Exploring The Antecedents And Consequences Of Parasocial Relationship: The Case Of Vegan Influencers In Vietnam

Abstract

Because of the benefits of social media influencers and influencer marketing, more businesses are gradually implementing them. In fact, though there is a ton of current research studies about the effectiveness of this popular marketing strategy, how customers interact with social media influencers that impact on consumer's intentions is still lacking and both types of products as well as influencers can have an influence on consumer’s perceptions and attitude. Besides, veganism is gradually popular with Vietnamese consumers because of the advancement of social media sites. Hence, the study will examine the antecedents and consequences of parasocial relationship (consumer-influencer connection) that applied for vegan influencers in Vietnam to understand clearly aboutwhat are factorsimpact on thisrelationship, leading to consumer's attitude toward veganism, purchase intention, healthy food and animal right motive. The research study was approached by quantitative research, the research model was developed to test with 337 followers of vegan influencers in Vietnam. The causes of Parasocial Relationship are Attractiveness and Emotional Attachment. Besides, Parasocial Relationship has a significantly positive influence on Attitude toward Veganism, Healthy Food Selection, Purchase Intention and Animal Right Motive.