Article Abstract

"Modeling Consumption via Parasocial Interactions with Television Characters"
|by Cristel A. Russell and Barbara B. Stern. Working paper.

Abstract: This paper proposes and tests a model of the influence of television characters on viewers‚ consumption attitudes and behaviors. The model, derived from social psychology and mass communications theories, describes the process of influence whereby parasocial relationships with mediated characters affect consumers‚ own consumption behaviors both directly and indirectly by means of effects on attitudes toward the characters‚ consumption. Cross-sectional survey data collected from 251 long-time soap opera viewers support the proposed processes of influence via parasocial interaction. Findings across both studies reveal support for a model of attitude toward placed products in which character-based evaluations drive product placement effects if viewers perceive the product-character association.

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