CC BY
23
UDC 659.118
DOI10.24147/2413-6182.2023.10(2). 289-302
ISSN 2413-6182 eISSN 2658-4867
ENHANCING ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH INFLUENCERS AND PARASOCIAL CONNECTIONS
M.V. Zhigaltsova
Communication University of China (Beijing, China)
Abstract: The subject of advertising effectiveness has been the topic of research and a debate matter for decades. In order to reach their goals, advertisers have always relied on the latest technical developments. With the proliferation of social media, one of such developments are online influencers. Influencer advertising has become one of the most important sales channels that leverages the power of paraso-cial connections. Parasocial connections allow for the influencers to be perceived not as sales people, but 'friends'. However, the data that shows the effectiveness of influencer advertising often comes in the forms of statistics accumulated by the marketing agencies. Furthermore, the effectiveness of influencer advertising is often attributed to 'luck' rather than well-defined scientific principles. The aim of this article is to gather scientific proof behind why the influencing and parasocial connections work. These findings show that due to a number of psychological factors and a social comparison theory, some individuals are capable of influencing others. On the basis of this influencing, the promotional content produced by the infuen-cers is perceived as word-of-mouth recommendations rather than advertisements.
Key words: social media, influencer, parasocial connections, advertising effectiveness, persuasion intent, word-of-mouth recommendations.
For citation:
Zhigaltsova, M.V. (2023), Enhancing advertising effectiveness through influencers and parasocial connections. Communication Studies (Russia), Vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 289-302. DOI: 10.24147/2413-6182.2023.10(2).289-302.
About the author:
Zhigaltsova, Maria Victorovna, PhD student of the Instite of Communication Studies
Corresponding author:
Postal address: 1, Dingfuzhuang st., Beijing, 100024, China E-mail: 2354566386@qq.com
Received: January 13, 2023
Revised: February 10, 2023
Accepted: March 27, 2023
© M.B. Mwanbwea, 2023
1. Introduction
At the very core of an advertising practice has always been the desire to persuade and make people buy an item. These seemingly straightforward goals, however, are hard to achieve. Moreover, they do not reflect the complicated nature of the advertising industry and its place in communication studies.
There are debates around what advertising is; why enormous advertising budgets are not the guarantee of success, etc. The topic of advertising effectiveness is discussed the most. What is effectiveness and what makes an advertisement effective? Is it a generated sale or does an increased brand recognition count too? How exactly should the practitioners measure the effectiveness of advertising? All these questions and more led to a significant research of this topic.
The definition of effectiveness that will be used in this paper deals with increased sales, increased brand recognition, improvement of the brand image as well as favorable attitudes to the ad itself. In order to reach these goals, the practitioners have always relied on the latest inventions. Back in the day after the printing press, earlier used papyrus was replaced by flyers. Centuries later newspapers and magazine advertising gave way to TV and radio, which were overshadowed by the Internet and social media decades down the line.
This change in the advertising mediums influenced not only in what form the adverts were presented, but also what gimmicks they relied on. In particular, in the 1970s advertising agencies began to give brands 'personalities', so that it would be easier to remember them.
These characters could be fictional or they could be celebrity endorsements. Certain character attributes were also expressed in the brand positioning and the overall tone of brand messages. With the proliferation of social media, brands began to delegate the process of telling their stories to online influencers.
Due to the phenomenon of influencer advertising being relatively new, there are plenty of areas for scientific exploration. Our current understanding of the process of online influencing is incomplete. There is no one scientific criteria which explores at what point a social media user becomes an influencer. There is also a gap in research of advertising metrics when it comes to online influencers.
In fact, the scientific foundation of this phenomenon needs more work. Currently, the practitioners rely on the data that comes in the form of statistics accumulated by the marketing agencies. This data shows that in 2022 influencer marketing was expected to grow to $16.4 billion industry. 61% of consumers trust influencer recommendations, while 38% trust branded content. However, how such success of influencer advertising can be explained in scientific terms is yet to be seen. The studies that have been conducted to date deal with isolated cases, brands or geographical locations. Overall, there is more improvisation rather than a determined scientific methodology when it comes to the area of influencer advertising. This explains the need for the clear scientific underpinnings of influencer advertising.
In order to find these scientific underpinnings, it is necessary to explore the concepts, theories and models, which, while described aplenty in literature separately, are rarely brought up together and most importantly, in the relation to influencer advertising. Such exploration is the goal of this paper, which will rely on the literature review, in particular, qualitative content analysis. This analysis will rely on the inductive type of reasoning - a process of deriving meanings from data. The particular method that is applied is secondary research as it deals with the collection of existing data.
