocacy for climate change mitigation on social media. An experimental design (N = 693) examined how parasocial relationship (PSR) with celebrities was related to information virality of celebrity climate change messages on social media, as well as whether perceived motivations of celebrities' climate advocacy functioned as a mediator. The motivations examined were labeled affective (i.e., motivated by genuine environmental concern) and calculative (i.e., the ulterior motive of image promotion). In addition, the study explored how level of fear in message framing impacted information virality of celebrity climate messages. Social media users with higher PSR attributed higher levels of affective motivations for celebrities' advocacy, and stronger affective motivations were subsequently related to a greater likelihood of retweeting and replying to celebrities’ climate messages. Affective motivation attribution was a significant mediator in the relationship between PSR and message virality. Those with higher PSR attributed lower levels of calculative motivations for celebrity advocacy. However, perceived levels of calculative motivations were not related to likelihood of retweeting and replying behaviors. In addition, high fear messages were more effective than low fear messages in promoting the likelihood of retweeting and replying. These findings suggest that celebrity climate change tweets were more effective when the celebrities had a stronger bond with audiences and were seen as affective in their motivations, and when a higher level of fear was used to frame environmental topics.

Investigating Factors that Influence Purchase Intentions in Live-Streaming Contexts Through the Elaboration Likelihood Model: The Perspectives of Para-Social Interaction and Information Quality

Investigating Factors that Influence Purchase Intentions in Live-Streaming Contexts Through the Elaboration Likelihood Model: The Perspectives of Para-Social Interaction and Information Quality

Believe It or Not? Investigating the Credibility of Voice Assistants in the Context of Social Roles and Relationship Types

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence have empowered voice assistants to comprehend user input and provide contextually relevant responses more effectively. This paper aims to explore people’s relationship with voice assistants, examining factors like the sense of power, control, closeness, and parasocial relationships, and how relationship types relate to the credibility of voice assistants. To investigate this, we built on the foundation of interpersonal relationships and applied parasocial relationship theory as a framework for understanding the human–agent relationship. We conducted an online survey (N = 393). Our results show that people mainly perceive their relationship with voice assistants as either a servant–master relationship, student–teacher relationship, or equal partnership. This study highlights that voice assistants’ mimicry of human characteristics can make them more than tools—they can also be perceived as servants, teachers, or equal partners. Notably, a significant association exists between relationship type and credibility judgments towards voice assistants.

Understanding followers’ processing and perceptions of social media influencer destination marketing: Differences between #Millennials and #GenZs

Social media influencer (SMI) marketing implemented by tourism and destination managers has attracted widespread academic attention in recent years. Efforts have been made to evaluate the effectiveness of SMI in destination marketing using source credibility, informativeness, and SMIs’ relationship with their followers. However, extant literature has paid limited attention to capturing and understanding the various mechanisms of persuasion of how SMI destination marketing audiences process relevant SMI information and how their processing of the information would influence their travel decision-making. This study bridges these research gaps with a proposed research framework by integrating the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) with theories of self-congruity, parasocial interaction, and persuasion knowledge activated by advertisement disclosure. Subsequently, the study executed an audience segmentation of the SMI destination marketing between the Millennials and Generation Z. Adopting a quantitative approach (N = 501), results showed that Millennials and Generation Z audiences have distinct information processing preferences and attitudes toward advertisement disclosure of SMIs. Key implications for theory and practice were also discussed.

The Try Guys Try Cheating: Social Media Influencers in Crisis

The Try Guys are social media influencers who were in crisis when member Ned Fulmer cheated on his wife and affected their brand. The Try Guys’ followers took to social media to express their thoughts and give advice about the Try Guys brand. This study explored the relationship between social media influencers and their followers, how those influencers talk about their personal brand during a crisis, and how followers aid in reputational repair. The theories were parasocial interaction and Situational Crisis Communication Theory. A content analysis of posts and comments on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube was conducted. The findings showed crisis frames in the Try Guys’ posts were different from their followers’ comments. The Try Guys focused on justification, ingratiation and victimage, whereas the followers scapegoated the woman involved in the affair instead of her married boss. Implications for public relations, social media, and parasocial interaction are offered.

