Online communication attitude and parasocial interaction with celebrities across Facebook and Twitter

Abstract

This study draws upon the paradigm of parasocial interaction and incorporates the Source Credibility Scale (McCroskey, Hamilton, & Weiner, 1974), the Measure of Online Communication Attitude (Ledbetter, 2009), and the Parasocial Interaction measure (Auter & Palmgreen, 2000) in order to examine the extent to which online communication attitudes foster such interaction and shape perceptions of media figures' and celebrities' credibility. Data from 593 individuals were collected, and hypotheses and research questions were analyzed using regression analysis on a usable sample of 343 participants. Results indicate that parasocial interaction is always a positive predictor, and communication apprehension is an inverse predictor, of source credibility. These findings allow for more research to be conducted in the realm of social media.