Interactional elements
Interactional elements refer to the many strategies that beauty vloggers use to enhance audience engagement and increase their following on social media platforms. The current research integrates parasocial interactions, emotional attachment, meaning transfer, and informational value as constituents of interactional elements to examine their influence on consumers’ purchase intention. The present research sought a more comprehensive understanding of consumer-influencer relationships by linking these interactional elements with social exchange theory to gain a deeper understanding of the persuasive mechanisms behind influencer marketing.
Social exchange theory
Several studies have used social exchange theory to evaluate the “exchange of activities” (Homans, 1958). Initially, social exchange theory focused on employment connections. This theory now applies to sociology, anthropology, and psychology (Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005; Coco and Eckert, 2020). Given the broadening ambit of social exchange theory, its applicability extends to elucidating the dynamics inherent in the influencer-follower paradigm, along with the persuasive strategies employed by influencers to shape the behaviour of their followers. Effectively navigating resource exchange between stakeholders, namely influencers and followers in our investigation, engenders the cultivation of psychological bonds and incentivizes the perpetuation of their relationship (Ahmad et al., 2023). Both parties’ profit from investing resources. Therefore, social exchange theory provides an appropriate theoretical foundation for beauty vlogging or influencer marketing. Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) suggested that the exchange of resources encompasses both tangible and symbolic aspects, including elements like status, affection, services, information, monetary assets, and tangible goods within its purview. This philosophy uses cost and reward to build long-term partnerships (Kim and Kim, 2021). Beauty vloggers interact with their audiences on a daily basis. These interactions are usually one-sided in which vloggers talk about their personal lives, hence known as parasocial interactions (Horton and Wohl, 1956). Parasocial interactions have given beauty vloggers social influence as viewers rely on them for product suggestions and other useful information (Kim et al., 2020). In exchange their fans subscribe, like, share, and comment to show their love for their favourite beauty vlogger. With respect to social exchange theory, these are perceived as rewards for vloggers (Kim and Kim, 2021). From an economic standpoint, having more followers and views translates into financial benefits for the vlogger.
Status and power are also stressed in social exchange theory. Blau (1964) advanced this notion by introducing the theoretical framework of “exchange and power,” which pertains to the capacity of one party to exert influence over another party, compelling the latter to undertake specific actions. Individuals take voluntary actions that are motivated by the returns which are expected for successful exchange behaviour. If the influential party provides informational content, the other party will become dependent on it (Emerson, 1976; Cook and Emerson, 1978). Beauty vloggers and their audience rely on each other for social interaction (Cook and Yamagishi, 1992). Interdependence between influencers and followers has a societal effect. Vloggers build viewer dependency and social influence by delivering helpful information and aesthetic content (Jiménez-Castillo and Sánchez-Fernández, 2019).
The principle of reciprocity can also find application within social exchange theory, which posits that social exchange benefits ought to be equitable (Chia et al., 2021). In other words, trading parties should get equal incentives (Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005). Influencers update viewers on their lives, joyful and sad times, and new purchases to enhance participation that is adored by their audience and gets views on their profiles, demonstrating the reward’s worth by developing an emotional attachment (Coco and Eckert, 2020). If the influencer posts stuff their audience likes, the engagement rate will rise until both sides reach a balance (Molm et al., 2007). Psychologically, reciprocity motivates parties to continue connections, building trust and changing behavioural attitudes (Kim and Kim, 2021). The process of exchange unfolds as a perpetual cycle wherein one party initiates an action, prompting reciprocal responses from the other party, thus initiating a fresh iteration of the exchange cycle (Ahmad et al., 2023). Additionally, the meaning transfer occurs when people embrace vloggers’ attitudes and views via constant participation. Moreover, audiences relate some symbolic meanings like values and beliefs associated with vloggers (Holiday et al., 2021) with the products/brands that vloggers endorse (Torres et al., 2019). This helps viewers to perceive similar attributes in the brands/products hence resulting in increased purchasing intentions. Moreover, connections that are established based on the acknowledgement and mutual exchange of shared interests serve as fundamental components of communities (Holiday et al., 2021). Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) also revealed that the reciprocity principle requires similar cultural expectations for successful social exchange between consumers and influencers. Taking into account these variables, this study seeks to investigate whether the distinctive elements employed by beauty vloggers can serve as mechanisms of social exchange, fostering long-lasting relationships that precipitate shifts in consumer attitudes toward the products endorsed by influencers. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks, particularly social exchange theory, this research posits that perceived influence and purchase intention represent efficacious outcomes resulting from the exchange of various activities (such as parasocial interactions, emotional attachment, meaning transfer, and informational value) between consumers and influencers.
