Cited by 671Digital Marketing and Social MediaMarketing and Advertising StrategiesConsumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification

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

Open access
Reinikainen, Hanna, Munnukka, Juha, Maity, Devdeep, Luoma-aho, Vilma·2020·Journal of Marketing Management

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.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/0267257x.2019.1708781

Cites

9 of 9 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 75

  1. Abidin, C. (2016). "Aren't these just young, rich women doing vain things online?": Influencer selfies as subversive frivolity. Social Media + Society, 2(2), 1-17. doi: 10.1177/2056305116641342 · DOI
  2. Archer, C., & Harrigan, P. (2016). Show me the money: How bloggers as stakeholders are challenging theories of relationship building in public relations. Media International Australia, 160(1), 67-77. doi: 10.1177/1329878X16651139 · DOI
  3. Ballantine, P. W., & Martin, B. A. S. (2005). Forming parasocial relationships in online communities. Advances in Consumer Research, 32(1), 197-201. Retrieved from https://www.acrwebsite.org/web/conferences/proceedings.aspx
  4. Berryman, R., & Kavka, M. (2017). 'I guess a lot of people see me as a big sister or a friend': The role of intimacy in the celebrification of beauty vloggers. Journal of Gender Studies, 26(3), 307-320. doi: 10.1080/09589236.2017.1288611 · DOI
  5. Brown, W. J. (2015). Examining four processes of audience involvement with media personae: Transportation, parasocial interaction, identification, and worship. Communication Theory, 25(3), 259-283. doi: 10.1111/comt.12053 · DOI
  6. Canel, M.-J. & Luoma-aho, V. (2019). Public sector communication: Closing gaps between citizens and public sector organizations. New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.
  7. Chaudhuri, A., & Holbrook, M. B. (2001). The chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance: The role of brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing, 65(2), 81-93. doi: 10.1509/jmkg.65.2.81.18255 · DOI · Paper page
  8. Chu, S. C., & Kamal, S. (2008). The effect of perceived blogger credibility and argument quality on message elaboration and brand attitudes. Journal of Interactive Advertising, (8)2, 26-37. doi: 10.1080/15252019.2008.10722140 · DOI
  9. Chung, S., & Cho, H. (2017). Fostering parasocial relationships with celebrities on social media: Implications for celebrity endorsement. Psychology & Marketing, 34(4), 481-495. doi: 10.1002/mar.21001 · DOI · Paper page
  10. Colliander, J., & Dahlén, M. (2011). Following the fashionable friend: The power of social media. Journal of Advertising Research, 51(1), 313-320. doi: 10.2501/JAR- 51-1-313-320 · DOI
  11. Colliander, J., & Erlandsson, S. (2015). The blog and the bountiful: Exploring the effects of disguised product placement on blogs that are revealed by a third party. Journal of Marketing Communications, 21(2), 110-124. doi: 10.1080/13527266.2012.730543 · DOI
  12. Dhanesh, G. S., & Duthler, G. (2019). Relationship management through social media influencers: Effects of followers' awareness of paid endorsement. Public Relations Review, 45(3). doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.03.002 · DOI
  13. Dervitsiotis, K. N. (2003). Beyond stakeholder satisfaction: Aiming for a new frontier of sustainable stakeholder trust. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 14(5), 515-28. doi: 10.1080/1478336032000053555 · DOI
  14. Dibble, J. L., Hartmann, T., & Rosaen, S. F. (2016). Parasocial interaction and parasocial relationship: Conceptual clarification and a critical assessment of measures. Human Communication Research, 42(1), 21-44. doi: 10.1111/hcre.12063 · DOI
  15. Djafarova, E., & Rushworth, C. (2017). Exploring the credibility of online celebrities' Instagram profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users. Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.009 · DOI
  16. Dodds, W. B., Monroe, K. B., & Grewal, D. (1991). Effects of price, brand, and store information on buyers' product evaluations. Journal of Marketing Research, 28(3), 307-319. doi: 10.1177/002224379102800305 · DOI · Paper page
  17. Enke, N., & Borchers, N. S. (2019). Social media influencers in strategic communication: A conceptual framework for strategic social media influencer communication. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 13(4), 261- 277. doi: 10.1080/1553118X.2019.1620234 European Association for the Study of Obesity. (2019, April 29). Study scrutinizes credibility of weight management blogs by most. Retrieved from https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases · DOI
  18. Ferchaud, A., Grzeslo, J., Orme, S., & LaGroue, J. (2018). Parasocial attributes and YouTube personalities: Exploring content trends across the most subscribed YouTube channels. Computers in Human Behavior, 80, 88-96. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.10.041 · DOI
