How Social Media Influencers Foster Relationships with Followers: The Roles of Source Credibility and Fairness in Parasocial Relationship and Product Interest

Author ORCID Identifier

Shupei Yuan:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1796-9611

Publication Title

Journal of Interactive Advertising

E-ISSN

43831

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Via the unprecedented interactivity of social media, social media personae can build strong relationships with followers. Such relationships, which carry great marketing potential, appeal to corporations and brands. Based on the literature of source credibility and communication justice, this study investigated the determinants of the parasocial relationship between social media influencers and their followers, as well as their effects on followers’ interests in the products advertised by influencers. The results of an online survey showed that followers’ perceived attractiveness of influencers, similarity to influencers, procedural fairness, and interpersonal fairness of their interactions with influencers are positively related to the strength of their parasocial relationship with influencers, which further mediates the effect of the aforementioned factors on followers’ interests in influencer-promoted products. The findings of this study explicate the mechanism through which influencers foster relationships with followers and also provide practitioners with insights on orchestrating strategic influencer campaigns.

First Page

133

Last Page

147

Publication Date

1-1-2020

DOI

10.1080/15252019.2020.1769514

Keywords

communication justice, Parasocial relationship, product interests, social media influencers, source credibility

Department

Department of Communication

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS