Investigating the Impact of Influencer Wishful Identification and Parasocial Relationships on Purchasing Behavior

Abstract

Influencers are a powerful tool in the worlds of communication and marketing. The relationships that influencers build with audiences can affect consumer behaviors as can the brand that they create. Both the audience's perception of a relationship with the influencer as well as the audience's desire to be like the influencer can impact consumer purchasing behaviors. The purpose of this study is to explore how wishful identification and parasocial relationships serve as mediating factors in influencer impact on audience consumer behavior outcomes. This purpose is addressed via a quantitative survey (n = 948) in collaboration with a YouTube influencer disseminated to her audience. Results show that viewers' reported income, interactions with influencers, and parasocial relationships all have a positive impact on predicting participants' purchase behavior of influencer-recommended products. The findings contribute to an in-depth understanding of how wishful identification serves as a mediating variable between parasocial relationships and consumer purchasing behaviors in audiences.