The effects of parasocial interaction with vloggers on brand perception and purchase intention

Abstract

The growth of the Internet and the development of social media platforms have changed communications between brands and consumers. Brands have created their own social network page or account to provide brand-owned materials such as photos, videos, or product information to target consumers. Social media users following the brand pages could not only directly interact with those materials by expressing reactions, sharing to their networks, or leaving a comment but also recreate their version of brand stories. Consumers’ voices became more and more important because they could either positively or negatively affect brand reputation (Gensler et al., 2013). As a result, brands have employed social media influencers in their marketing plans, using the influencers’ voices to “gain attention and trust of consumers” (Reinikainen et al., 2020, p. 280). Among those, vloggers became increasingly popular sources: 51% of global internet users had watched a vlog in the previous month, and 61.2% of surveyed internet users (aged 16 to 64) in Vietnam watched vlog content on the internet (We are Social & Hootsuite, 2021). This study examined the mechanism and extent of vloggers' influence on consumers from the parasocial interaction aspect and how parasocial interaction would affect consumers’ evaluation of the endorsed brand. An empirical analysis on 213 social media users of both Gen-X and Gen-Y in Vietnam indicated that parasocial interaction increased consumers’ intention to purchase by influencing their perception of brand quality and brand preference. Data also suggested that consumers tend to develop parasocial interaction with vloggers who were socially attractive and entertaining.