Parasocial Business: Platformed Authority and Organizational Influence in the Visibility Economy

Business influence increasingly unfolds in platform environments where visibility is ranked, repeated, measured, and monetized. At the same time, many platform interactions have shifted from reciprocal sociality toward creator-centered attention, mediated familiarity, and one-sided attachment. This perspective article develops the concept of parasocial business to explain how business actors convert platform visibility into credibility, trust, advocacy, and commercial value. Drawing on an integrative reading of research on parasociality, platformization, influencer labor, organizational reputation, marketing communication, and creator economies, this paper identifies three linked mechanisms: algorithmic visibility, persona design, and parasocial conversion. The conceptual analysis shows that parasocial business is not simply influencer marketing, personal branding, brand community, or consumer–brand relationship management. Its distinctive feature is the platformed conversion of repeated, persona-based familiarity into business-relevant authority and value. This paper develops the related concept of platformed authority and illustrates it through LinkedIn thought leadership, podcast-based business influence, and B2B expert visibility. This paper contributes to business administration and management research by showing how leadership communication, reputation governance, expert visibility, and organizational influence are increasingly shaped by platform infrastructures and public-facing personae.