At first glance it appears that when it comes to influencers, a number of psychological and sociological factors come into play. One of such factors is parasocial relationships - those connections that the audience establishes with media persons in mediated environments. There are also other models which might explain how and why influencer advertising works. This paper will offer a classification of such models as well as a new approach to interpreting them.
This classification would fit into the landscape of communication studies, in particular, advertising communication - a field that studies how businesses communicate their promotional messages to the audience. It is particularly important in the conditions of social media which significantly influenced the area of communication in a variety of ways. In particular, social media made societal connections more complex; made communication between different geographical locations easier and created new forms of communications (online groups where the advertisers are excluded from altogether].
2. Who are the online influencers?
An influencer is someone who have amassed a large following. At the core of this following lie common interests, the feeling of identification with the influencer, engaging and consistent content they produce and a certain level of relatability. As a result, such influencers are perceived as psychologically close or 'someone just like me' by the audience. Furthermore, this so-called familiarity leads to an establishment of a parasocial connection with the audience, which has its own effects, advantages and disadvantages.
Influencer marketing can be defined as businesses working with online influencers to promote their products. Since there is a certain level of trust present when it comes to the audience, product and brand recommendations coming from the influencer are not perceived as advertisements. Instead, they are often seen as word-of-mouth recommendations, which makes them only more effective.
While the idea of an online influencer might seem relatively new, i.e. proliferated by the popularity of social media, the concept has been around since the beginning of the 20th century. From the iconic fictional characters to the celebrities, the idea of an influencer has evolved into an umbrella term for anyone who can change attitudes and preferences of others, or, at the very least, sway them. The term 'influencer' nowadays includes celebrities - singers,
athletes, movie stars; influencers - those who accumulated a following ranging in millions of followers; and micro-influencers - those whose following ranges between 10,000 - 50,000 people.
While their main goals are similar, not every influencer is the same and has an equal reach when it comes to public opinion. Grave postulated that there is a difference in how celebrities and influencers (regular social media users who amassed a large following] are perceived by the audience [Grave 2019: 2]. The research found that celebrity endorsements are more effective while the influencers are considered to be more relatable and trustworthy.
A lot of importance is also placed on familiarity. If an audience has varying degrees of familiarity with an influencer, celebrity endorsements might be more effective since a celebrity is more recognized. However, if the audience is familiar with the influencer, then, their campaign might rate higher in terms of effectiveness.
One can also speculate that the degree of familiarity is connected to the age of the audience. Celebrities might be more recognized across a few generations, while certain influencers might be more familiar for Millennials. This is simply due to Millennials being more of Internet users than other generations.
However, regardless of whether the influencer is a celebrity or someone with a large online following, what makes one individual being capable of influencing another?
A number of psychological models can answer this question. The first model of such kind would be the idea of conformity. To understand it, it is necessary to look at the concept of influencing in relation to the idea of conformity -an act of matching ideas, behaviors and attitudes or like-mindedness as well as imitation.
Deutsch and Gerard defined two psychological needs which make people conform to others [Deutsch, Gerard 1955: 629]. The first need is our need to be right, also called an informational social influence. This informational social influence is also called social proof. Social proof refers to the individuals copying other people when failing to determine an appropriate mode of behavior themselves. The second is our need to be liked, also called a normative social influence. A normative social influence refers to people copying others with the goal of being accepted and liked by them.
The second model would deal with the six principles defined by Cialdini, which are: consistency, reciprocation, social proof, authority, liking and scarcity [Cialdini 2006: 8].
Applied to online influencing, these six principles would mean consistent content production by the influencer, a certain level of reciprocation from the audience, a mutual observation of online behavior between the influencer and the audience, a certain status of the influencer as a knowledgeable individual, i.e. authority, and acceptance of the influencer among the audience.
The third model is another phenomenon that might help shed light on the subject of influence - a two-step flow communication hypothesis devel-
oped in 1944 by Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet. In the "The People's Choice" [Lazarsfeld, Berelson, Gaudet 1948], they analyzed how people made decisions during a Presidential election campaign. The researchers tried to find an empirical proof that media influences voting intentions. Instead, they uncovered that more personal connections influenced voting decisions to a higher degree compared with TV or radio. Their research showed that on average at least 10% of people discussed elections actively and passively than watched TV or read about it in newspapers. Those people who made their choice in the later stages of the campaign were more influenced by other people. Those who changed their opinions were also influenced by friends and family connections.
