Location
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
Event Website
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/
Start Date
7-1-2025 12:00 AM
End Date
10-1-2025 12:00 AM
Description
The role of parasocial relationships in social media influencer research has garnered substantial attention, particularly in the context of virtual influencers. Drawing from social identity and parasocial relationship theories, this research examines how followers’ social identification influences their perceived parasocial relationships with virtual influencers. An empirical analysis of survey data from 372 followers of virtual influencers reveals that both cognitive and affective identifications enhance followers’ perceived parasocial relationships with virtual influencers, with affective identification exerting a more pronounced effect than cognitive identification. Moreover, the type of virtual influencer moderates these effects, with the impact of social identification on parasocial relationships being stronger for followers of human-like influencers compared to those of non-human-like ones.
Recommended Citation
Yin, Guoqing; Pei, Yanli; Farivar, Samira; Wang, Fang; and Wang, Shan, "Virtual Influencer Marketing: From Social Identification to Parasocial Relationship" (2025). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2025 (HICSS-58). 7.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/dsm/influencers/7
Virtual Influencer Marketing: From Social Identification to Parasocial Relationship
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
The role of parasocial relationships in social media influencer research has garnered substantial attention, particularly in the context of virtual influencers. Drawing from social identity and parasocial relationship theories, this research examines how followers’ social identification influences their perceived parasocial relationships with virtual influencers. An empirical analysis of survey data from 372 followers of virtual influencers reveals that both cognitive and affective identifications enhance followers’ perceived parasocial relationships with virtual influencers, with affective identification exerting a more pronounced effect than cognitive identification. Moreover, the type of virtual influencer moderates these effects, with the impact of social identification on parasocial relationships being stronger for followers of human-like influencers compared to those of non-human-like ones.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/dsm/influencers/7