Parasocial Interactions of Indonesian Beauty Vloggers in the Digital Age: Do they Impact Purchases by Millennial Netizens?

Abstract

The research objective of this study is to determine the impact of parasocial interactions on consumers' propensity to purchase cosmetics in the digital age. The other aim of this study is to elucidate how hedonism, social attractiveness, and physical beauty affect parasocial interactions. The originality of this study is the integration of theories in the research model, namely the parasocial interaction theory, social identity theory, and theory of reasoned action. The main goal of this study is to fill a theoretical and practical gap by answering the question of how internal and external factors significantly influence online purchase intention. Beauty vloggers' physical and social attractiveness is used to explain the external variables, while hedonism is used to explain the internal factors. The researchers used a positive paradigm and a quantitative approach. Data from well-known media platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, were gathered. The sample of subscribers to beauty vlogger accounts numbered 450 and they were surveyed using a purposive sampling technique. The data were examined using the outer and inner models of Smart PLS through Structural Equation Modeling. This study shows that parasocial interactions entirely offset the effect of physical and social attractiveness on purchase intention in the digital age. The external variables affect how millennials interact with beauty vloggers more than the internal variables do. Therefore, it is distinctive how millennial netizens use the Instagram and YouTube platforms in parasocial interactions, using beauty vloggers as influencers. Given the results, managers should engage with the influencers to create collaborations and manage social media channels to interact with audiences who are involved with beauty vloggers.