  19. Freberg, K., Graham, K., McGaughey, K., & Freberg, L. (2011). Who are the social media influencers? A study of public perceptions of personality. Public Relations Review, 37(1), 90-92. doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.11.001 · DOI
  20. Frederick, E. L., Choong, H. L., Clavio, G., & Walsh, P. (2012). Why we follow: An examination of parasocial interaction and fan motivations for following athlete archetypes on Twitter. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5(4), 481- 502. doi: 10.1123/ijsc.5.4.481 · DOI
  21. Frobenius, M. (2011). Beginning a monologue: The opening sequence of video blogs. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(3), 814-827. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2010.09.018 · DOI
  22. Ge, J., & Gretzel, U. (2018). Emoji rhetoric: A social media influencer perspective. Journal of Marketing Management, 34(15-16), 1272-1295. doi: 10.1080/0267257X.2018.1483960 · DOI
  23. Giles, D. C. (2002). Parasocial interaction: A review of the literature and a model for future research. Mediapsychology, 4(3), 279-305. doi: 10.1207/S1532785XMEP0403_04 · DOI · Paper page
  24. Habibi, M. R., Laroche, M., & Richard, M. O. (2011). The roles of brand community and community engagement in building brand trust on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 37, 152-161. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.04.016 · DOI
  25. Hartmann, T., & Goldhoorn, C. (2011). Horton and Wohl revisited: Exploring viewers' experience of parasocial interaction. Journal of Communication, 61, 1104-1121. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01595.x · DOI · Paper page
  26. Hayes, R. A., & Carr, C. T. (2015). Does being social matter? Effects of enabled commenting on credibility and brand attitude in social media. Journal of Promotion Management, 21(3), 371-390. doi: 10.1080/10496491.2015.1039178 · DOI
  27. Hearn, A., & Schoenhoff, S. (2016). From celebrity to influencer: Tracing the diffusion of celebrity value across the data stream. In P. D. Marshall & S. Redmond (Eds.), A companion to celebrity (pp. 194-211). Chichester: Wiley.
  28. Huang, L. (2015). Trust in product review blogs: The influence of self-disclosure and popularity. Behaviour & Information Technology, 34(1), 33-44. doi: 10.1080/0144929X.2014.978378 · DOI
  29. Hwang, K., & Zhang, Q. (2018). Influence of parasocial relationship between digital celebrities and their followers on followers' purchase and electronic word-of- mouth intentions, and persuasion knowledge. Computers in Human Behavior, 87, 155-173. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.05.029 · DOI · Paper page
  30. Hwang, Y., & Jeong, S. H. (2016). "This is a sponsored blog post, but all opinions are my own": The effects of sponsorship disclosure on responses to sponsored blog posts. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 528-535. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.026 · DOI
  31. Jin, S.-A. A. (2011). Leveraging avatars in 3D virtual environments (Second life) for interactive learning: The moderating role of the behavioral activation system vs. behavioral inhibition system and the mediating role of enjoyment. Interactive Learning Environments, 19(5), 467-486. doi: 10.1080/10494820903484692 · DOI
  32. Jin, S. V., Muqaddam, A., & Ryu, E. (2019). Instafamous and social media influencer marketing. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 37(5), 567-579. doi: 10.1108/MIP-09-2018-0375 · DOI
  33. Kapitan, S., & Silvera, D. H. (2016). From digital media influencers to celebrity endorsers: Attributions drive endorser effectiveness. Marketing Letters, 27(3), 553-567. doi: 10.1007/s11002-015-9363-0 · DOI
  34. Kim, S., Zhang, X. A., & Zhang, B. W. (2016). Self-mocking crisis strategy on social media: Focusing on Alibaba chairman Jack Ma in China. Public Relations Review, 42(5), 903-912. doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.10.004 · DOI
  35. Kyewski, E., Szczuka, J. M., & Krämer, N. C. (2016). The protagonist, my Facebook friend: How cross-media extensions are changing the concept of parasocial interaction. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 17(5), 355-374. doi: 10.1037/ppm0000109 · DOI
  36. Lay-Hwa Bowden, J., Conduit, J., Hollebeek, L., Luoma-aho, V., & Apenes Solem, B. (2017). Engagement valence duality and spillover effects in online brand communities. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(4), 877-897. doi: 10.1108/JSTP-04-2016-0072 · DOI
  37. Lee, C., Kim, J., & Chan-Olmsted, S. M. (2011). Branded product information search on the Web: The role of brand trust and credibility of online information sources. Journal of Marketing Communications, 17(5), 355-374. doi: 10.1080/13527266.2010.484128 · DOI
  38. Lee, J. E., & Watkins, B. (2016). YouTube vloggers' influence on consumer luxury brand perceptions and intentions. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), 5753- 5760. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.171 · DOI
