Connection and relationship building among individuals used to be the heart and soul of the society and it becomes more vital in nowadays’ social media networks when media technologies have granted a boundaryless digital community for people to interact and share. Among various characters in online networks, social media influencers have become unique and prominent in terms of interpersonal influence. Influencers often seek to create a close connection with followers by sharing personal moments and encouraging interaction through viewers’ engagement. As the connection and intimacy in influencer-follower relationships grows, such parasocial relationship emerges as a major catalyst of influence. To strengthen this one-sided imaginary relationship, previous studies suggested homophily and interactivity between the influencer and their followers the crucial facilitators of parasocial relationship (e.g., Bu et al.,2022). However, influencers could be paid to recommend a product but they may not disclose it. Therefore, in additional to homophily and interactivity, influencers’ sponsorship disclosure (i.e., transparency) should also affect parasocial relationship and trust toward the endorsed brand. Based on the above background, the present study examines if homophily, interactivity, and influencer self-disclosure affect influencer-follower parasocial relationship and therefore trust toward brands recommended by influencers. By structural equation modeling, the data collected from 303 social media users provide the results that homophily and disclosure practices of influencers emerge as crucial factors in shaping parasocial bonds between influencers and followers, while interactivity poses no effect. Finally, the study verifies that parasocial relationship is a key predictor of brand trust in the digital landscape.

Authors:
Shuling Liao, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan
Kim Vy Nguyen, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Shuling Liao is a Professor of Marketing at Yuan Ze University in Taiwan. She earned her PhD from Purdue University. Her research interests are human-computer interaction, cyber-psychology, virtual communities and social media influencers.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

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