Parasocial Interaction in Marketing Domain: Offering Insights Through a Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Over the past decade, marketing has witnessed progressive growth in parasocial interaction research. An idea initially rooted in media and communication literature has gradually evolved within the marketing sphere since the early 2000s. Despite its fundamental integration into marketing, a comprehensive domain-specific systematic literature review on this topic remains absent. Considering this, we undertook a systematic literature review, analyzing 117 articles indexed in the ABDC list, covering a period of the past two and a half decades. With the main objective to explore the existing literature by examining the theoretical development, characteristics, and methodological trends using the TCCM approach, the study aims to establish a foundation for future research while elucidating relationships between various constructs across diverse contexts. The review highlights the role of parasocial interaction in influencer marketing, celebrity endorsements, branding, live streaming, consumer behavior, and chatbots, among other domains. By offering a current synopsis of the research within parasocial interaction and the future research directions, this study is anticipated to function as a useful resource to aid researchers in further exploration of parasocial interaction research.