Exposure to Mediated Celebrities and Mate Preferences: The Mediating Role of Identification and Parasocial Relationships

Exposure to media and social networking sites (SNS’s) increases opportunities to glimpse celebrities’ glamorous lifestyles and to interact with celebrities. The increased contact with celebrities’ public and private life on SNS’s has become a cause of satisfaction among consumers through identification and the connection with celebrities. This study examines how exposure to media and the use of social networking sites (SNSs) for celebrityrelated information and interactions influences users’ mate selection preferences. The purpose of this research is to figure out how the consumption of media can influence an individuals’ mate selection behavior by considering the two factors which are identification and parasocial relationship. A sample of 500 students is taken for the study. A purposive sampling technique is used to collect the data from the respondents. The results of the study showed that exposure to mediated celebrities is a significant predictor of identification, parasocial relationship, and preferred mate attribution scale. The role of celebrity persona identification as a mediator was not significant between exposure to mediated celebrities and preferred mate attribution. Parasocial relationships performed a significant mediating role between the relationship of mediated celebrities and preferred mate attribution. Celebrity persona identification and parasocial relationship role as serial mediator was significant among exposure to mediated celebrities and preferred mate attribution.