Parasocial interaction and social presence in fashion influencer marketing

Jin, S. V., Ryu,E., & Muqaddam, A. (2021). I trust what she's# endorsing on Instagram: moderating effects of parasocial interaction and social presence in fashion influencer marketing. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JFMM-04-2020-0059/full/html

The authors in this study identifies two major ways of social media campaigns. They state that most of the fashion brands depend on either their brand’s official social media platforms or social media accounts that belong to influencers. In this study, authors examined various mechanisms that justify the effectiveness of Instagram posts based on the type of account being used. The main comparison of the Instagram accounts in question were the company and influencers’ accounts. The content types was observed based on the Instagram posts with and without human presence in the content. During the study, a sample of 195 females was tested to determine whether parasocial interaction and social presence feelings moderate the effects of Instagram accounts’ promotional posts on the audience perceived trustworthiness of the brand being endorsed. During the study, the authors focused on the two categories of Instagram posts; fashion-brand account versus a fashion influencer and product-only posts versus product posts with a person content. After the analysis of the collected data, findings indicated a three-way interaction effects in the types of Instagram accounts. Findings suggested that Instagram posts promoted by social media influencers in the fashion sector have a similar impact on the parasocial interaction and social presence even when they don’t appear in the branded content. This study was valuable in elaborating the antecedents of trustworthiness in social media fashion marketing and brand management. It was also concluded that that Instagram account types and types of content shared can influence the extent to which social media communication can establish the formation of emotional ties with a positive evaluation of the brand.

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