In My Football Era: Exploring the Impact of Parasocial Interactions in Shaping Football Viewership and Attitudes Among Swifties

This research examines the influence of parasocial interaction on the development of endorsed brand attitudes by looking at the effects of parasocial interactions between Taylor Swift fans who were influenced to watch her appearances at NFL games during the 2023-2024 season. Using the Dual Entertainment Path Model (Hung, 2014) as a framework to understand this process, relationships were tested between fans’ companionship motives, parasocial interaction, and the entertainment motives and experiences that create endorsed brand attitudes; the relationship between endorsed brand attitude and influenced behavior was also tested. A quantitative survey collected responses from 148 people through social media, snowballing, and undergraduate and graduate classes in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication at the University of Houston. Findings showed that parasocial interaction positively relates to companionship motives and lighthearted/playful entertainment motives. However, findings also showed that endorsed brand attitude negatively correlates with influenced behavior. The research has practical implications for celebrity-fan relationships in the sports industry while identifying limitations to celebrity endorsements. It also opens the door for further research into parasocial interactions and relationships induced by celebrity media engagement.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Duarte, Amber

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Platenburg, Gheni

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Huang, Yan
• Camaj, Lindita

• Mass Communications

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10657/18359

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/18359