Older adults' parasocial interaction formation process in the context of travel websites: The moderating role of parent-child geographic proximity

- This study developed a conceptual model of older adults' parasocial interaction with travel websites.
- Older adults' subjective age identity and innovativeness influenced their PSI with travel websites.
- Moderating role of parent-children proximity was verified.
- The relationships among older adults' PSI, perceived well-being and WOM were identified.

This study aims to identify the effects of age identity and innovativeness on parasocial interaction (PSI), and the moderating effect of parent-children proximity between age identity and PSI, and to examine the causal relationships between PSI, well-being and word-of-mouth (WOM). A sample of 271 U.S. residents aged 50 and older were recruited through an online survey company. The conceptual model was developed and tested using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The results found that psychological and physical age have positive effects on PSI, whereas social age has a negative one. Importantly, innovativeness had a negative impact on PSI regardless of the age identity. The psychological and social age induced PSI to a stronger extent when the children lived out of state. Finally, PSI was found to lead to well-being and WOM, whilst well-being itself had a positive effect on WOM. The managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.