Parasocial Intimacy, Change, and Nostalgia in Podcast Listener Reviews

Abstract

As the medium of podcasting reaches maturity, exploring the evolving nature of parasocial intimacy, nostalgia, and change is crucial. With the podcasting industry increasingly focused on financial viability, listener loyalty and nostalgia are critical components in podcast audience studies. Listener reviews are an integral part of this research. This study enriches podcast audience studies by investigating the connection between the parasocial relationships of trust and intimacy listeners develop with show hosts and nostalgic reactions to show changes. Using automated semantic network analysis of over 12,000 podcast reviews for two of the longest-running and best-regarded US podcasts, this study has confirmed the pivotal role of the show host and content in developing and maintaining the parasocial rapport of intimacy and trust with listeners. It also revealed that changes in the show's host(s) or content trigger nostalgic reactions, which can be positive or negative. These findings have significant implications for long-lived podcasts as they approach the stage when host or content changes become inevitable, thereby underscoring this study's practical relevance and importance for the podcasting industry.