“Parasocial interaction in media, society and celebrity culture.”

“Parasocial interaction in media, society and celebrity culture.”

Abstract

This research will focus on parasocial interactions among college school students. The study aims to research the parasocial interaction among students of different genders, ethnicity, and types of entertainment celebrities engage. The study will focus on stars as characters themselves and disregard their characters as compared to the previous studies.  Also, it will diversify on the roles the actors play in influencing the social, political, and economic lives of their followers. The research will also raise basic demographic questions upon understanding the parasocial interaction. The fact that their followers have always worshiped celebrities give rise to the correlations concerning the parasocial interactions (Chung, & Cho, 2017). Also, there have not been previous researches stating the relationships among the ethnic groups and parasocial interactions. Therefore, the research will highlight the gender differences which yield to parasocial communications. This study found the significance of the relationship between gender and parasocial communication.

Introduction

There is an extensive causal relationship between media, celebrities, and the society in parasocial interactions. Parasocial intimacy refers to the relationship that recognizes and adopts instant trust, disclosure, confidence, and recognition of vulnerability. According to Chung & Cho (2017), audiences form a potent identification of mediated personalities, political personae, online friends, and celebrities. A group of the audience has an attachment and links to particular political affiliation and stars. These celebrities have an impact on ruining their social, political, and economic life.  To a large extent, their decision-making criteria and school of thought lie in the hands of these celebrities. (Cohen, 2014) argues that most people copy their celebrity culture, including their mode of dressing, social life, and the materials wealth they purchase. Arguments claim that the ability of the media to manage these relationships is a significant aspect of their power structure. In the modern world of technology, it is impossible to underestimate the role of media in promoting the fame of celebrities. Media is one of the popular tools for promoting celebrities’ brands.

Celebrities have frequently been using the platform to advertise their products and services, which makes them very popular. Due to this, the celebrity number has doubled from 2010 to 2020 (Parasocial Interaction, 2020). The increment results from the ability of the media to make news more relevant and centralized about their lives.  The press should, however, maintain a balance between exposing their positive lifestyles and harmful lifestyles as well. A better understanding of the celebrities will help their followers to understand them better before basing their judgments on the frequent debates about their blogs when addressing the key issues. The research paper explores how the media can manage the relationships between celebrities, political personae, and their followers.

According to research conducted by Cohen (2014), celebrity magazine publications have increased by 13% in the last ten years. As a result, our weekly newsstand has recorded an increase by 40% annual sales, people’s magazine shows a rise of 4% in their annual sales, and In Touch’s sales increased by 70%.  These magazines deal with celebrity stories. Rather than just recording an increment in the magazines’ sales, they also showed an increment in the celebrity’s coverage stories. Celebrities stories have been the subject of discussion in not only the magazines but also the national news.

According to a survey by Parasocial Interaction (2020), most of the people who showed interest in the celebrity stories had seen them on the trends on social media. The academicians placed a focal emphasis on exclusively exploring the lives of the celebrities in the blogs and even academic articles. Celebrity blogs have recorded an increase in the viewing rate by 33% compared to other blogs. As a result, the media have ease in recognizing the content required by their audience.  A lot of the material which they could feed their followers.

For instance,  the survey examined the song of Justin Bieber, “One Less Lonely Girl.” During the two weeks immediately following, the song became the trend in all the social media platforms (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram). Nearly a quarter of the publications from all sectors were devoted to this story (Chung, & Cho, 2017)

With the increasing magazine circulation and television shows revolving the lives of celebrities, it is imperative to understand the relationship between the audiences and the stars. Over the past few years, celebrity presence in the media has shown an increment. With the increasing coverage of the stars, it is fundamental to research on the culture surrounding celebrities.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the research is to examine the correlations among the celebrity’s relationship with the audiences using the theory of parasocial interaction. The theory proposes that the viewers should establish strong relationships with the stars they admire through media just as they form relationships in life. The study looked at three variables which are concerning parasocial interaction, which are ethnicity, gender, and the entertainment field, the business engaged. The research had focus on celebrities as themselves rather than characters in television shows.

Research Questions

The study focused on the following questions to understand the relationship between celebrities and the audience.

1. Does one type of celebrity result in a higher yield compared to others?
2. Are there any correlations among ethnicity and the level of parasocial interaction?

• Are there differences between the levels of prosocial interactions and gender?

Significance of the study

This study expands the current literature on celebrities and their audience through the media. The survey of stars is very critical since it has become a commercial culture and work to the people involved. It is crucial to understand the relationship between celebrities and their audience due to the influence they play in their everyday lives.

Celebrities have impacted our lives consciously becoming our friends. According to some scholars, the relationship is like a communion. (Chung & Cho, 2017). They are similar to the modern-day priests due to their ability to offer public ideas on ideal topics. Cohen (2016) highlights the strength of the celebrities to sell items and commodities to their audience as the art of dictating their way of life.

Schauder, & Foley, (2015) describes the trait of parasocial interaction in their study as the interaction between the audiences and the celebrities using the media as the interface. The audience responds to the parasocial interaction by watching the television and listening to the radio. The also describes the relationship as independent since the audience can withdraw from the link at any moment. However, the association had limitations since the audience member cannot control the relationship.

