Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 8;20(2):1113.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20021113.

The Impact of Fitness Influencers on a Social Media Platform on Exercise Intention during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parasocial Relationships

Wenjia Li  1 , Huangyi Ding  1 , Guifen Xu  1 , Jidong Yang  2
Affiliations

The Impact of Fitness Influencers on a Social Media Platform on Exercise Intention during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parasocial Relationships

Wenjia Li et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

In the context of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, fitness influencers on social media are greatly involved in people's home fitness processes, but there is limited research examining the role of fitness influencers on social media in exercise intention. This study aimed to explore whether people's perceptions of the personal attributes and content quality of fitness influencers can promote a strong emotional connection between the two, thereby influencing people's exercise intentions. Based on the theory of the parasocial relationship, we investigated the influence of social attractiveness (SA), physical attractiveness (PA), task attractiveness (TA), and content quality (CQ) of fitness influencers on the parasocial relationships (PSRs) between viewers and fitness influencers on social media and whether PSRs positively contribute to viewers' exercise intentions (EI). The results revealed that SA, PA, TA, and CQ have positive influences on PSRs and CQ; PSRs directly contribute to EI; and PSRs have a mediating effect between EI and CQ. This study provides new insights into understanding the relationship between fitness influencers and people's online fitness behaviors.

Keywords: COVID-19; exercise intention; fitness influencer; fitness video; parasocial relationships; personal attributes; social media.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The research model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Results of structure model. ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Hammami A., Harrabi B., Mohr M., Krustrup P. Physical activity and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Specific recommendations for home-based physical training. Manag. Sport Leis. 2020;27:26–31. doi: 10.1080/23750472.2020.1757494. - DOI
    1. Marcos C.M. Coronavirus Bingeing: YouTube Trends Show Spike in Every-Day Task Tutorials. [(accessed on 10 November 2022)]. Available online: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/05/01/coronavirus-youtube-task-...
    1. Alzahrani A.I., Al-Samarraie H., Eldenfria A., Dodoo J.E., Alalwan N. Users’ intention to continue using mHealth services: A DEMATEL approach during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technol Soc. 2022;68:101862. doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2022.101862. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Parker K., Uddin R., Ridgers N.D., Brown H., Veitch J., Salmon J., Timperio A., Sahlqvist S., Cassar S., Toffoletti K., et al. The Use of Digital Platforms for Adults’ and Adolescents’ Physical Activity During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Our Life at Home): Survey Study. J. Med. Internet Res. 2021;23:e23389. doi: 10.2196/23389. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. TikTok “2021 Tik Tok Sports Content Report”: Netizens Pay Attention to “Fitness, Self-Discipline, Exercise”. [(accessed on 10 November 2022)]. Available online: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/UvVPP7BvvdxtSYrS8koWXw.

Publication types

Grants and funding

This study was sponsored by Shanghai Pujiang Program, grant number: 21PJC087. The funder had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, preparation of the manuscript, and decision to publish.