Endorsement Effectiveness in YouTube Vlogs...JYU. Since 1863. 8 Perceived credibility 15.1.2019 •Perceived credibility of the message source positively affects the likelihood that

JYU. Since 1863. 115.1.2019

Endorsement Effectiveness in YouTube Vlogs

ANZMAC, 03/12/2018

Hanna Reinikainen*, Juha Munnukka*, Devdeep Maity** & Vilma Luoma-aho**University of Jyvaskyla, **Delaware State University

University of Jyväskylä

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Agenda

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• Vlogs and vloggers • Theoretical approach • Conceptual model• Hypothesis• Study • Results • Implications


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Vlogs

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• Videos based on vloggers’ own lives, filmed using simple, camera gear (Stefanone and Lackaff, 2009).

• Format adds realism to the content, thereby generating massive interest and drawing very large audiences (Lee and Watkins, 2016).

• Have become an important focal channel of brand-related information and an integral part of consumers’ decision-making process (Chu & Kamal, 2008; Ho et al., 2015).


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Vloggers = Influencers

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81% of US consumers trust information and advice from blogs

61% of US consumers have made a purchase based onrecommendation from a blog (Barker et al. 2017).

18–34 year-olds watch more YouTube than cable networks in the US. (YouTube)


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What makes their endorsements so effective?

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Parasocial interaction

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• Illusionary feeling of reciprocal interaction with a media persona (Horton & Wohl 1956).

• Unique and one-sided involvement may range from feelings of friendship to a sense of attraction (Perse & Rubin 1989).

• Can draw the audience members back to the content, increase time spent with the content (Quintero Johnson & Patnoe-Woodley 2016) and even translate into an emotional connection with brands the performer uses or recommends (Lueck 2015).

• Can lead to positive brand perceptions (Lee & Watkins, 2016) and increase loyalty intentions (Labrecque, 2014).


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Audience participation

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• Degree by which the audience engages in various activities in a vlog such as likes, shares, comments, subscriptions, and responses to other comments.

• Participation supports the experience of parasocial interaction (Brown, 2015).

• May translate into higher vlog influence on the audience’s perceptions, affect and behavior.


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Perceived credibility

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• Perceived credibility of the message source positively affects the likelihood that the audience accepts the message (Pornpitakpan, 2004).

• Perceived vlogger credibility (PVC) is defined as the extent to which the vlogger is perceived to possess expertise relevant to the endorsement topic, can be trusted to provide an objective opinion of the endorsed subject, and considered similar by the audience (Goldsmith et al. 2000; Chu and Kamal 2008).

• Composed of perceived trustworthiness, expertise, and similarity (Ohanian 1990; Pornpitakpan 2004).


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Conceptual model and hypothesis


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Conceptual model

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Purchase intention

Perceived credibility

Parasocialinteraction

User comments

H4+

Audience participation H1+ H3+

H2+

Endorsement effectiveness


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Hypothesis

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H1: Audience participation (AP) positively affects the experience ofparasocial interaction (PSI).

H2: Other users’ comments (OC) moderate the audienceparticipation-parasocial interaction relationship.

H3: The perceived vlogger credibility (PVC) has a positive effect onpurchase intention (PI) of the endorsed brand.

H4: Parasocial interaction mediates the relationship between audienceparticipation and perceived vlogger credibility.


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Study


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Data collection

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• A vlog entry from a Finnish female lifestyle vlogger was studied. • The video included an endorsement for a health service for young women. • An experimental design with two conditions (positive comments

presented / not presented) was created. • Four constructs were measured: audience participation, parasocial

interaction, perceived vlogger credibility, and purchase intention.• The studied video was embedded into the questionnaire. • A link to the online questionnaire was shared on the Snapchat channel of a

Finnish magazine for young women. • The study resulted in 309 usable responses. • The scales were validated with CFA and standardized summated scales were

constructed and taken for the analyses conducted with PROCESS macro.


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Analyses and Results


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Analyses

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• Construct reliabilities (CR): PSI = 0.93, PCV= 0.94, PI= 0.92, AP=0.83. • The scales summated and standardized as single ratings.

• Main effects tested with linear regression analysis

• Mediation analysis (Barron and Kenny’s 1986) with bootstrapping method (Preacher and Hayes 2004) with PROCESS macro in SPSS

• Moderation analysis – interaction effect analysis


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Results

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Purchase intentionR2 0.29

0.07

0.96 0.38 0.75

0.36

Perceived credibilityR2 0.75

Parasocialinteraction

R2 0.75Audience

participation

User comments

All hypothesis supported


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Implications and limitations


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Academic implications

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• This study contributes to the endorsement effectiveness literature and builds understanding about parasocial interaction.