Does being there still matter after a service failure? The impact of robots’ physical presence on customer satisfaction

ABSTRACT The increasing integration of robots in the hotel and tourism industries has led to the deployment of robots with varying physical characteristics in a range of frontline and backstage tasks. Despite this trend, the influence of physical presence, a fundamental element of a robot's physical attributes, on the customer service experience following a service failure has not been thoroughly investigated. This study intends to address this research void by conducting three experiments to exhibit the positive impact of physical presence on the customer service experience after service failures. In addition, the study identifies a mediating path (parasocial relationship) and two boundary conditions (service outcome and service type) that determine the effect of physical presence. These findings contribute to the knowledge of robotic services and provide insights for selecting robots with suitable physical features in service design.

The Effects of Social Media Influencers' Self-Disclosure, Source Credibility, and Parasocial Relationships on Brand Trust and its Consequences

The availability of social media to most of the population has significantly increased in the present era. Social media users now have many options to access all kinds of information for their personal and job-related information. Many users seek opinions from social media influencers about goods and services because of their prosocial relationships. Past studies document that, besides other factors, an essential precursor of social media influencers is "intimate relationships between social media users and followers." Thus, the study has examined the effect of "self-disclosure on parasocial relationships and source credibility." It also examined the effect of "parasocial relationship and source credibility on brand trust." In addition, it examined the effect of "brand trust on commitment and brand loyalty." The study has collected a sample of 472 students from leading local universities in Karachi. It focused on them because the students are active users of social media. The study documents that self-disclosure positively affects parasocial relationships and source credibility. Parasocial relationships and source credibility promote brand trust. In addition, brand trust is a significant precursor of commitment and brand loyalty. These findings are crucial for understanding the dynamics of social media influencers and their impact on brand trust and loyalty. It also provides valuable insights for marketers and researchers in the domain of social media influencers.

Emotional banking with a digital avatar: A PLS-SEM based study based on para-social relationship theory

Purpose: The major objective of this study is to measure the impact of various attributes, such as social attraction, physical attraction, and task attraction on para-social relationships. The study also seeks to measure how the para-social relationship mediates the association between the three attributes (above-mentioned) on perceived credibility and informational influence, and consumers’ intention to purchase banking products. Study design/methodology: PLS-SEM has been used as it is believed to be most suited for the study due to the multivariate non-normality in the data, and the small sample size. Data has been collected using the 5-point Likert scale from approximately 151 respondents, who were selected using the non-random sampling method based on purposive sampling coupled with convenience-based sampling. The data was collected from January 2023 to August 2023. Findings: Largely, the findings reveal that both social and physical attractions do have a positive impact on the para-social relationship, further leading to perceived credibility and informational influence. Notably, this perceived credibility and informational influence lead to consumers’ intentions to purchase banking products, albeit with the use of artificial intelligence-based chatbots and digital assistants. Originality: This is possibly among the first-ever studies extending the para-social theory for purchasing banking products and services using artificial intelligence-based chatbots and virtual assistants.

Determinants of Consumer Purchase Intentions Mediated by Immersive Experience and Parasocial Relationship in E-Commerce Live Streaming for MSME Fashion Products

Purpose: This study aims to develop a model with the topic of Live Streaming in the context of E-Commerce of SMEs Fashion Products using independent variables of visibility, metavoicing, atmosphere clue, expertise and likeability with mediating variables of Immersive experience and parasocial relationship and dependent variables purchase intention. Methods: This study used a sample of 390 respondents. Testing of models and hypotheses is carried out using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS software. Sampling was carried out purposively with the criteria of respondents aged at least 17 years, have at least one e-commerce account (eg shopee, Tokopedia, Lazada) and have never made a transaction or purchased at the store. Resullt and Discussion: Through the validation carried out in this study on practical findings, it is hoped that it will become a marketing tool for business people, especially in this case MSME fashion products in order to develop their business in the context of applying live streaming commerce strategies. Research Implication: Through the validation carried out in this research, it is hoped that the practical findings will become a marketing tool for business people, especially in this case MSME fashion products, so that they can develop their business in the context of implementing live streaming commerce strategies. Originality/Value: The conclusion that can be obtained is the discovery of new theories and conceptual models that can be used as material for hypothesis testing that can be carried out in further research.

