The role of trait-based parasocial tendency in influencer marketing

Purpose Parasocial processes shape consumer responses to influencer marketing. However, how dispositional parasocial tendency affects early-stage responses to unfamiliar, virtual influencers (VIs) remains unclear. This paper aims to introduce parasocial tendency as a novel dispositional predictor of consumer responses to both human influencers and VIs that are novel and unfamiliar. Design/methodology/approach Two studies were conducted using controlled experiments. Study 1 pooled four data sets (n = 1,385) in which participants viewed identical influencer advertisements featuring an unfamiliar human or virtual influencer and completed measures of parasocial tendency, trust and purchase intention. Study 2 (n = 322) replicated this design and incorporated additional measures of perceived anthropomorphism. PROCESS analyses tested moderated mediation models to determine the psychological pathways linking parasocial tendency, trust, influencer type and perceptions of humanness. Findings In Study 1, parasocial tendency positively predicted purchase intention, partially through trust. This indirect effect was significantly stronger for human (vs virtual) influencers. Study 2 tested whether perceived anthropomorphism further moderated this pathway. Parasocial tendency predicted endorsement trust only when the influencer was human and was perceived as highly anthropomorphic. For VIs, high anthropomorphism nullified the effect. Findings suggest that while parasocial tendency shapes consumer behaviour, its effects depend on influencer type and cues of humanness. Originality/value This research advances influencer marketing theory by establishing parasocial tendency as a dispositional antecedent to endorsement trust and by extending Trait Activation Theory into human–AI contexts. It identifies anthropomorphism as a critical boundary condition that can either strengthen or undermine endorsement trust, depending on influencer type. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to examine whether a pre-existing parasocial tendency is associated with endorsement trust towards an unfamiliar influencer before a target-specific parasocial relationship has developed.