• Audience participation was found to increase the vlogger’s perceived credibility indirectly through parasocial interaction. The results prove the importance of parasocial interaction for message acceptance in the context of vlogs.

• Brand endorsements in vlogs drive purchase intention by theperceived credibility of the vlogger as a message source, whichsupports the positive relationship of vlogger credibility and endorsementacceptance.


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Managerial implications

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• Relationship instead of reach: Working with vloggers can serveas a powerful form of influence, but it requires understanding of theaudience. This implies a mindset change from considering the size of theaudience to considering the vlogger’s relationship with the audience.

• The right kind of match: Endorsements become powerful, whenthere’s a perfect match between the brand, the vlogger and the audience.

• No superimposing: Content that inspires the audience to participate and supports the relationship between the vlogger and theaudience is effective – let the vlogger do her job and stay true to herstyle.


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Limitations

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• Research design involved only one specific vlog and one video. Thefindings may be specific to kind of service, brand, or the personality typeof the vlogger present in this study.

• Using only positive comments as a moderator. Future studies should alsolook at the role of neutral and negative comments as well.

• The experimental setting was simple and there may be additional factorsthat may interact with the constructs of the present model but were notwere not included into the present study.

• Testing the model in the case of a positive brand endorsement. Theeffects between the constructs may not change symmetrically in the case of negative or neutral brand endorsements.


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References

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• Barker M., Barker D.I., Bormann N.F. & Zahay D. (2017) Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach. Cengage Learning, Boston.• Baron R.M. & Kenny D.A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic,

and statistical considerations. Journal of Personal and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.• Chu S. & Kamal S. (2008). The effect of perceived blogger credibility and argument quality on message elaboration and brand

attitudes: An exploratory study. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 8(2), 26–37. • Goldsmith R.E., Lafferty B.A. & Newell S.J. (2000). The Impact of Corporate Credibility and Celebrity Credibility on Consumer

Reaction to Advertisements and Brands. Journal of Advertising, 29(3), 43–53. • Ho C.H., Chiu K.H., Chen H. & Papazafeiropoulou A. (2015). Can internet blogs be used as an effective advertising tool? The role of

product blog type and brand awareness. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 28(3), 346–362. • Horton D., Wohl R.R. (1956). Mass communication and para-social interaction: Observations on intimacy at a distance. Psychiatry

19(3), 215–229. • Labrecque, L. I. (2014). Fostering consumer-brand relationships in social media environments: The role of parasocial interaction.

Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2), 134–148. • Lee J.E. & Watkins B. (2016). YouTube vloggers' influence on consumer luxury brand perceptions and intentions. Journal of Business

Research, 69(12), 5753–5760. • Lueck, J. A. (2015). Friend-zone with benefits: The parasocial advertising of Kim Kardashian. Journal of Marketing Communications,

21(2), 91–109. • Ohanian R. (1990). Construction and Validation of a Scale to Measure Celebrity Endorsers’ Perceived Expertise, Trustworthiness and

Attractiveness. Journal of Advertising, 19(3), 39–52. • Perse E. M., Rubin R. B. (1989). Attribution in social and parasocial relationships. Communication Research, 16, 59–77. • Pornpitakpan C. (2004) The Persuasiveness of Source Credibility: a critical review of five decades' evidence. Journal of Applied Social

Psychology, 34(2), 243–281. • Preacher K. & Hayes, A. (2004). SPSS and SAS Procedures for Estimating Indirect Effects in Simple Mediation Models. Behavior,

Research Methods, Instruments & Computers, 36(4), 717–31. • Stefanone M.A. & Lackaff D. (2009). Reality Television as a Model for Online Behavior: Blogging, Photo, and Video Sharing. Journal

of Computer-mediated Communication, 14(4), 964–987. • Quintero Johnson, J. M., & Patnoe-Woodley, P. (2016). Exploring the influence of parasocial relationships and experiences on radio

listeners’ consumer behaviors. Communication Research Reports, 33(1), 40–46. • YouTube (2018). YouTube for Press, YouTube by the numbers. url: https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/press/ 07/02/2018.


https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/press/

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Thank you!

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Endorsement Effectiveness in YouTube Vlogs...JYU. Since 1863. 8 Perceived credibility 15.1.2019 •Perceived credibility of the message source positively affects the likelihood that