FROM DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT TO ELECTORAL CHOICE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PARASOCIAL INTERACTION IN POLITICAL SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of parasocial interaction in the relationship between social media marketing and the voter intention in Pakistan. Based on data obtained from 350 eligible respondents who actively interact with political information on social media, it uses Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test a model in which parasocial interaction was the mediating psychological mechanism that connects social media marketing to voter intention. The results showed that parasocial interaction significantly mediated the relationship between social media marketing and voter intention (β = 0.040, p = 0.069), with the indirect effect confidence interval [0.005, 0.090] excluding zero. Therefore, caution needs to be exercised in interpreting the mediation effect. Parasocial interaction was a significant positive predictor of social media marketing (β = 0.215, p = 0.001), and voter intention was a significant positive predictor of parasocial interaction (β = 0.186, p = 0.012). Importantly, social media marketing did not have a significant direct impact on voter intention (β = 0.002, p = 0.984), meaning it had a greater impact through parasocial interaction. The model accounted for 31.6% of the variance in parasocial interaction and 22.7% of the variance in voter intention. The results illustrated how voters' intentions are mostly mediated through emotional and relational bonds, rather than direct persuasion, when it comes to the impact of social media marketing. The findings have implications for political campaign strategists, electoral commissions, and scholars interested in the psychological mechanisms for internet political engagement.