Parasocial interaction (PSI) characterises the bond between celebrities and their audience (Horton and Wohl, 1956). In PSI, individuals engage with well-known figures such as actors, singers, and athletes, perceiving a sense of lively presence and a mutually beneficial relationship (Garg and Bakshi, 2024). The notion of emotional attachment pertains to forming a relationship that is distinct to a specific individual, which is established via the connection of emotions between individuals. It facilitates the sustenance of a durable connection between the involved parties, which may then be used to influence behaviour and foster a feeling of psychological proximity and accessibility (Thomson, 2006). Sánchez-Fernández and Jiménez-Castillo (2021) describe informational value as an important cue for influencing the behaviour. If viewers perceive that the information provided is accurate and true, and the information is enhancing their knowledge, it will improve the quality of communication resulting in higher perceived influence between the audience and vloggers. McCracken (1989), revealed the three stages of meaning transfer. In the first stage, a symbolic meaning is created in an individual based on the role assigned/done by the individual in the past. The same meaning is then transferred to the product he/she endorses. In the last stage, the same meaning is consumed by the customers when they make the purchase decision for the product. In relation to beauty vlogger endorsements, these four interactional elements (parasocial interactions, emotional attachment, informational value, and meaning transfer) are exchanged by vloggers for enhanced perceived influence and purchase intention for the brands/products they endorse.
There is currently a scarcity of research examining the collective influence of all interactional elements on purchase intention. Moreover, previous scholars have examined interactional components, especially meaning transfer (Mccracken, 1989; Miller and Allen, 2012; Knoll et al., 2016) and parasocial interactions (Horton and Wohl, 1956; Rubin et al., 1985), within the realm of celebrity endorsement. However, with the advancement in technology, individuals are increasingly allocating a significant amount of their time to social media platforms. This is primarily attributed to these platforms to facilitate user engagement with vloggers for entertainment and information acquisition purposes. Therefore, we propose the following two hypotheses:
H1: Interactional elements used by beauty vloggers have a positive impact on followers’ perceived influence.
H2: Interactional elements used by beauty vloggers have a positive impact on purchase intention.
Perceived influence and its mediating role
Social exchange theory posits the notion of exchange of activities which leads to behavioural change. In the effective communication process, it is important to establish connectedness between the two parties. Perceived influence refers to the subjective view held by the audience of an endorser, whereby they believe that the endorser has the ability to affect opinions, behaviours, or buying choices (Wang and Lin, 2011). In the field of consumer behaviour, if the listener feels that a message is delivered by an opinion leader or a renowned personality (famous beauty vlogger), it might change the perception of the listener about a particular product/brand (Jiménez-Castillo and Sánchez-Fernández, 2019). Moreover, the process of meaning transfer has the potential to increase the perceived level of influence, since it involves aligning the personal brand of the influencer with the values and goals of their audience. When individuals see the influencer as embodying their desired values or beliefs, they tend to be swayed by their suggestions (Holiday et al., 2021). This can also lead to increased purchase intention towards that particular product. By providing valuable and useful information in an amusing and pleasing manner, beauty vloggers wield influential power over their audiences. Their audiences seek their advice before making a purchase decision (Sánchez-Fernández and Jiménez-Castillo, 2021). Moreover, in this technology-driven environment, consumers consider online information as more reliable than other sources (Lee and Lee, 2022; Manchanda et al., 2022). Also, previous literature witnesses the effectiveness of using influencer marketing for positive outcomes (purchase intention) (Djafarova and Rushworth, 2017; Sokolova and Kefi, 2020; Lou and Yuan, 2019). Hence, perceived influence is regarded as the outcome of many factors, including parasocial interactions, informational value, emotional connection, and meaning transfer. When influencers successfully develop these relationships, their perceived influence within their followers inherently grows.