After these findings, the researchers tried to determine who these opinion leaders are and whether they possess any particular qualities that allow them to bear the influence that they do. What they found out is that influencers exist on every level of society and have certain common qualities with the people they influence. They are also more exposed to media messages.
Later, Katz [Katz 1957: 61] described that the findings of this research had implications for both, social theory and the design of communication in a sense that the model of society had to be revised. The same audience that before was pictured as hooked up to the media, was now depicted as connected to each other first.
It might seem as though key opinion leaders hold an elevated social position that allows them to exert their influence in the first place. However, Nisbet, Kotcher postulated that it is not necessarily the case [Nisbet, Kotcher 2009: 329]. As the researchers described, influencers 'served as the connective tissue'. This so-called tissue showed their peers what mattered in regards to choices. Since an elevated social position or status is not the prerequisite to influence, one might argue that anyone can be an influencer at some point and in some area.
Another factor that lies at the core of influencing is the fundamental need of individuals to self-evaluate and compare. Through this comparison people measure their opinions and choices and how those fit with other people's opinions and choices. On one hand such a comparison allows an individual to evaluate themselves. On the other hand, it reduces the uncertainty when it comes to opinions. This is what is called a social comparison theory, which was proposed in 1954 by a social psychologist L. Festinger [Festinger 1954: 117]. This constitutes the fourth model.
When applied to online influencers, they might serve as a sort of a comparison tool for their audience. Individuals might self-evaluate by measuring their opinions, preferences, abilities and tastes versus those of the influencer.
The aforementioned factors all refer to the process of one person influencing another. This process is conducted through various means but in the case of online influencers, mainly, through the content they produce. That can be paid-for content - one which is sponsored by the brand and has various levels of control from it. This type of content can either focus on the product and
the brand, have a mention about them embedded into a story or simply have them in the background. Organic content is done free of charge and with no prior request from the brand. In this case, the influencer is willing to mention the brand or the product on the basis of strong like, dislike, interest or other personal reasons. Gifting refers to a brand sending their product to an influencer in the hope that it gets featured in the content. Brand ambassadorship describes an influencer using the product on a continuous basis as well as representing the brand at various events. Compared with other types of content, ambassadorship is a long-term strategy.
These types are only some of the forms of content the influencers might produce. It is through this and other kinds of content that the influencers can form parasocial connections with their audience.
3. Parasocial connections
Well-built and deeply developed parasocial connections start after a sufficient number of parasocial interactions. This kind of a mediated interaction is experienced by the audience when they encounter persons depicted in media. In spite of having no real-life interactions with them, the audience begins to perceive these media persons as 'friends'. However, the absence of real encounters means that the audience is actually interacting with 'personas' - a summary of qualities, features, etc. projected for the public - rather than the actual people. This 'persona' has varying degrees of authenticity when it comes to the real person behind it.
Once parasocial interactions become more frequent, it signals the start of a parasocial relationship, which the audience begins seeing as reciprocal relationships. In other words, parasocial relationships are long-term effects that develop in the course of media consumption [Brown 2015: 263]. It is worth noting that this type of connections might be established with anyone on screen -celebrities, athletes, movie characters, fictional animated characters, social media influencers, etc.
Once reaching enough exposure and becoming a parasocial relationship, repeated parasocial interactions can deepen in regards to a growing sense of friendship and identification of the audience and a media person. The more information the audience continues to learn about them, the closer the connection appears to be. As the audience observes that media person, interprets their appearance and conduct, a sense of loyalty starts growing too. Here, the imitation and influence enter the picture.
Imitation is defined as a behavior whereby one individual first observes, then replicates certain aspects of behavior of another individual. Influence is defined as an ability to have an effect on another individual. When it comes to parasocial relationship, both of these factors can have positive and negative sides.
One of the positive consequences of imitation and influence is an identity formation. This is particularly true for children and teenagers. Children
usually rely on parasocial relationships when expressing what qualities they desire to have, whereby 'searching' for these attributes in characters they are exposed to. Teenagers, who are at a stage of forming their own identity and increasing their independence and autonomy from parents, might turn to para-social relationship while seeking for attributes that resonate with them the most Rosaen, Dibble study showed that older children tend to prefer more realistic characters, while younger ones can have powerful parasocial connections with any character [Rosaen, Dibble 2008].
