• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.39-50
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• 2022

Live streaming has become one of the most important communication tools for influencers to synchronously interact with viewers. It is critical to understand the effect of the reciprocal and synchronously interactive relations built between influencers and viewers, so-called trans-parasocial relations, in the context of live streaming. In this study, we investigate how trans-parasocial relations impact viewers' stickiness and purchase intention on live streaming platforms. Furthermore, we investigate fanship as a mediating factor in the relationship between trans-parasocial relations and viewers' behaviors. Overall, the results reveal significant direct and indirect effects of trans-parasocial relations on viewers' stickiness and purchase intention. Higher trans-parasocial relations further lead to stronger viewers' fanship toward influencers and increases their willingness to stay longer or make purchases on live streaming platforms. These findings further the understanding of influencer-viewer relations and viewers' behavior on live streaming platforms and provide valuable insights into influencer marketing and live streaming.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.18-31
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• 2022

This study explored the effects of the parasocial relationship formed by CCTV (China Central Television) TV news and non-traditional news on users' perceived media credibility and their online and offline political participation. This study conducted a survey with the Chinese CCTV users between April 19 and April 30, 2021, and finally, 701 respondents' data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The study results showed that both TV news and non-traditional news had positive effects on parasocial relationships and the parasocial relationship positively influenced media credibility, which subsequently facilitated political participation. However, there was no direct effect between media usage and media credibility. This implies the important mediating role of parasocial interactions, which enables CCTV news to gain media credibility and subsequently influence political participation. This study suggests that CCTV needs to improve the parasocial interactions between their audience and media figures by utilizing the interactive mechanism of non-traditional media.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.166-183
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• 2024

Revisiting the classic conceptualization of parasocial relationships, the current article examines the potential parasocial relationships established with live streamers. More specifically, this research investigates the relationship between exposure and viewer engagement during live streaming, homophily of attitudes, and parasocial relationships with a live streamer. An online survey was conducted with samples in South Korea (n = 504) and the United States (n = 510) in 2020. The hierarchical linear regression analysis shows that in both countries live streaming exposure, engagement during a live stream (e.g., expressing opinions in the chat, donating money, receiving reactions from a streamer), and perceived homophily of attitudes with a live streamer are positively related to perceptions of parasocial relationships. The results confirm parasocial relationships with live streamers are a global phenomenon.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.89-110
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• 2022

Purpose To verify the factors that encourage consumers' favorable reaction toward virtual influencer, we proposed consumers' perception of subjective and objective similarity. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively investigate the impacts of consumers' perception toward virtual influencer on purchase intention through psychological distance and parasocial relationship. Design/methodology/approach This study was designed to examine the structural relationships among consumers' perceived external similarity, internal similarity, controllability, animacy toward virtual influencer, psychological distance, parasocial relationship and purchase intention. Findings The results are as follows. First, perceived external similarity, internal similarity, perceived controllability, and animacy had a positive impact on psychological distance. Second, psychological distance had a positive impact on parasocial relationship, whereas it had no significant impact on purchase intention. However, we found that the relation between psychological distance and purchase intention was mediated by parasocial relationship. Lastly, parasocial relationship had a positive impact on purchase intention. Based on these results, this study can propose the way to generate revenue to companies that consider advertising campaign using virtual influencer.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.47-80
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• 2024

Purpose With the rapid evolution of the OTT platform, this study addresses a notable gap in the existing literature by examining the impact of celebrity involvement in OTT contents on the intention to visit the country. We explore the intricate mechanisms through which the audience's sense of telepresence, facilitated by OTT technology, and parasocial relationships with celebirities contribute to the formation of the national image and, consequently, influence the intention to visit the country. Design/methodology/approach This study applied Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using survey data from 222 participants. Findings Our findings reveal a positive effect of celebrity involvement on both telepresence and parasocial relationship. Additionally, we observe a positive relationship between telepresence and parasocial relationship. The study further highlights the impact of these factors on the cognitive and affective national images. The cognitive and affective national images, in turn, positively influence the overall national image, ultimately impacting the intention to visit the country. This research contributes to the understanding of the interplay between psychological factors related to viewer-celebrity relationships and the technical characteristics of OTT contents in shaping national images and travel intentions.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.88-103
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• 2017