  39. Liljander, V., Gummerus, J., & Söderlund, M. (2015). Young consumers' responses to suspected covert and overt blog marketing. Internet Research, 25(4), 610-632. doi: 10.1108/IntR-02-2014-0041 · DOI
  40. Liu, L., Lee, M. K. O., Liu, R., & Chen, J. (2018). Trust transfer in social media brand communities: The role of consumer engagement. International Journal of Information Management, 41, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.02.006 · DOI
  41. Luoma-aho, V. (2018). On Putnam: Bowling together -Applying Robert Putnam's theories of community and social capital to public relations. In O. Ihlen & M. Fredriksson (Eds.), Public relations and social theory: Key figures, concepts, and developments (pp. 195-214). New York, NY: Routledge.
  42. Luoma-aho, V., Pirttimäki, T., Maity, D., Munnukka, J., & Reinikainen, H. (2019). Primed authenticity: How do vlog audiences view the authenticity of influencers and sponsoring brands? International Journal of Strategic Communication, 13(4), 352-365. doi: 10.1080/1553118X.2019.1617716 · DOI
  43. McQuarrie, E. F., Miller, J., & Phillips, B. J. (2013). The megaphone effect: Taste and audience in fashion blogging. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(1), 136-158. doi: 10.1086/669042 · DOI
  44. Men, L. R., & Tsai, W. S. (2013). Beyond liking or following: Understanding public engagement on social networking sites in China. Public Relations Review, 39(1), 13-22. doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2012.09.013 · DOI
  45. Morimoto, M., & La Ferle, C. (2008). Examining the influence of culture on perceived source credibility of Asian-Americans & the mediating role of similarity. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 30(1), 49-60. doi: 10.1080/10641734.2008.10505237 · DOI
  46. Morris, M., & Anderson, E. (2015). "Charlie is so cool like": Authenticity, popularity and inclusive masculinity on YouTube. Sociology, 49(6), 1200-1217. doi: 10.1177/0038038514562852 · DOI
  47. Munnukka, J., Maity, D., Reinikainen, H., & Luoma-aho, V. (2019). "Thanks for watching". The effectiveness of YouTube vlog endorsements. Computers in Human Behavior, 93, 226-234. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.12.014 · DOI
  48. Munnukka, J., Uusitalo, O., & Toivonen, T. (2016). Credibility of a peer endorser and advertising effectiveness. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 33(3), 182-192. doi: 10.1108/JCM-11-2014-1221 · DOI
  49. Ping Jr, R. A. (2004). On assuring valid measures for theoretical models using survey data. Journal of Business Research, 57(2), 125-141. doi: 10.1016/S0148- 2963(01)00297-1 · DOI
  50. Pressrove, G., & Pardun, C. J. (2016). Relationship between personal technology use and the donor/volunteer: A parasocial approach. Journal of Promotion Management, 22(1), 137-150. doi: 10.1080/10496491.2015.1107012 · DOI
  51. Priporas, C-V., Stylos, N., & Fotiadis, A. K. (2017). Generation Z consumers' expectations of interactions in smart retailing: A future agenda. Computers in Human Behavior, 77, 374-381. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.01.058 · DOI · Paper page
  52. Putnam, R. D., Leonardi, R. & Nanetti, R. Y. (1993). Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  53. Pöyry, E., Pelkonen, M., Naumanen, E., & Laaksonen, S-M. (2019). A call for authenticity: Audience responses to social media influencer endorsements in strategic communication. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 13(4), 336-351. doi: 10.1080/1553118X.2019.1609965 · DOI
  54. Quandt, T. (2012). What's left of trust in a network society? An evolutionary model and critical discussion of trust and societal communication. European Journal of Communication, 27(1), 7-21. doi: 10.1177/0267323111434452 · DOI
  55. Quintero Johnson, J. M., & Patnoe-Woodley, P. (2016). Exploring the influence of parasocial relationships and experiences on radio listeners' consumer behaviors. Communication Research Reports, 33(1), 40-46. doi: 10.1080/08824096.2015.1117440 · DOI
  56. Rihl, A., & Wegener, C. (2019). YouTube celebrities and parasocial interaction: Using feedback channels in mediatized relationships. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 25(3), 554-566. doi: 10.1177/1354856517736976 · DOI
  57. Rubin, A. M., Perse, E., & Powell, R. A. (1985). Loneliness, parasocial interaction, and local television news viewing. Human Communication Research, 12(2), 155-180. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.1985.tb00071.x · DOI
  58. Sanderson, J. (2009). "You are all loved so much". Exploring relational maintenance within the context of parasocial relationships. Journal of Media Psychology, 21(4), 171-182. doi: 10.1027/1864-1105.21.4.171 · DOI
  59. Sokolova, K., & Kefi, H. (2019). Instagram and YouTube bloggers promote it, why should I buy? How credibility and parasocial interaction influence purchase intentions. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. Advanced online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.01.011 · DOI · Paper page
