Effect of Instagram Influencer Parasocial Relationship on Follower Behaviors: A Moderated Moderation Model of Expertise and Involvement

Abstract

Social media influencers (SMI) are considered effective marketing weapons that firms increasingly use to endorse their products and brands. However, with the enormous diversity of social media and the multiplicity of SMI, marketers need to understand how to choose the right SMI on the right social media for a specific product or brand. This study aims to improve understanding of the influence of SMI followers’ behaviors by studying how parasocial relationship (PSR) interacts with SMI’s expertise for products with different levels of involvement to impact consumers’ behaviors. The authors proposed a three-hypotheses (nine sub-hypotheses) model that was tested via a scenarios-based survey. Data was collected from 1230 Instagram users living in Qatar. These results confirm the importance of PSR, SMI’s perceived expertise, and product involvement in predicting the effectiveness of an SMI endorsement. They also highlight the need to consider the different interactions between these three variables.