The rapid growth in the popularity of social media sites has meant that social media has become an important communication channel for brands. Brands create brand pages on social media to cultivate positive and strong relationships with consumers. This study seeks to enhance our understanding of how fashion brand pages in social media foster consumer-brand relationships by exploring the factors that affect the development of consumer-brand relationships. Drawing on the parasocial interaction theory, this study proposes parasocial interaction as a key factor of this process. Specifically, this study proposes four antecedents (vividness, interactivity, social presence, and focused attention) of consumers' parasocial interaction with brand pages, which further affects consumer responses in terms of affective engagement and brand loyalty. An online survey was administered with consumers who have followed and visited at least one fashion brand page via a social networking site (SNS). Structural equation modeling revealed that consumers' perceptions of vividness, interactivity, social presence, and focused attention on a fashion brand page positively affected their feelings towards parasocial interaction with the brand page, which in turn led to their affective engagement with the brand page and consequent brand loyalty. These findings suggest that consumers build relationships of varying degrees with brand pages in a similar manner to that with people, which leads to their development of a positive relationship with the brand. This study concludes with discussions and practical implications.

• (The) Korean Journal of Advertising
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.51-80
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• 2018

This study aims to investigate how the storytelling elements of brand webtoon has influence on developing brand webtoon users' parasocial interaction relationship and their attitude towards brand webtoon contents and word of mouth intention. The results of this study shows that parasocial interaction is strongly influenced by the sub-dimensions of digital storytelling components of brand webtoon (i.e., relevance, trustworthiness, clarity). More specifically, respondents who perceive that the given message of digital storytelling in brand webtoons is relevant to the brand, is trustworthy, and is clear to understand show a higher degree of parasocial interaction with the webtoon content and in turn, it has a strong positive influence on the attitude towards the brand webtoon. In sum, this study not only provides a theoretical foundation to understand how consumers develop parasocial interaction with brand webtoons in terms of the brand webtoon's digital storytelling, but this study has implications for practitioners who are interested in using a brand webtoon for marketing.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.649-664
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• 2018

With the rapid growth of the Chinese cosmetics market and the continuous introduction of new products into the market, beauty videos generated by other consumers, that are by beauty vloggers, have become a major source of information for cosmetics consumers. With the popularity of beauty vlogs in China, beauty vloggers have become influencers who affect consumers' information processing and attitude development regarding cosmetic products and beauty routines. The current study aims to explore the characteristics of beauty vloggers that affect consumers' attitudes toward both the beauty vlogs and the products featured in those vlogs. Based on parasocial interaction theory, the study examines whether perceived characteristics of beauty vloggers influence consumers' perceived parasocial interaction, which in turn influences their attitudes. The study employs an online survey, which was administered to female consumers in China. Data from a total of 372 responses was used for analysis. Findings show that the perceived similarities to and perceived trustworthiness of vloggers have a significant impact on parasocial interactions, which influences consumer attitudes toward both the vlogs and the products shown in them. Perceived reliability and perceived attractiveness are shown to have a positive impact on consumer attitudes toward vlogs. Perceived expertise, attractiveness, similarity, and trustworthiness have all been shown to affect product attitudes. These results show that while beauty vlogs have a significant impact on consumers' decision-making processes, the perceived characteristics of beauty vloggers themselves are important to consumers in the development of their attitudes toward both vlogs and products.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.270-281
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• 2021

The emergence of social media and technical development of smart phone allows media users to produce, share and spread a variety of contents, which results in a big change in their media usage pattern. Among those changes, the most prominent one is Youtube's powerful growth. Creators' enthusiastic content productions and users' active sharing actions are caused of the growth. Recently, creators give a powerful effect on users as social media influencer, and the practice of influencer marketing has been focused. This current study is examined the effects of parasocial interaction and relationship on brand attitude and purchase intention. Specially, parasical interaction is divided into identification, interest, and experience parasocial interaction, and the divisions of relationship are trustworthy, friendship, understanding, and commitment. As a result, interest and trustworthy are significant predictors of brand attitude. Also, experience parasocial interaction is negative and friendship is positive predictors of purchase intention. Theoretical and practical implication are discussed.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.15-23
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• 2022

Participants in real-time online sessions, be it (business) meetings, virtual school lessons, or social live streams, all engage in cyber social interactions. Unlike parasocial interactions, cyber social interactions are characterized by reciprocity and temporal proximity. In contrast to social interactions, they lack spatial proximity and bodily contact. This is a fairly new concept in information science that rose from technological advances and unprecedented circumstances (e.g., the rise of digital economy and knowledge workers being able to work remotely or, more recently, global lockdowns and contact restrictions). As a result, the past ways of working and socializing were transformed by making them, in some cases predominantly, virtual. Regarding the example of social live streaming we exhibit the importance of cyber social interactions for information behavior research. This conceptual article is a plea for information science to engage more in human-human online relations and interactions.