From Scrolling to Social Capital: How Followers’ Behavioral Engagement Shapes Their Commitment to Travel Vloggers
基于社会资本理论，研究旅游视频博主追随者的行为参与如何通过信任、社交互动和共享价值等社会资本要素增强其对博主的承诺，并发现同质性和异质性分别通过不同心理路径强化这一影响。
Despite the growth of travel vloggers, little is known about how they cultivate sustained follower relationships. Grounded in social capital theory, this article examines how followers’ behavioral engagement with travel vloggers’ content contributes to vloggers’ social capital (trust, social interaction ties, and shared values) and followers’ vlogger commitment. Data from 527 travel vlogger followers were analyzed using consistent partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLSc-SEM). We find that followers’ behavioral engagement enhances social capital, boosting followers’ vlogger commitment. Moreover, homophily (i.e., followers’ perceived similarity to the vlogger) amplifies the effect of behavioral engagement on their trust in and shared values with the vlogger. Conversely, heterophily (i.e., followers’ admiration of vloggers who have traits they lack and idealize or desire) only strengthens the effect of followers’ behavioral engagement on trust, indicating that followers’ aspirational dissimilarity from travel vloggers can likewise bolster trust. Consequently, both relatability and aspiration reinforce travel vloggers’ influence albeit through distinct psychological routes.