Additionally, vloggers perform numerous interactional activities to increase familiarity and similarity with their audience which can result in establishing a long-term relationship between the two (Lee and Watkins, 2016; Lou and Kim, 2019). Vloggers share their personal lives on their social media handles to create an emotional bond which can be used to influence audiences’ behaviour towards purchasing the recommended products/brands (Ladhari et al., 2020; Lee and Lee, 2022). Influencers are often seen as those who have significant influence and are considered opinion leaders within their respective domains. They play a crucial role in spreading genuine and trustworthy information about various products (Manchanda et al., 2022). When followers get knowledge about the advantages and characteristics of a certain product or service from an influencer, they have faith in, they become more educated and perhaps more inclined to make well-informed purchasing choices (Lou and Yuan, 2019; Sokolova and Kefi, 2020). Moreover, if followers see a congruence between the influencer’s viewpoints and choices and their own beliefs and preferences, they may be inclined to adopt similar consumer behaviours (Choi and Rifon, 2012; Jiménez-Castillo and Sánchez-Fernández, 2019). Consequently, higher perceived influence can lead to higher intention to purchase the endorsed products/brands by the followers (Sánchez-Fernández and Jiménez-Castillo, 2021). By examining how interactional elements affect perceived influence and subsequently influence purchase intention, we can infer that perceived influence acts as a mediator between preceding factors and individual actions. Therefore, the researchers put forward the following two hypotheses:
H3: Perceived influence has a significant impact on buying intention.
H4: Perceived influence acts as a mediator in the association between interactional elements and buying intention.
Audience characteristics
The interactional elements employed by beauty vloggers determine consumers’ behavioural outcomes. Additionally, an individual’s notions of himself also frame their attitude towards a particular product/brand. This concept is explained by self-congruency theory, which is rooted in the theoretical framework of the self-concept (Plewa and Palmer, 2014). Sirgy (1982) has given two main dimensions of self-concept: actual self-concept and ideal self-concept. Actual self-concept is the perception that one holds about himself whereas ideal self-concept describes the aspirational image that one wants to embody. When the actual self-concept matches with the ideal self-concept, self-congruency is achieved (Sirgy, 1985). Self-concept is an intrinsic motivating factor that plays a vital role in framing a favourable attitude and marketing outcome (purchase intention). Also, self-concept helps in shaping the attitude towards influencers as it helps in identifying with influencers (Choi and Rifon, 2012; Zogaj et al., 2021). For example, an individual who has a robust sense of self-identity as an environmentalist may have a greater propensity to adhere to and support influencers who advocate for sustainability and the adoption of eco-friendly behaviours. Hence buying the same things as influencers helps build a satisfying self-concept (Xu and Pratt, 2018). Moreover, the main proposition of self-congruency theory demonstrates that customers choose items or brands that align with their self-concepts. Consumers shape their self-image via brand purchases and consumption. Hence, we can say that self-concept describes audience characteristics. Initially, researchers have revealed the impact of self-concept with respect to celebrity endorsement (Choi and Rifon, 2012; Mishra et al., 2015). However, with the advancement in technology, a similar phenomenon can be observed in influencer marketing (Shan et al., 2019). Additionally, previous literature also supports the positive impact of self-concept towards the intention change especially in the field of tourism (Pradhan et al., 2023; Xu and Pratt, 2018). For checking the robustness of vlogger-led marketing, it is important that we should consider self-concept as one of the variables in this investigation.
