The blurring line between the online and off-line world; On the counterintuitive relationship between people’s offline materialistic tendencies and their attitude towards online vloggers
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2017-06-28
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en
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Abstract
This study examines the relationship between materialism and para-social interaction (PSI), and the moderating effect of social comparison, in the context of vlogging. Moreover the effectiveness of vlogs in terms of brand perceptions and purchase intentions subsequently is examined. An online experimental-based survey was conducted in order to identify these relationships. First, it was expected that materialism is negatively related to PSI as materialistic individuals tend to be bad at relationships. In line with expectations, results of the ANOVA showed a marginally negative relationship between materialism and PSI. Second, results of the regression analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between both PSI and brand perceptions, and brand perceptions and purchase intentions. Moreover, it was expected that downward comparison mitigates the negative relationship between materialism and PSI, due to less feelings of jealousy. Against expectations, results of the two-way ANOVA indicated that downward comparison did not significantly mitigate the negative relationship between materialism and PSI.
This study contributes to the literature by showing that materialism does not only negatively affect interpersonal relationships, but also online relationships. Furthermore, the findings of this study support the use of PSI, and vlogs as a marketing tool. However, companies should be aware of the potential consequences of using vlogs as marketing tool. Findings of this study support the notion that the effectiveness of vlogs can depend on the characteristics of the viewer.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen