Parasocial relationship theory and influencer marketing: a lifecycle perspective on parasocial relationships with influencers

Cocker, Hayley and Mardon, Rebecca ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4199-7121 2026. Parasocial relationship theory and influencer marketing: a lifecycle perspective on parasocial relationships with influencers. Cocker, Hayley, Costello, Joyce and Mardon, Rebecca, eds. The Routledge Companion to Influencer Marketing, Routledge,

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Abstract

This chapter advances a lifecycle perspective on parasocial relationships (PSRs) with influencers, viewing influencer-audience relationships as dynamic and evolving. Existing research has largely focused on the development of positive PSRs, demonstrating their role in driving favorable influencer marketing outcomes. However, this emphasis offers a partial view, overlooking how PSRs change, weaken, and, in some cases, are rekindled over time. While lifecycle perspectives have been applied in celebrity and influencer research, they have largely focused on patterns of visibility, attention, and career trajectories, rather than the evolution of influencer–audience relationships. Adopting a lifecycle perspective, this chapter examines how PSRs with influencers can move through various stages including development, maintenance, dissipation, dissolution, deterioration, and potential revival and reconciliation. Drawing on literature from multiple disciplines and examples from influencer culture and influencer marketing practice, the chapter explores how PSRs are developed through practices of intimacy and platform affordances, and how they may be disrupted by life-stage transitions, algorithmic (in)visibility, eroded and exploitative intimacies, and influencer transgressions. The chapter also outlines implications for influencer marketing practice, emphasizing the need for a lifecycle-oriented approach to influencer partnerships. Finally, it highlights key limitations of PSR theory when applied to influencer contexts, particularly its dyadic focus and limited capacity to account for community dynamics and non-relational forms of influence.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	9781041001706
Last Modified:	14 Sep 2026 11:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189547

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