Abstract:
While celebrity endorsement remains an ubiquitous marketing strategy globally, existing research has predominantly focused on Western and select Asian contexts, leaving a gap in understanding its effectiveness within the Philippine setting. This study addressed that gap by examining the mediating role of parasocial relationship in the link between source credibility and purchase intention for BINI-endorsed brands among Filipino Gen Z consumers in Metro Manila. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974), the study conceptualized source credibility as the stimulus, parasocial relationship as the organism, and purchase intention as the response. Adopting a cross-sectional and correlational design, data were collected through an online survey of 454 respondents using convenience and purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression-based mediation analysis in R software. Findings revealed that source credibility dimensions such as trustworthiness and expertise exerted significant indirect effects on purchase intention through parasocial relationship, affirming the full mediating role of this construct. In contrast, the attractiveness dimension failed to produce any significant direct or mediated effect, which suggests its lack of persuasive utility in this context. Based on these findings, the study advances recommendations for theoretical enrichment, enhancing methodological rigor, and informing more strategically grounded practices for advertising professionals and celebrity endorsers.
