‘You really are a great big sister’ – parasocial relationships, credibility, and the moderating role of audience comments in influencer marketing

By Hanna Reinikainen, Juha Munnukka, Devdeep Maity, Vilma Luoma-aho. Journal of Marketing Management, 2020

415 citations recorded by the source corpus.

ABSTRACT This study examines the moderating role of audience comments in influencer marketing. A YouTube vlog entry by a social media influencer featuring the endorsement of a brand was studied, and an experimental design featuring two conditions related to audience comments was created. The results indicate that a parasocial relationship with the influencer builds the perceived credibility of the influencer, while comments by other audience members moderate the effect. Influencer credibility positively affects brand trust and purchase intention. The findings enhance the understanding of the role of an active audience in influencer marketing.

Subfields: Gender Studies, Literature and Literary Theory, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/77b71f19752a792c1e85a7d6a9f118f12bc21040

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Citations in the corpus

Making and breaking relationships on social media: the impacts of brand and influencer betrayals (2021, background): “In addition, social media also allows connecting with new kinds of ‘digital friends’: These new types of relationship partners can include social media influencers — bloggers, YouTubers, Instagram and TikTok celebrities — who are often considered close friends or even family members by their followe”
How social media influencers affect behavioural intentions towards recommended brands: the role of emotional attachment and information value (2021, background): “Actually, perceived credibility is built from the creation of affective and relational bonds with the influencer (Reinikainen et al., 2020).”