Parasocial relationship building with AI influencers on Instagram
(2023) SKOM12 20231Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract
- Parasocial relationships (PSR) are the driving forces in social media marketing and are, amongst other factors, the reason for social media influencers’ great success. However, in the last few years, a new form of social media influencer emerged, namely the artificial intelligence (AI) influencer. As the name suggests, these influ- encers are driven by AI programs and are therefore not real humans. Previous stud- ies have shown contradicting findings to what extent humans build PSR with AI influencers, therefore this study investigated firstly, what characteristics differ in the emergence of PSR with AI influencers compared to human influencers, and secondly what specific qualities would foster the emergence of PSR with AI influ- encers.... (More)
- Parasocial relationships (PSR) are the driving forces in social media marketing and are, amongst other factors, the reason for social media influencers’ great success. However, in the last few years, a new form of social media influencer emerged, namely the artificial intelligence (AI) influencer. As the name suggests, these influ- encers are driven by AI programs and are therefore not real humans. Previous stud- ies have shown contradicting findings to what extent humans build PSR with AI influencers, therefore this study investigated firstly, what characteristics differ in the emergence of PSR with AI influencers compared to human influencers, and secondly what specific qualities would foster the emergence of PSR with AI influ- encers. By conducting focus group discussions, the study found four characteristics that differ in the emergence of PSR with AI influencers, which are aspiration to be like the influencer, autonomy of the AI influencer, vulnerability of the AI influ- encer, and the way people want to use social media. The last characteristic sug- gested that Instagram is not the place, where people are willing to interact with artificial characters such as AI influencers. Characteristics such as perceived simi- larities (values, appearance, interests), transparency of the company behind the AI influencer, education about AI, interactivity of the AI influencer with its audience, and the previous mentioned characteristics autonomy and vulnerability would fos- ter the emergence of PSR with AI influencers. Generally, the findings showed that people were willing to grant a lot of characteristics that are associated to human influencers as well to AI influencers. Used correctly, this makes AI influencers a powerful tool in future communication strategies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9127364
- author
- Baumdicker, Viktorija LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SKOM12 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- AI influencer, social media, social media marketing, parasocial relationships
- language
- English
- id
- 9127364
- date added to LUP
- 2023-06-29 14:33:13
- date last changed
- 2023-06-29 14:33:13
@misc{9127364,
abstract = {{Parasocial relationships (PSR) are the driving forces in social media marketing and are, amongst other factors, the reason for social media influencers’ great success. However, in the last few years, a new form of social media influencer emerged, namely the artificial intelligence (AI) influencer. As the name suggests, these influ- encers are driven by AI programs and are therefore not real humans. Previous stud- ies have shown contradicting findings to what extent humans build PSR with AI influencers, therefore this study investigated firstly, what characteristics differ in the emergence of PSR with AI influencers compared to human influencers, and secondly what specific qualities would foster the emergence of PSR with AI influ- encers. By conducting focus group discussions, the study found four characteristics that differ in the emergence of PSR with AI influencers, which are aspiration to be like the influencer, autonomy of the AI influencer, vulnerability of the AI influ- encer, and the way people want to use social media. The last characteristic sug- gested that Instagram is not the place, where people are willing to interact with artificial characters such as AI influencers. Characteristics such as perceived simi- larities (values, appearance, interests), transparency of the company behind the AI influencer, education about AI, interactivity of the AI influencer with its audience, and the previous mentioned characteristics autonomy and vulnerability would fos- ter the emergence of PSR with AI influencers. Generally, the findings showed that people were willing to grant a lot of characteristics that are associated to human influencers as well to AI influencers. Used correctly, this makes AI influencers a powerful tool in future communication strategies.}},
author = {{Baumdicker, Viktorija}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Parasocial relationship building with AI influencers on Instagram}},
year = {{2023}},
}