Date of Award

Spring 2012

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Chair

Fei Xue

Committee Chair Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Member 2

Kim LeDuff

Committee Member 2 Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Member 3

Jae-Hwa Shin

Committee Member 3 Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Abstract

This research focuses on the social media-driven convention of advertising, and seeks to analyze the type of communication that occurs between celebrity endorsers and audiences within social media. Kim Kardashian is used as the most current and successful celebrity endorser. A content analysis, including posts and responses from April and May 2011, is used to analyze the type of advertising messages and celebrity/audience interaction. The goal of the study is to establish whether Parasocial Interaction could improve the effectiveness of advertising. Due to findings that yielded a high amount of endorsements embedded into personal stories, as well as female approval for those posts, it can be stated that Parasocial Interaction takes place between Kim Kardashian and audiences. It can also be considered as an advertising vehicle in terms of positive audience feedback. The results imply that advertisers should utilize Parasocial Interaction in order to conduct successful advertising.

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