The impact of parasocial interaction toward prospective students' intention to enrol in a university and share information through electronic word-of-mouth

Nowadays, fierce competition among universities in acquiring prospective students is driving universities to make changes in their marketing activities. Inspired by the concept of parasocial interaction, the authors researched whether parasocial interaction could be used by universities to build a closer relationship with prospective students. Three different constructs of parasocial interaction were researched, to gauge their effect on a prospective student's intention to enrol in a university and share information by electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM): 1) perceived interactivity; 2) openness; 3) knowledge. Data collection was done by surveying 311, 12th grade students in Indonesia, and processed using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS SEM). The results showed that parasocial interaction has a positive and significant impact on prospective students' intention to enrol in universities and encourage information sharing through eWOM.