Leveraging Parasocial relationships in Influencer Marketing

Authored by Dr. Angeline G. Fernando, Assoc.Prof, Great Lake Institute of Management, Chennai; Dr Saju Balakrishnan,Assistant Professor (Sr), VIT Business School, VIT Chennai

The growth of the influencer market worldwide highlights the emergence of a key player in the marketing communication mix of any firm today. Despite billions of dollars being spent by brands worldwide, most consumers, when interviewed personally, reveal that they would rely on trustworthy influencers on social media to make brand choices rather than corporate messages. These influencers could be mainstream celebrities like Virat Kohli or niche specialists like Nikhil Sharma, who is an automobile aficionado on Instagram. Compared to the market growth of tradional media, influencer marketing is growing by leaps and bounds.

Influencer Market- Growth Comparison

Medium

2021

2025 (Projected)

CAGR (Projected)

TV Ads

29,276 Cr

37,500 Cr

17%

Digital Ads

21,353 Cr

38,000 Cr

20%

Influencer Marketing

900 Cr

2,500 Cr

25%

India is home to a fifth of the world’s youth and the impact of influencers on the young consumers cannot be underestimated.

Influencers’ impact on young consumers

Why do todays’ relatively young and empowered consumers with seamless access to information count on social influencers as the last word in purchase decisions? Researchers dive in to provide some interesting findings. One view is that consumers never blindly followed marketing communication. In fact, they had discounted it and had always taken the advice of opinion leaders, or a familiar clique. With social media culture setting in, these circles expanded and brought in a network of influencers. A few central individuals play an anchoring role in these new networks and gain a quasi-celebrity status.

Parasocial relationship theory explains the audience's tendency to develop illusory social or emotional connections with a mass media personality. These imagined relationships took a decisive turn in terms of scale and scope with the growing power of social media. Unlike mass media personalities whom they blindly worshipped; audience found that they could connect with their idols in the new online networks. Online media personalities interacted with them and shared private information related to their lives which helped consumers relate to them.

How does this relationship benefit the brand?

Parasocial relationships lead to a number of useful brand outcomes including endorsement effectiveness, consumer engagement, public relation outcomes, and social commerce buying intentions.

Endorsements

Most brands employ influencers for endorsing their brand. How should they choose an endorser? The influencer's credibility matters more to the consumer than attractiveness in most scenarios. When consumers believe that the influencer is trustworthy and is an expert, they form close relationships with him. Rather than physical attractiveness, consumers tend to bond with socially attractive influencers. Charismatic influencers who are likeable and seem similar to them are therefore more relatable and effective. In fact, highly attractive influencers may arouse envy in the consumer's hearts. If they feel lacking in comparison, then the choice of such influencers may backfire. Intrasexual envy could be one reason for this. Watching attractive women/men with perfect physical attributes could create dissatisfaction among consumers leading to disengagement.

            Interaction and message characteristics also solidify the relationship between the audience and the influencer. If the influencer pays attention and responds periodically, the consumer feels a strong attachment. Authenticity is another aspect that is key to building relationships with the audience. For example, the relationship may weaken if consumers believe that the influencer has employed a ghost-writer. Influencers who disclose information about personal and professional lives also generate an affinity in the minds of the consumer.

Apart from this, consumer motivations matter. For instance, in the case of product categories like fashion or beauty consumers watch influencer videos for entertainment. While, this may not always induce a purchase, it helps the consumer derive information for these products that typically require a tactile evaluation. Consumer experience these products vicariously and this helps them evaluate products. However, they may specifically seek information for product categories like mobile phones or automobiles. In such cases, the influencers’ expertise may play a role in inducing a purchase.

Consumer engagement and public relation outcomes

Brands desire online consumer engagement. This could be in social commerce situations or brand pages on social networking sites. Employing spokespersons who share similar socio-demographic, cultural and social value with the audience can enhance the stickiness which in turn improves engagement and loyalty to the brand. Over time this will translate to repeat purchases. With a wise of choice for a representative, organisations can create a positive corporate character with the general public. This could be an organisational representative or an assertive and responsive CEO! Active CEOs like Nitin Kammath of discount broking firm Zerodha can build strong relationships with consumers and investors online.

Can consumers connect with only human influencers?

The answer is an emphatic “NO”. Consumers can form parasocial relationships with animated cute characters or chatbots who can communicate like friends. International fashion brands work with virtual influencers like Lil Miquela. We have our own indigenous “Kyra” or “Nila” in India whose looks would resonate with the audience enhancing the similarity with domestic consumers. These computer-generated models are called ‘hyper-realistic virtual influencers. They are life-like and help brand endorsements with a customisable image that human influencers cannot match. Though, we can usually find an active social media team behind virtual influencers, some of these virtual influencers like ‘Kyra’ use AI enabled technologies to analyse social media and churn out engaging content on their own. Fortunately, when compared to their human counterparts, these influencers can stay clear of scandals that would spill over to the brand!

Addressing the grey areas

While most marketers today employ influencers to invigorate marketing campaign, checks and balances have been introduced by platforms to elicit disclosure when commercial interests are involved. In its guidelines for digital media advertising, the Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) mandates disclosure labels on sponsored content posted by influencers and necessitates due diligence on the part of influencer. However, recent research shows that when consumers perceive influencers as authentic and develop strong relational ties, they are not deterred by these mandatory disclosures.

The road ahead

Influencers are successful in creating converts without much hard sell thanks to the soft persuasive power inherent in parasocial relationships. Influencers who make consumers feel good also end up transferring positive vibes to the brand. While influencer marketing is growing exponentially, the success of the firm’s influencer strategy would hinge on the sustainability of parasocial relationships. To succeed, both brands and influencers should focus on building relationships with the audience. Strategic decisions regarding social attractiveness, similarity, expertise , message styles and product congruence should be part of the brand-influencer partnership playbook. After all , every relationship takes time and effort !

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and Adgully.com does not necessarily subscribe to it.

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