Advertising Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agents: The Effects of Social Presence, Sincerity, and Social Benefit Appeals

The present study investigates the distinct advantages that conversational artificial intelligence (AI) agents provide consumers, including social benefits and communication sincerity. Additionally, this research examines how the exhibition of these attributes in advertisements impacts consumer perceptions. In doing so, this study represents an initial look at how advertisers can strategically promote conversational AI agents to consumers. The present study employed a 2 (AI agent sincerity condition vs. control condition) × 2 (AI agent benefits appeal: social benefits condition vs. utilitarian benefits condition) between-subjects online experimental design with a sample of 256 U.S. adults. Study results suggest that promoting social benefits of AI agents and emphasizing a sincere personality influence consumer social presence perceptions in human–AI interaction. Consumers’ perceived social presence leads to more favorable attitudes toward the advertisement and the use of the AI agent. In contrast, without the mediating role of social presence, accentuating the utilitarian benefits of AI agents in the advertisement is more effective than highlighting social advantages in influencing consumers’ positive attitudes. The current study contributes to the literature on consumer AI interactions, social presence, parasocial interactions, and brand personalities.

Followers’ Cognitive Elaboration of Sponsored Influencer Content: The Significance of Argument Quality

Social media influencers have emerged as effective brand endorsers, yet a gap remains in understanding their followers’ cognitive engagement with sponsored posts. To address this issue, we conducted a study guided by parasocial theories and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Follower status (follower/non-follower) and persuasive argument quality (weak/strong) were manipulated among study participants (N = 163) to discern the prevailing processing mode triggered by sponsored influencer content. Based on parasocial theories, we predicted that followers who have established parasocial relationships with influencers should show high situational engagement with their content. Our results demonstrated that argument quality influenced followers’ brand evaluation and purchase intention, whereas non-followers were unaffected by it. These findings suggest that followers are more likely to elaborate on influencer content compared with non-followers. Interestingly, some signs of biased processing were evident. These results contribute to our understanding of how followers engage with sponsored content and shed light on the mechanisms underlying the persuasiveness of influencer marketing.

From Exclusion to Connection: The Role of Anthropomorphic Chatbots in Shaping Customer Responses Post-Social Exclusion

In a world where digital interactions have become the norm, chatbots are evolving to not only assist with tasks but also to alleviate feelings of social exclusion. This study investigates how anthropomorphic chatbots influence customer engagement and emotional responses following social exclusion, and further impact their commercial decisions. Through a between-subject experiment involving 609 participants, we explored the effects of anthropomorphic (vs. non-anthropomorphic) chatbots across three social exclusion conditions (ignored, rejected, and control). Our findings reveal that anthropomorphic chatbots significantly enhance purchase intention, relational investment, and organizational trust, mediated by increased senses of belonging and control and enhanced parasocial interactions. This research enriches the marketing literature by applying the need-threat model and illuminating the psychological mechanisms underlying customer responses. The practical implications for marketing and public relations professionals include strategies for optimizing brand-consumer interactions through the strategic use of anthropomorphic chatbots.

“Will You Buy It If They Recommend It?” Exploring the Antecedents of Intention to Purchase Podcaster-Endorsed Items

The diverse content of and ease of listening to podcasts have made podcasts popular, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertisers have begun to recognize their marketing potential and are now hiring podcasters to recommend their products. This study sought to determine the factors influencing podcast commitment, parasocial interaction (PSI), and the intention to purchase podcaster-endorsed items. It was conducted in Taiwan with a sample size of 578 participants and an online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling and mediation analysis were applied to the collected data from the perspective of uses and gratifications theory. We found that podcast commitment is positively related to edutainment, storytelling transportation, and social engagement. Social engagement is positively related to PSI, while storytelling transportation has a negative relationship with PSI. Additionally, there is a strong positive correlation between podcast commitment and PSI and both factors positively influence the intention to purchase podcaster-endorsed items. PSI also significantly moderates the positive relationship between podcast commitment and the intent to buy podcaster-endorsed items.