One of the negatives is the resulting comparison that follows imitation and influence. Beginning with observation, comparison is explained by the aforementioned social comparison theory. Since in order to reduce uncertainty the individuals engage in measuring themselves against others, when applied to parasocial relationship, it means that the audience compares themselves to the media person. In other words, the audience engages into an active comparison of themselves, their appearance, their abilities, their lifestyles to the ones of the character on screen. As a result, a number of issues might follow -body image, lack of self-confidence, low self-esteem, etc. This notion is particularly true among young and impressionable audiences, who are more easily influenced than older generations.
As mentioned earlier, the audience can form deep parasocial relationships with anyone who appears on screen - celebrities, fictional characters and, important for the purposes of this paper, social media influencers.
Such parasocial relationship begins to form when the users discover the content of an influencer, find it interesting and entertaining, remain exposed to it for a prolonged period of time and on a consistent basis, learn more about the influencer and begin to relate to them. Once a connection is established and a person becomes a follower of an influencer, the former might start comparing their fashion choices, lifestyles, appearance, etc. against those of the latter, while simultaneously perceiving those of an influencer as 'perfect' [Martinez-Lopez et al. 2020].
In a relationship between the audience and an influencer, two factors become important - comparison and trust The notion of comparison gets exploited by advertisers, who promote products and services through an influencer, indicating that an individual can be 'just like the influencer' if only they buy and use their product.
The notion of trust becomes crucial because many social media users have more trust in the content of an online influencer than in the content posted by a brand. In fact, in this case, a product recommendation by the influencer is perceived as a word-of-mouth recommendation - one of the most effective tools - rather than advertisement. This is due to the fact that the message that is included in the content resonates with the audience, generating empathy and thus decreasing the resistance to the message from the consumer [Dou et al. 2012]. However, this raises a question of whether the audience can
determine if a piece of content is advertisement or not and if a disclosure influences the perception.
An understanding and knowledge about a persuasive intent is called persuasion knowledge [Friestad, Wright 1994: 18]. It is separated into a conceptual persuasion knowledge - the ability to differentiate between advertising and other content and evaluative persuasion knowledge - a critical attitude towards advertising. Breves et al. reported that those with a strong parasocial connection displayed lower evaluative persuasion knowledge, meaning that they were less likely to develop a negative attitude towards an ad when finding out about the persuasion intent. The study also revealed that the followers of social media influencers reported an enhanced purchase intention, especially when the post contained a disclosure [Breves et al. 2021].
This finding supports the result of the study done by Carr, Hayes who investigated the effects of third-party influence on social media. Their study showed that the explicitness of a disclosure influences the perceived credibility of an influencer as well as the attitude towards the product and purchase intention [Carr, Hayes 2014].
The findings of the aforementioned studies show that parasocial connections is a reliable tool, which when working can even help overcome the negative attitudes when a piece of content explicitly states that it is a promotional content. In fact, parasocial connections are so important that for younger generations they are even stronger than credibility as Sokolova, Kefi's study showed [Sokolova, Kefi 2019].
Apart from influencing sales and the attitude towards the product, Nam-hyun's study revealed that parasocial interactions also influence the brand-celebrity match and the overall attitude toward the ad. In particular, if the ad message authenticity is perceived and there is a match between the brand and a celebrity, there is a positive impact on the attitudes of consumers towards the ad [Namhyun 2022].
Overall, parasocial relationships appear to influence the audience not only on the personal level, but they also allow the advertisements to be more effective and oftentimes to be perceived as recommendations rather than ads altogether. They also positively influence the attitude even when the persuasion intent is perceived. Parasocial connections constitute as the fifth model in the psychological models category.
4. Effectiveness of influencer advertising
Effectiveness is defined as a degree to which something produces a desired result. The concept of advertising effectiveness is often debated since some consider an advertisement successful only if it generates sales, while others argue that if an advert fulfills the objectives of other stages of the process - awareness and familiarization - then the goal is reached. While it is generally desired that an advert generates an immediate sale, the real process of
advertising effectiveness is more complex, which is where econometrics-related models come into play.
The topic of effectiveness of advertising has been a heavily debated one for decades. There are multiple studies that show the connection between advertising and sales and a market value. G. Assmus et al. stipulated that a short-term advertising elasticity depends on the type of the product, a study's setting and specifications [Assmus, Farley, Lehmann 1984: 68]. The researchers used econometric models for their study, which are regularly utilized when estimating the effectiveness of advertising.