  60. Soni, N., & Verghese, M. (2018). Analyzing the impact of online brand trust on sales promotion and online buying decision. IUP Journal of Marketing Management, 17(3), 7-24. Retrieved from https://www.questia.com/library/p439507/iup-journal- of-marketing-management
  61. Sood, S., & Rogers, E. M. (2000). Dimensions of parasocial interaction by letter-writers to a popular entertainment-education soap opera in India. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 15(3), 386-414. doi: 10.1207/s15506878jobem4403_4 · DOI
  62. Southgate, D. (2017). The emergence of generation Z and its impact in advertising: Long-term implications for media planning and creative development. Journal of Advertising Research, 57(2), 227-235. doi: 10.2501/Jar-2017-028 · DOI
  63. Stewart, K. J. (2003). Trust transfer on the World Wide Web. Organization Science, 14(1), 5-17. doi: 10.1287/orsc.14.1.5.12810 · DOI · Paper page
  64. Tian, Q., & Hoffner, C. A. (2010). Parasocial interaction with liked, neutral, and disliked characters on a popular TV series. Mass Communication & Society, 13(3), 250-269. doi: 10.1080/15205430903296051 · DOI
  65. Tolson, A. (2010). A new authenticity? Communicative practices on YouTube. Critical Discourse Studies, 7(4), 277-289. doi: 10.1080/17405904.2010.511834 · DOI
  66. Tsiotsou, R. H. (2015). The role of social and parasocial relationships on social networking sites loyalty. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 401-414. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.064 · DOI
  67. Tukachinsky, R. (2010). Para-romantic love and para-friendships: Development and assessment of a multiple-parasocial relationships scale. American Journal of Media Psychology, 3(1/2), 73-94. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/comm_articles/19
  68. Turner, A. (2015). Generation Z: Technology and social interest. The Journal of Individual Psychology, 71(2), 103-113. doi: 10.1353/jip.2015.0021 · DOI
  69. Uzunoğlu, E., & Misci Kip, S. (2014). Brand communication through digital influencers: Leveraging blogger engagement. International Journal of Information Management, 34(5), 592-602. doi: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2014.04.007 · DOI
  70. Walther, J. B., & Parks, M. R. (2002). Cues filtered out, cues filtered in: Computer- mediated communication and relationships. In M. L. Knapp & J. A. Daly (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (3rd ed., pp. 529-563). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  71. Walther, J. B., Van Der Heide, B., Hamel, L. M., & Shulman, H. C. (2009). Self- generated versus other-generated statements and impressions in computer-mediated communication: A test of warranting theory using Facebook. Communication Research, 36(2), 229-253. doi: 10.1177/0093650208330251 · DOI
  72. Xiang, L., Zheng, X., Lee, M. K. O., & Zhao, D. (2016). Exploring consumers' impulse buying behavior on social commerce platform: The role of parasocial interaction. International Journal of Information Management, 36(3), 333-347. doi: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2015.11.002 · DOI
  73. Yannopoulou, N., Koronis, E., & Elliott, R. (2011). Media amplification of a brand crisis and its affect on brand trust. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(5-6), 530-546. doi: 10.1080/0267257X.2010.498141 · DOI
  74. Yoo, H., Kwon, O., & Lee, N. (2016). Human likeness: Cognitive and affective factors affecting adoption of robot-assisted learning systems. New review of hypermedia and multimedia, 22(3), 169-188. doi: 10.1080/13614568.2016.1152312 · DOI
  75. Zhang, H. (2018). Evoking presence in vlogging: A case study of U. K. beauty blogger Zoe Sugg. First Monday, 23, 1. doi: 10.5210/fm.v23i1.8107 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Reinikainen, H., Munnukka, J., Maity, D., & Luoma-aho, V.
Affiliations
  • University of Jyväskylä (FI)
  • Delaware State University (US)
  • Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics
Corresponding author
Reinikainen, Hanna
Venue
Journal of Marketing Management
Published
2020-01-09
Volume
36
Issue
3-4
Pages
279-298
ISSN
  • 0267-257X (ISSN-L)
  • 1472-1376
OpenAlex
W2999899591
Cited by
671
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 119 · 2025: 141 · 2024: 116 · 2023: 174 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 1
FWCI
91.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Marketing Management (publishedVersion)
  • Jyväskylä University Digital Archive (University of Jyväskylä) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Media Industry Research Foundation of Finland (201610036)
  • Business Finland (4062/31/2016)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Marketing and Advertising Strategies
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Keywords
influencer marketing, parasocial relationships, audience comments, influencer credibility, brand trust, purchase intention, YouTube vlogs, social media influencers, moderating effect, active audience

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review