Virtual resonance: analyzing IPA usage intensity under COVID-19's isolating canopy

The widespread adoption of smartphones coupled with advancements in artificial intelligence has significantly propelled the use of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs). These digital assistants have become indispensable for many users, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing coviance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and analyzing data from 260 participants, this study explores the key factors influencing IPA usage intensity. Contrary to expectations, affective risk perception showed no significant impact on either IPA usage or parasocial interaction during the pandemic. In stark contrast, cabin fever syndrome significantly influenced both IPA usage and parasocial interaction, underscoring the role of environmental and psychological stressors in shaping technology use. Furthermore, loneliness was found to significantly enhance parasocial interaction with IPAs, though it did not affect usage intensity. The findings highlight a substantial connection between parasocial interaction and IPA usage intensity, suggesting that users who engage in human-like interactions with IPAs tend to use them more extensively. These insights not only deepen our understanding of how IPAs are utilized during health crises but also point to potential directions for developing IPAs that are more responsive to users' emotional and social needs.

Look What You Made Me Do: Jewish Swifties and A Fundraiser for Gaza

ABSTRACT: In December 2023, Taylor Swift attended a comedy show fundraiser for Palestinians in Gaza. A qualitative study was conducted with 23 11th and 12th grade students who self-identified as emotionally connected to both Israel and Swift to assess how these students understood Swift's attendance and whether it affected their parasocial relationships with her. By making use of the concepts of influencer betrayal and parasocial breakups, I demonstrate the ways in which the adolescents tried to make sense of how a celebrity with whom many felt close to could choose to attend an event whose purpose clashed strongly with their love of Israel. The study captures a moment in time and how a group of Jewish teens came to distance themselves from a parasocial relationship that had provided them great meaning when they felt that the object of their affection betrayed them by seemingly allying with a pro-Palestinian cause.

Medical drama viewing, parasocial relationship, and trust in physicians: A cross-lagged panel study.

Medical drama viewing, parasocial relationship, and trust in physicians: A cross-lagged panel study.

Sensing the media character: The experience of parasocial interaction, but not identification, as a real physical occurrence.

Sensing the media character: The experience of parasocial interaction, but not identification, as a real physical occurrence.

ChatGPT Addiction: A Proposed Phenomenon of Dual Parasocial Interaction

ChatGPT Addiction: A Proposed Phenomenon of Dual Parasocial Interaction

Fanatisme dalam Interaksi Parasosial: Studi Budaya Konsumsi Blink Indonesia dalam Pembelian Merchandise Blackpink di Aplikasi Weverse dan Weverse Shop

This research aims to understand the consumption behavior of Blackpink merchandise by Indonesian BLINKs through the Weverse and Weverse Shop applications. This research method uses a descriptive quasi-qualitative approach to explain fanaticism in BLINK Indonesia's parasocial interactions at Weverse Shop. The theories used include parasocial interaction theory, communication theory via computer-based media (CMC) and new media, as well as uses and gratifications theory. Data collection was carried out through interviews and online document studies with BLINK Indonesia who are active in the Weverse and Weverse Shop applications. The results of this research reveal that BLINK Indonesia develops parasocial interactions that produce fanaticism towards Blackpink, both as fans, admins and buyers at Weverse Shop. The conclusion is that the use of social media, in this case Weverse, has the potential to give rise to fanaticism in purchasing Blackpink merchandise. Keywords: Fanaticism, Computer-Mediated Communication, Parasocial Interaction, Uses And Gratifications, New Media, Weverse Blackpink