The Influence of Key Opinion Leaders' Attributes on Brand Attitude: The Mediating Roles of Homophily, Reverence and Parasocial Interaction in Vietnam's Beauty Industry

The rise of social media has revolutionized marketing strategies, with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) significantly shaping consumer behaviors, particularly in Vietnam's burgeoning self-care and beauty industry. This study investigates how KOL attributes (attractiveness and expertise), perceived homophily, reverence, and parasocial interaction (PSI) influence brand attitudes in this context. Using an online survey, data from 350 Vietnamese consumers aged 18 to 43 who follow KOLs for beauty-related advice were analyzed through PLS-SEM to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings reveal that attractiveness significantly enhances homophily, which mediates the relationship with PSI, while PSI strongly predicts positive brand attitudes. Conversely, expertise influences reverence but fails to directly affect PSI or mediate the relationship between expertise and PSI. These results emphasize the importance of emotional engagement in influencer marketing, highlighting PSI's central role in fostering consumer-brand connections. The study contributes to understanding how psychological interactions with KOLs drive brand preferences, offering valuable insights for marketers targeting Vietnam?s beauty industry.