 

Review of Literature

Researchers have previously analyzed parasocial interaction from a variety of fields, including sociology, psychology, and media studies. They conduct a lot of researches using various variables, which include newscasters, television personalities, soap opera characters, comedians, musicians, and their effect on audiences. However, most of them focus their research on the celebrity as individuals rather than actors. The review of the study will focus on the roles that the stars play to influence the audience members in parasocial interaction.

Celebrities ruin the culture of the audience members. (Schauder, S. A., & Foley, 2015) coins that today’s audience is different compare to the audience of famous people in the past. Modern celebrity is biased and depends on the false intimacy which the media provides. The role of technology in influencing the reality that separates the audience from stars is undeniable. These intensities of prominence usually lead to a new definition of success. Celebrity has become a measure of success, especially in the personality of preoccupied cultures. Celebrities control the entertainment business, especially sports, films, and music.

Most of the US publications contain stories regarding these personalities, including the musicians, players, actors, and politicians. For instance, during the last general elections campaigns, Americans were fascinated with life celebrities to the extent of featuring articles about the personal lives of their stars.

Also, there is an increase in the consumption of fame by the audience members who follow celebrities. Due to much focus of the audience on stars, it has led to the promotion of stars. Chung & Cho (2017), in his article, explains how the media manufactures a star and markets him/her to the American public. They highlight that the production team is responsible for creating a celebrity without any talent behind the person. Some scholars argue that the production team can create a star to market their products and services. (Cohen, 2016) highlights that developing celebrity worship scales can increase the number of audiences. He also suggests that audiences become increasingly aware of the celebrity they worship through the media.

The scholars’ highlight that the celebrity worship scale is a reliable scale of predicting the intense behaviors of the fans. For instance, a celebrity whose brand name is advertised in the media is likely to gather more followers within a short duration of time. However, if the star becomes reluctant and fails to deliver as his fans expect, then the person will end up losing fame.

Moreover, celebrities affect the consumers’ appetite for mainstream publications, which has stories of the celebrity’s life. Most academicians have shifted their focus from academic details to writing articles about the celebrity’s lifestyle. It results from the increase in the consumption rate of the celebrity’s materials by the audience. Perhaps, celebrities’ stories dominate not only the entertainment field but also other fields in the various phenomenon. According to Cohen (2016), change is inevitable. In the modern competitive world, organizations that fail to respond to their customers’ tastes and preferences are at risk of winding up. Therefore, conveying and publishing articles about celebrities in the media platforms is mandatory if their organizations are to remain in a competitive position. The social media platforms have always been on the peak through organizing interviews with celebrities, especially in televisions, radios, and even magazine publications.

Lastly, celebrities interfere with the social lives of the audience. According to Lange, Houran, & McCutcheon (2017).  a desire to interact with individuals begins to develop when one identifies the person, gain interest in the person and likes the problem-solving abilities of the individual. Most audience members acquire the problem-solving skills from the celebrities who they perceive to be their role models. Stars contribute to the increase in the television viewing rate of the audience.

Media is concerned with increasing the consumption rate of its content (Hu, 2016). They aim at increasing their audience number to remain competitive. Therefore, they align celebrity shows and interviews for their target markets. The strategy triggers the audience to subscribe to their channels and improve their television viewing rate as well as the media consumption rate. According to research conducted in America, when the TV presenters host an interview with celebrities, the number of television viewers increases by 40%.

Conclusion

The paper has highlighted how the audience, Americans, imitates the behavior of celebrities. The research suggests that the Audience is imitating the narcissistic traits which their stars demonstrate. This study was very critical in analyzing the roles that celebrities play in influencing the lives of the audience members. There is a sizeable causal relationship between the behaviors displayed by the audience with those of the stars. Also, the media plays a pivotal role in promoting the fame of the stars (Hu, 2016). Since the audience relies on the press for parasocial interactions, the media should focus on developing the positive sides of the celebrities. Celebrities are very central characters across the globe since they are role models to a lot of the audience. They have a more significant task of promoting critical messages and images to their audience. However, some celebrities are demonstrating abnormal behaviors that will send indiscipline message to their audience. Also, the stars are influencing their audience negatively by drinking irresponsibly and promoting sexual practices among young people. Reports and images of celebrities partying and drinking may harm people who have high levels of parasocial interactions (Hu, 2016).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SReferences

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Cohen, E. L. (2016). Parasocial 2.0: Exploring parasocial interaction in new media environments. PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e546082014-001

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Hu, M. (2016). The influence of a scandal on the parasocial relationship, parasocial interaction, and parasocial breakup. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 5(3), 217-231. doi:10.1037/ppm0000068

Lange, R., Houran, J., & McCutcheon, L. E. (2017). Celebrity and Parasocial Relationships. Media Psychology, 115-131. doi:10.1007/978-0-230-35720-4_8

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Schauder, S. A., & Foley, M. C. (2015). The relationship between active transportation and health. Journal of Transport & Health, 2(3), 343-349. doi:10.1016/j.jth.2015.06.006