D. Simester et al. studied the retail advertising. They state that advertising affects sales in the short run, but the effect on the subsequent consumer demand is still unclear. Long-term demands turned out to be negative for the reasons of intertemporal substitution and brand switching [Simester et al. 2009: 482].
The hierarchy of effects theory describes how and why advertising is effective. It also includes the stages of a decision-making process that follows an advertisement. The hierarchy of effects includes a number of models, each trying to explain the process.
The first such model is AIDA (attention - interest - desire - action]. The model was proposed by E. St. Elmo Lewis [Barry 1987: 252]. According to this theory, a consumer goes through the aforementioned steps in a linear way. Attention refers to the creative message embedded in the advert, which attracts the audience. Interest refers to a thought process which might follow the initial encounter. Desire deals with the realization that the product is necessary and required. Action is the last step which refers to purchasing a product or using a service advertised.
While consisting only of four steps, this model might seem too simplistic. In fact, other scholars criticized it for this reason, calling the immediate sales results 'an incomplete criterion' when measuring the effectiveness of advertising [Lavidge, Steiner 1961]. Instead, they stated that people move through the seven steps when making a purchase decision. The steps are: unawareness, awareness, knowledge, favorable attitude, preference, conviction and purchase [Lavidge, Steiner 1961: 59].
R.H. Colley developed DAGMAR - Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results - a model that includes the stages of awareness -comprehension - conviction - action [Colley 1961: 35]. While this model might seem like yet another version of the previous two which all rely on the main components of attention - desire - purchase, it stipulated that the advertising effectiveness lies in its ability to communicate.
Ray et al. developed another three models that describe how the audience reacts to advertising [Ray et al. 1973: 5]. The first model is called the learning hierarchy model. It consists of cognition - affect - conation. According to it, the audience first learns the new information, reacts to it and then an action follows. The second model is called the dissonance-attribution hierarchy. It includes the steps of conation - affect - cognition. This model proposes that the audience
behaves whereby developing certain attitudes and then, learns the information that supports their initial behavior. The third model researched by Krugman is called a low involvement hierarchy [Krugman 1965]. It includes the steps of behavior - learning - attitude. According to this theory, the audience behaves first, then learns a supporting information whereby developing an attitude.
These models of advertising effectiveness can be applied to influencer advertising as well. Sometimes the influencers would be the 'source' of advertising or they might be a part of a broader advertising campaign. Regardless of their status, they rely on parasocial connections in order to reach their advertising goals, and the parasocial connections allow for influencer advertising to be so effective.
When estimating how effective any type of advertising is, it is necessary to rely on specific metrics and concrete data. There is a number of metrics which practitioners use when estimating the effectiveness of any campaign, influencer one included. These are: impressions, return on advertising spend, reach, advertising elasticity, a share of voice and a brand equity.
Impressions metric deals with the overall number of times people were exposed to the advertisement. The return on advertising spend is the revenue that was generated per each dollar spent on a campaign. The reach metric is how many people actually see the advertisement since this number does not equal the number of people who it was shown to. Advertising elasticity deals with the responsiveness of demand in relation to advertising. A share of voice deals with the overall level of advertising conducted. Finally, a brand equity is the value of the brand.
When it comes to measuring the effectiveness of influencer advertising, certain KPIs or key performance indicators are used. As Grave study acknowledged, selecting an online influencer to work with and the following estimation of the campaign's effectiveness are the two main challenges when it comes to influencer marketing. As the study found, the practitioners usually rely on the metrics of reach and the number of interactions when evaluating their campaign's performance [Grave 2019].
Apart from the metrics obtained by the brand, there are external tools which measure the influencer's engagement level. The main concern when using such tools, however, is their reliability and the genuineness of an influen-cer's following.
When looking at how influencers impact the decisions of consumers, Zak, Hasprova study showed that there is a relativity between the influencers and the products they promote. In other words, influencers are more effective in some areas than others. In particular, the greatest effect was shown in the area of fashion, services and make up. When it comes to electronics, jewelry and food, the influence decreases [Zak, Hasprova 2020].
When it comes to brands and their attributes, Jiménez-Castillo, Sánchez-Fernández explored how effective the influencers are when recommending
brands. In particular, they examined if the influence that they have affects brand expected value, brand engagement and purchase intention. The study showed that the influencers facilitate engagement, increase expected value of the brand and affect purchase intention [Jiménez-Castillo, Sánchez-Fernández 2019].
