Social Media Influencers and Followers: Theorization of a Trans-Parasocial Relation and Explication of Its Implications for Influencer Advertising

TLDR

Digital technologies are reshaping consumer interactions, challenging traditional assumptions about interpersonal and mass communication. The study proposes a trans‑parasocial relation to better describe the reciprocal, asynchronous, co‑created interactions between influencers and followers. The authors theorize a trans‑parasocial relation and identify positive bias, cross‑validation, and inspirational internalization as mechanisms explaining followers’ appreciation of influencer‑sponsored posts. The trans‑parasocial concept shows that persuasion knowledge does not always harm advertising outcomes; followers view influencer disclosures positively and internalize them as inspiring.

Abstract

Afforded by new digital technologies, consumer interactions are breaking the boundaries of basic assumptions about interpersonal communication, mass communication, and the concepts arising from the two. By looking into social media influencer–follower relations, this study suggests that the long-held conventional concept of parasocial relation no longer fully encompasses the evolving contemporary human interactions and related relations. The current analysis recommends an updated notion and theorization—a trans-parasocial relation—to capture a collectively reciprocal, (a)synchronously interactive, and co-created relation between influencers and their captive followers. This trans-parasocial relation concept offers a foundation on which new communicative and advertising theories can be developed to explicate new forms of social interactions and consumer behavior. More importantly, in view of this trans-parasocial relation, assumptions of the existing persuasion theory—that is, the persuasion knowledge model—need to be reassessed. The current findings demonstrate that persuasion knowledge does not always negatively affect advertising outcomes. Instead, followers indicate mostly benign attitudes toward influencer-sponsored posts, interpret influencers’ sponsorship disclosures as genuine and transparent, and internalize disclosure actions as inspiring and admirable. This study further identifies and elucidates several psychological mechanisms that account for followers’ overall appreciation of influencer-sponsored posts: positive bias, verification by cross-validation, and inspirational internalization.