Abstract

Influencer-mediated social commerce has become a prominent environment in which consumers encounter brands through influencer recommendations, livestreaming, short videos, sponsored posts, and socially embedded interactions. Although influencer campaigns often generate visible engagement metrics, such as views, likes, comments, saves, and livestream participation, these engagement responses do not necessarily translate into public brand advocacy. Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response framework, balance theory, and the social risk perspective, this study examines how parasocial relationships with influencers are associated with eWOM advocacy intention through customer engagement and how perceived brand transparency conditions this conversion process. Data were collected through an online self-administered questionnaire targeting consumers in Taiwan with recent influencer-mediated social commerce experience, and 372 valid responses were retained for analysis. The results show that parasocial relationship is positively associated with customer engagement, and customer engagement is positively associated with eWOM advocacy intention. Customer engagement partially mediates the relationship between parasocial relationship and eWOM advocacy intention. In addition, perceived brand transparency strengthens the relationship between customer engagement and eWOM advocacy intention, and the moderated mediation results indicate that the indirect effect of parasocial relationship on eWOM advocacy intention through customer engagement is stronger when perceived brand transparency is higher. These findings clarify the relationship–engagement–advocacy conversion process and identify perceived brand transparency as an assurance condition under which influencer-driven engagement is more likely to develop into public eWOM advocacy.

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