5. Conclusion
For scholars and practitioners alike, the subject of advertising effectiveness is an important area. For scholars, there are gaps in research regarding the foundation of influencer advertising and the measurement of its effectiveness. A lot of the scientific concepts and models which are adjacent to influencer advertising have been described and researched for decades. However, this is often done separately, while there is a need for a scientific foundation of influencer advertising which is currently incomplete, in part due to it being a relatively new phenomenon.
For practitioners, the tools that bring the highest return on investment are of utmost importance. For them, a high level of advertising effectiveness means there is not only an increase in sales, but also an increased level of brand recognition, a betterment of the brand image as well as reduced negative attitudes towards promotional materials.
This paper attempted to gather scientific concepts and offer a classification of models which explain how and why influencer advertising manages not only increase sales, but also cultivate positive brand- and advertising-related attitudes among the audience. These models can be separated into two categories: psychological and econometric ones. Psychological models include: conformity, the principles of influencing, two-step flow of communication hypothesis, social comparison theory and parasocial relationships. The latter model was explored more in depth as compared to others as it manages to negate the unfavorable attitudes towards ads that are often present among the audience. Econometric models include: AIDA, DAGMAR and the models developed by Ray, et. al.
Currently, influencer advertising appears to be one of the preferred tools among advertisers as it manages to bring positive shifts in sales. Due to the presence of a parasocial relationship, this type of advertising also allows for a lot of factors usually perceived as negative when it comes to marketing to be overlooked. Parasocial connections allow for the advertisements to be perceived as recommendations instead. Overall, they cultivate positive attitudes even when the intent to persuade is clear. The audience also has more trust when it comes to influencer content as opposed to the content produced by the brand. Overall, influencer advertising and the power of parasocial relationship is a must tool for any practitioner.
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ПОВЫШЕНИЕ ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ РЕКЛАМЫ С ПОМОЩЬЮ ИНФЛЮЕНСEРОВ И ПАРАСОЦИАЛЬНЫХ СВЯЗЕЙ
М.В. Жигальцова
Китайский университет коммуникаций (Пекин, Китай)
Аннотация: Проблема эффективности рекламы была предметом исследований и серьезных дискуссий на протяжении десятилетий. Для достижения своих целей рекламодатели всегда полагались на новейшие технические разработки. С распространением социальных сетей одним из таких достижений стали инфлюенсеры. Инфлюенсер-реклама стала одним из самых важных каналов продаж, использующих силу парасоциальных связей. Парасоциаль-ные связи позволяют воспринимать инфлюенсеров не как продавцов, а как «друзей». Однако данные, свидетельствующие об эффективности инфлюен-сер-рекламы, часто поступают в виде статистических данных, собранных маркетинговыми агентствами. Кроме того, эффективность рекламы через
инфлюенсеров часто объясняется «везением», а не четко определенными научными принципами. Цель этой статьи - собрать научные доказательства того, почему инфлюенсеры и парасоциальные связи работают лучше, чем другие виды рекламы - генерируют больше продаж и стимулируют более позитивное восприятие рекламы. Результаты показывают, что благодаря ряду психологических факторов и теории социального сравнения некоторые люди способны влиять на других. На основе этого влияния рекламный контент, создаваемый инфлюенсерами, воспринимается как рекомендация из уст в уста, а не как реклама. Аудитория также больше доверяет контенту инфлюенсеров, чем брендированному контенту. В случаях, когда инфлюен-сер раскрывает тот факт, что его контент является рекламой, которая спонсирована брендом, парасоциальные связи также уменьшают негативное отношение к такому контенту со стороны онлайн-подписчиков.
Ключевые слова: социальные сети, инфлюенсер, парасоциальные связи, эффективность рекламы, убеждение, устные рекомендации.
Для цитирования:
Жигальцова М.В. Повышение эффективности рекламы с помощью инфлюенсеров и парасоциальных связей // Коммуникативные исследования. 2023. Т. 10. № 2. С. 289-302. DOI: 10.24147/2413-6182.2023.10(2).289-302. (На англ. яз.).
Сведения об авторе:
Жигальцова Мария Викторовна, аспирант Института коммуникации
Контактная информация:
Почтовый адрес: 100024, Китай, Пекин, Дингфуджуанг ул., 1
E-mail: 2354566386@qq.com
Дата поступления статьи: 13.01.2023
Дата рецензирования: 10.02.2023
Дата принятия в печать: 27.03.2023
