Relationships between Blogs as eWOM and Interactivity, Perceived Interactivity, and Parasocial Interaction.

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of a political candidate's blog--a form of eWOM (electronic Word-of-Mouth)--on attitudes toward the website, attitudes toward the political candidate, and intentions to vote. The results showed that interactivity in the form of a blog significantly influenced attitude toward the website, but not attitudes toward the candidate or voting intention. However, perceived interactivity influenced all three dependent variables, but did not interact with interactivity, suggesting that these are two separate constructs. The effects were mediated by parasocial interaction.