Another sub-construct of audience characteristics is the user-influencer personality congruence. It is the congruency between the personality of consumers with that of the influencer (Belanche et al., 2021). Within the parameters of consumer behaviour, various studies have been conducted showing the congruence between brand personality and endorser personality and its effect on purchase intention (Mishra et al., 2015; Malodia et al., 2017; Tafheem et al., 2022). However, congruence between endorser and consumer personality is yet to be explored. Choi and Rifon (2012) reveal that if the congruency between the personalities of consumers and celebrities matches, it helps in framing behavioural changes as the customer is expected to evaluate the advertising more positively and express stronger intentions to make a purchase. Balabanis and Chatzopoulou (2019) also discovered similar findings, demonstrating that a higher degree of influencing power may be achieved when the personality of a blogger aligns with that of an information seeker. Moreover, a recent study undertaken within the domain of tourism literature reveals that visitors are inclined to adopt the attitudes and behaviours advocated by a celebrity endorser when they see a congruence between the endorser’s personality and their own personality (Pradhan et al., 2023). Similarly, in the social media context, if there is congruency between the personalities of users and influencers, it can help in changing the consumer attitude towards influencers that further leads to changes in the behavioural outcome of the consumers (purchase intention). Additionally, this phenomenon is more effective in influencer marketing than celebrity endorsement as consumers perceive influencers as people “like you and me” (Mettenheim and Wiedmann, 2021). This is because, users see influencers as inspirational figures and aspire their lifestyle to be like them (Ki and Kim, 2019). Taking both self-concept and user-influencer personality congruence under the bracket of audience characteristics we propose the following two hypotheses:
H5: Audience characteristics have a positive impact in framing consumer attitudes towards beauty vloggers.
H6: Audience characteristics have a positive impact on purchase intention.
Consumer attitude and its mediating role
Attitude is the perception that one makes for others (Chetioui et al., 2020). If an individual creates an attitude towards a particular product/brand or even a person, it will last for a long time (Taillon et al., 2020). One’s attitude has a significant role in determining their level of attraction toward a specific object, thereby impacting their intent to acquire that product (Chanana, 2015). Prior research has demonstrated that celebrities possess a notable ability to attract the attention of consumers. Consequently, if consumers hold a favourable attitude towards these celebrities, it is likely to enhance their intention to purchase products endorsed by them (Zhu et al., 2019). This is due to the celebrities’ role in heightening awareness about the endorsed products (Chanana, 2015). However, in this technologically advanced era, consumers have a tendency to align themselves more with influencers that possess common personality qualities, a lifestyle that aligns with their own, or similar tastes as compared to traditional celebrities (Djafarova and Rushworth, 2017). A greater level of congruence between influencers and prospective consumers indicates favourable attitudes towards influencers, leading to heightened intentions to make purchases (Zhu et al., 2019). Therefore, it is imperative to integrate consumer attitudes within the scope of the present study.
Additionally, the audience characteristics of consumers help in forming positive attitudes towards the vloggers resulting in increased purchase intention. Vloggers do various interactional activities to engage more with their audiences so that consumers can match their personalities with them. If the audience’s self-image matches with the vlogger’s self-image, consumers will form a favourable attitude towards vloggers (Zhu et al., 2019). Consequently, a positive match between their personalities creates an attitude towards a vlogger that further helps in increasing purchase intention (Taillon et al., 2020). Therefore, consumer attitude towards beauty vloggers acts as a mediating variable between audience characteristics and purchase intentions. Hence, we put forward the following two hypotheses:
H7: Consumer attitude has a positive impact on buying intention.
H8: Consumer acts as a mediator in the association between audience characteristics and purchasing intention.
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